 
### Mission: Flight to Mars

By V. A. Jeffrey

Copyright © 2014

All rights reserved.

Artwork by Streetlight Graphics

An Epistle Publishing book

The stories contained in this book are works of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author's imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, past or present is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved.

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Mission: Lights of Langrenus

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#13

Epilogue
1

"I've put in a good word for you, Bob. Don't know how much good it's actually done, but. . ." he trailed off. He had that doubtful, pitying look again that drove me nuts. I hated being pitied, even if I was a pariah. I guess people couldn't help it whenever my name was tossed around the water coolers. And there were a whole lot of water coolers at Vartan Inc.

"Don't worry about it, Fred," I said, putting on my well-worn, brave face. "It will just create problems for you. I'll either get fired or I won't." If I was fired, which was very likely, I wouldn't be able to work in the industry again. But I tried my best not to think about the magnitude of the issue I was facing. I had dared to call out, continuously, the chief financial officer of Vartan Industries for theft, fraud, embezzlement of funds and selling company secrets to our biggest competitor, Whitney Corporation. I'm still not sure what I was smoking when I decided to go on the warpath against Bradford Teely. Even though I had TRUTH AND JUSTICE on my side it seemed a lot of folks around here thought the truth was relative, justice was over-rated and that I had forgotten my place.

I got the dreaded call again. Fred looked destroyed. I threw him a tired and exasperated look and he got the message. After he left I took a pill with a drink of tepid water, slowly rose from my desk and started off toward the head supervisor's office. I could feel sharp sparks shooting throughout my body with each step. My blood pressure was through the roof! Would I even make it home today without having a stroke? I focused on the gleaming surfaces of the ceilings and walls of the corridors down the long, bright halls. I concentrated on the thousands of employees working below in the assembly rooms. All busy as bees. I focused on the heavy doors leading from the department I worked into the air-sanitized section that led to the sterilized lab rooms of the micro-chip processing units and fabs. On every gleaming surface I could find, I focused my attention, to distract myself, to bolster myself.

That was how I made it to the supervisor's office. I felt as if I were floating in a dream. It was strange but even though something was rotten deep within this company and I'd tried to bring attention to it, my focus on external surfaces kept my mind clear and calm. Behind those doors, my career was going to end in a toxic meltdown. Perhaps I could at least salvage what remained of my dignity before I was mauled and everything I'd worked for left in blasted shreds. . .

"Okay. I'm going to ask you again, Robert," he said, his voice full of frost. I thought I could detect a faint bit of a smirk in his expression. "at what point did you begin to notice that products from the assembly lines in Section C-30 were going to Recycling instead of to their intended destination?"

"As I've said many times before," I kept my voice level and calm, "the latest VPHILM model android? You know, Will?" I said pointedly, still angry over that incident.

"Yes, we're aware of the last VPHILM model," he said dryly. The others sitting around looked on, stony-faced.

"When he worked with me on the floor he first alerted me about the problem. This was about three years ago."

"I also remember that model being destroyed because of too many malfunctions in his programming," he said. The others in the room nodded, concurring like sheep. I couldn't believe this. After three years, they were still holding to that lie.

"I found it interesting that he was destroyed after I revealed the discrepancies found between the assembly line floor and Recycling and a certain someone's computer logs, that Will discovered!" I said. I was no longer allowed to accuse the CFO of what I, and I'm sure others, knew he was doing.

"Careful, Mr. Astor. We don't intend to go down that road again. Mr. Teely is a well respected and highly influential man at Vartan. He has a well-regarded reputation in the industry. He is not the one in danger of losing his career here," he said coldly. For the past two and a half years they had been trying to get me to admit to something I knew and suspected they knew, was false; that I was responsible for robbing the company.

"You've been here for fifteen years, Mr. Astor. We expect competence from someone in your position." Said one of the supervisors. This one, his last name was Grant, had a permanent sneer fixed on his face and made me want to punch that smirk right through his face. Grant's eyes always made my skin crawl. I couldn't figure out why. He intimidated people every time he decided to fix that icy, raw gaze on them, which was why he was always at every disciplinary hearing in section C-30. He had the ability to unnerve people with that odd stare; a stare that made you feel as if he were flaying you alive. I held his gaze for a few moments and then looked away from him back to the smirking chimp flunky heading this farce. I used to hear my father talk of unions. I was sorry they had all finally been done away with decades ago. I could use a representative now.

"Don't presume to point fingers at others for what is clearly, from what we have found in our fact-finding investigation, your own negligence," he bristled.

"Or deception," added Grant, his voice low and sly, that sneer returned. This time I threw him a nasty look, holding his gaze longer, trying my best to match steel for steel. A dangerous shadow fell across his face. He didn't like that at all. But I was so angry by this point that I refused to allow him to throw me off. I wasn't going to be here much longer. I rolled my eyes and shifted my gaze back to the other one.

I steamed silently through the hearing even though I was ready to launch a volley of accusations and reasons for why we were bleeding product and money suspiciously.

"I told you before. It's done in such a way that the computers I use to monitor the product coming through on the floor in my department are unable to detect the issue."

"Why? Your machines are working fine. We went through your logs numerous times and saw no such difficulties. In fact, we found odd discrepancies in the data streams. . ."

"Oh, right! Discrepancies in the data streams that led you to believe that I'm responsible for the problem. So then why would I not bother to cover up my supposed theft if I knew it could be traced back to me? If I knew an investigation was going to require my machines to be examined? I was framed!"

"Always the resort of the conspiracy theorists and the guilty," sneered Grant and they laughed at this. I felt myself breaking out in a sweat. I decided to keep silent as much as possible for the duration of the meeting. My hands trembled slightly. I balled them up in fists to keep my temper under control.

"You have been working with state of the art machines and software, yet you have no explanation for these discrepancies?"

"Here we go again," I said.

"No answer?" He asked again, expectantly. Once more unto the breach, dear fiends! I had a hard time seeing this group as true friends of anyone.

"Rather, he refuses to give the obvious one," Grant goaded. His strange eyes flashed dangerously. I remained quiet. Someone had set me up because I had unwisely, pointed the finger at the true culprit. Mr. Vartan, whom I had previously thought would address the issue was himself fighting for his own position as CEO with the board of directors. Word was he was on his way to being ousted. He'd left me with no protection from the CFO and his lackeys.

"I told you before, I have no answer for that. However these things are getting through, it's not coming from my end," I insisted.

"And yet, our investigation indicates that this problem is definitely coming from your end," said the lead supervisor. Trembling slightly, I was ready to blow my stack.

"I wasn't hired as a security agent to monitor or prevent theft. I was hired to make sure the products coming through this department are of excellent quality. I'm a quality assurance agent." They all smiled at each other knowingly.

"It is part of your job description, whether you acknowledge it or not. We can no longer see any reason to keep you on, Robert. We've gone over this too many times. And besides that, there is much concern over your mental stability. That is not a safe and acceptable combination here." Well duh!

"Be thankful we don't bring the law down on you. We would be within our rights to bring charges of theft," said Grant. The lead supervisor finally released the last volley. With a little too much glee, I thought.

"You are not able to fulfill the duties for your position, Mr. Astor. We're afraid-" he was cut off abruptly by a shrill beeping. There was a call on the intercom at his desk. Why couldn't you just send me an email or a text? I thought. I could see that hateful sneer twisting round Grant's face again. Insufferable ass. I felt my face growing hot. So it was done. The intercom beeped again. The lead lackey answered it. He shot me a brief, quizzical look, tapped the intercom screen on his desk and picked up the receiver.

"Yes?" His face changed from a smirk to a frown and then surprised dismay. "Ah. . .yes, yes! I understand. No. . .uh, well, yes. I understand. Yes." His face turned bright pink, then purplish until he looked like a head of purple cabbage. Well! This was certainly an interesting development. Grant narrowed his strangely colored eyes. And I was sitting here wondering what in the world was happening. I was tired. I was ready to be rid of the harassment. At least I'd get my sanity back.

How I would tell my wife that I no longer had a job was going to be much more difficult.

He set the receiver down with a decided, hard click and looked me up and down slowly. The other four gave him questioning looks and then they glanced back at me. With a slow release of breath he finally spoke. The air in the room had changed.

"Robert Astor. Go back to your office. You will not be let go. Make sure these shrinkage issues do not happen again. I have nothing more to say to you. This meeting is over," he said abruptly. The others gasped. Grant nearly jumped from his seat or looked as if he wanted to. The first lackey gave him a warning look.

"E. Vartan," he said simply. Grant's face turned white with anger. I looked from one supervisor to the other. That call had changed something radically.

"Sooooo, what? I'm not being fired and marched out of here?" I asked.

"We have nothing more to say. Please go back to your office. Good day, Mr. Astor," he snapped. I frowned, got up and left the office, hoping to never see the inside of it again. A part of me was jumping for joy at this strange turn of events, the other part of me was dreading having to come to work in this place. A place I was once proud to be a part of.

. . .

Let me explain what came before. Will was an android known as a VPHILIM, which stood for Vartan Pragmatic Heuristic Impression Linear Model. He was built and put online September 7, 2147 A. D. A minor but historic day for technological progress. You see, he was the first android we'd built that could truly think for himself. In fact, the first android built, period, that could. The thing is, most people didn't realize this. Only I and a few others at the company knew it. Will began working with me soon after in my quality assurance department monitoring some of the products being created in this very department. We were making and shipping parts for spaceships, space station housing units and housing unit modules for future colonies on other planets. These were being made under contract with the U.S. government, Canada, and Great Britain. Will had found serious discrepancies in perfectly made products going to Recycling. Then these products were picked up illegally from Recycling and they completely disappeared from the system. By whom? No one knew. There were also problems with how certain allotted funds from the company were being used and where they were going. This all led back to the CFO, Bradford Teely. All these discrepancies Will detected and examined with accuracy and he relayed these problems to me. I, in turn, relayed them to the now embattled CEO, Elias Vartan. He made a show of seeing about the matter but what happened instead was a nightmare of epic proportions that unfolded right in my lap. The word got back to Teely that there would be an investigation of his accounts and his activities. Things went downhill for me, fast!

First, Will was destroyed and the excuse given was that there was some kind of irreparable malfunctioning in his programming. The next three years turned out to be the worst years of my professional life. The CFO made it his mission to make my life miserable. For whatever reason, he wasn't able to get me fired immediately. So he resorted to attacking me through his minions. I soon found myself in "progress" report meetings and disciplinary hearings with my supervisors almost every week. I never heard from the CEO again. My work was sabotaged. Sometimes my computers had mysterious viruses and I was blamed for the system wide issues they caused, not only in my department but in others too. I'd been suspended from work without pay on four occasions, months at a time. I was accused of holding up and disrupting workflow. I was accused of intentionally being lazy or slow, incompetent and also accused of theft. My reputation as a team player and a good, loyal employee had steadily been destroyed. Loyalty to the company was everything around here. In fact, it was right up there with patriotism, no matter what company you worked for. People stopped speaking to me and some even grew to loathe me.

I was nearly a nervous wreck by the third year and started taking anxiety medication. Two weeks ago I'd received a letter through company mail that because of my insurance reporting to my employer of my new medical prescription for anxiety, that I needed to come in for a mental health evaluation. Folks with mental health issues weren't qualified to work here. Yet, they couldn't simply fire me like they wanted to. They'd tried their best to hound me out of my job and failed.

Which explained the farce that had become my work life.

Then one day, over a mysterious intercom call, it was over. Most people avoided eye contact with me these days except Chip, Jerome and sometimes Fred. Others stayed far away, not wanting to share in my plagues. But finally, I'd received a victory.

And by the way, my doctor just put me on light duty and this was enforced without complaint. After that fateful meeting, my workday was temporarily reduced to four hours per day, four days a week and I didn't have to go to meetings unless they were the mandatory, Green Room kind. Mysteriously, I found when I'd signed into my company email that on my future paycheck statement I would be receiving all my back pay owed for those months I was suspended without pay. Plus, I'd received a shocking and exciting surprise when I got back to my office. One that completely turned my world inside out.

. . .

Vartan Industries was now the main contractor to the U. S. government to build housing modules for the new cities that would eventually be sprawled throughout the solar system. There were plenty others, of course (like Whitney Corp.!) But so far, Vartan had the best contracts.

The moon city was already old in name as it was plucked from an ancient Moon map: Langrenus.

And it was on everyone's lips as the place to be; our forward destiny. Even with all of the stress I'd endured the past few years at work it was hard not to feel wistful about the starry frontier.

Langrenus was turning out to be a fast-growing city and it was built around the titular crater named after Michael Florent van Landgren, a Flemish astronomer.

I was sitting back on the couch, sipping a micro brew and watching the live progress being made in its building on the WSEL channel feed. That's short for World Space Exploration Live. The city was crawling with sub-contractors. About fourteen thousand people already lived there and more were coming. Langrenus was being peopled first by those specifically there to work either in the mines or in the continued creation of the city. There were a few bio-dome farmers there as well, architects, masons and carpenters, scientists from different disciplines, a small force of security and police and medical personnel to attend these people. A few colonies had already sprung up farther south of the capital.

I'd received a mysterious company email message some days ago inviting me to be one of the Vartan delegates to Langrenus. Me, a nobody! I was going to get a chance to visit the moon on a special mission! After all, those gleaming buildings and most of the civilian spaceships docked there were built by Vartan Inc.

I was of two minds about it. Part of me was excited and another part of me felt a pit in my stomach every time I recalled the letter to memory. The letter was simply signed: E. Vartan. So the old guy finally came through for me. I 'm not sure how I felt about that. Why did he wait so late to exonerate me when I was going through hell for the last three years? It didn't make any sense. I was supposed to be grateful. And I was. But I got the feeling that things were happening around me, involving me, that I couldn't understand. Nothing was making sense anymore which put me on edge. I wished I could go back to the happy-go-lucky guy I once was, who simply went to work, talked with his friends over coffee, did his job happily and then clocked out and went home to his family. That feeling of innocence and carefree life was lost and I wanted it back. Will and everything that happened after him was a gross intrusion into my life that I never asked for and at times I deeply resented it. On the outside, everything seemed the same. But it wasn't. And it unnerved me.

Many things unnerved me. Things at work that involved me which I couldn't see. People whispering about me. Avoiding me or averting their gazes whenever they saw me coming. I was known as a troublemaker now. A label I had never sought or looked for. And I had powerful enemies now. Me, a quality assurance cog. But I found that I also had unseen allies. Maybe. I couldn't make out if they were allies or if my continued presence in the corporation served some other purpose for them. I just felt these things. It was something I took after my maternal grandmother. She was one of those empathic, hyper-sensitive types that felt emotions and hidden presences others didn't discern. It's no fun being this type of person, but I inherited this from her. I've never liked it. This was the first time in my life that I felt myself going through a major life crisis and actually having to rely on these hyper-sensitive senses.

I turned the channel feed off, set my beer down and went out to the patio. It was a late, pleasant spring evening. The sun was finally going down at nine o'clock. My wife and kids were visiting her folks. The quietness of the house gave me time and space to think. Far above near the upper levels of the city I saw the tiny shapes of small spaceships, air taxis and fliers and the great, colorful sails of the airships passing by. We moved out here near the country to avoid the sight pollution of all the city lights and its vehicles that obscured the stars. I could still see the stars from here. The water in the pool was still and the lights underneath glowed softly. It reminded me of what some said about the gas emissions around the Langrenus crater. Soft light emanated from the crater at times. It was a known event there, a beautiful sight, like the Northern Lights. It would be nice to see it, to take the wife and kids one day and vacation there.

I watched the last of the sun's rays set and then went inside, took a shower and got ready for bed, writing a note on the digital pad on the fridge door to my wife not to disturb me if I had already gone to sleep. The next few weeks would be insanity at work as the delegation was readying for the trip. Teely's war on me had fizzled out. But I had a feeling that a whole lot of misfortune was still hurtling my way. Just a feeling. So. . .

I needed my beauty rest.
2

I was at Chip's place helping him put the finishing touches on our secret project. The android that was trashed a few years ago, Will, we were rebuilding him. I found all the junkyard scrap metal, thrown away plasti-flesh reams and singular sheets that hadn't rotted away, and other parts needed, some I found in computer graveyards and used tech store warehouse garbage bins. Even the perennially bearish machinist in Odd Parts Lab helped us out with some rare, obscure parts. Chip managed to convince one of the higher ups at work to let the Odd Parts Lab bleed out into obsolescence even more slowly than its originally planned demise into Recycling. We both managed to find some mighty interesting stuff there.

The body, a hodgepodge of metal wires and screwy looking metal limbs that looked like something out of a steampunk film, wasn't ready for its brain. Chip was in the middle of a second rebuild for the body. This current incarnation was not to be the final look. Which was good because currently it looked monstrous. Something finally had come of all this, though. Chip had managed to use the chip I gave him that housed Will's mind into a gadget he called an eavesdropper.

"You know, sometimes I think about resigning and looking for a position at another company. I think the well's been poisoned, Chip."

"That would be rash. I say that because I think that even with all the trouble you've been in, there's someone at work who supports you and wants to see you do well. In fact, I think they want you to be their eyes and ears," he said. I frowned.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, this person has kept themselves hidden. Teely has an incredible amount of power. Did you hear that Vartan is finally being ousted out of his own company, the company that his own family built from the ground up seventy-five years ago?"

"You know what? No one tells me anything anymore."

"Fred didn't tell you?" Chip looked at me incredulously. I shook my head.

"No, he didn't," I said, feeling instantly offended at this omission. Fred was usually at the hub or near the hub of news and filled me in on just about everything floating around.

"Well, it's brand new news. Maybe he just didn't get around to it yet."

"He'd better hope that was the case! I rely on him for the real news." I said in growing irritation. Chip watched me, grinning.

"Alright, alright. I didn't mean to get Fred into trouble. I'm sure he didn't forget about you, Bob. Anyway, my point is that through all the nonsense, you are still working there in your same position. And not only that, you are on the delegation to the moon. Someone wants you to stay. That's my thought."

"Sometimes I think it's just dumb luck."

"I don't know about that. Luck shrivels in the presence of Teely. You would have been fired long before now if there wasn't some kind of intervention going on behind the scenes."

"Yeah. I just wonder what for." I said. Chip shrugged and gave me a resolute look. I leaned against the wall and folded my arms, narrowing my eyes.

"Do you know something?" I asked. He shook his head.

"No. I'm just good at making connections. That's all. I don't know anything. I'm locked in Engineering Prison, remember? It's just obvious to me. You seem to be pretty good at picking up on things. Don't know why you haven't seen it. I have no idea who supports you and maybe there is a good reason for it." Actually, I did suspect someone powerful was behind it but I was on a fishing expedition and fishing holes at work had dried up, for the time being. I was walking blind when it came to informational gossip.

"Maybe," I said pensively. Chip changed the subject back to our project.

"For now, until we can get the body finished, Will lives inside this audio device," he said. "The eavesdropper." I moved in for a closer look

"What kind of trouble can I get up to now?" I asked, feeling extremely pleased.

"Well for starters, we can find out what's really going on at work. Too many things don't add up and I'm not just talking about what happened to Will, either."

"So, do I put this in my ear?" I asked. It was as thin as a cotton swab, a golden square-shaped device. A tiny swab-sized ball, the ear piece, was hooked up by wireless connection to the gold-encased chip.

"You put the ball in your ear and lodge it there and put the chip under your clothes. See this thing here?" He pointed to a tiny white dot on the side of the chip.

"Yeah."

"This is an automatic cloaking device. It doesn't work as well as an official government issued one. It's weak as cloaking devices go and rather unstable. After all, I'm working with dumpster-diving junk and found materials here, but you touch this and the device disappears from view and can hide from detection sensors and scanners at work. Mostly. And through most run-of-the-mill security checkpoints. Except military checkpoints. I'm sure it'll do the job we need." he said, that wicked look again. I'm sure my own grin was just as wicked.

"Bob, Quality Assurance super-spy. At your service." I saluted and took the device.

"Chip," I asked, turning it around in my hands. "Where is Will, exactly, in here? He can't communicate, can he?"

"He can when you turn the cloaking device on. That is how you switch on the speech capability. He can communicate, but only you can hear him through the piece."

"Sounds good to me."

"Just remember, buddy. It ain't perfect. It's still not as stable as I'd like it to be. Experimental, you know," he warned.

I walked away with a new purpose. We'd been working on this project for three years. In that time span, things had been moving at lightening speed. The first city on the moon was nearly ready for its second influx of full-time civilian inhabitants. There were already thousands of people settled there and working, mining, farming building, creating, mating, amongst other things. It would be another five years before tourists could travel there and more civilians could take up permanent residence. And now I was chosen among other employees for a delegation to represent Vartan Industries and reinforce to the local inhabitants and to the world Vartan's importance and prominence in this milestone for human colonization of space and space travel. We stood on the edge of forever, a bright future. I believed in it once again as I left Chip's house.

The air taxi dived and zipped nimbly through the first level of traffic, the "slow" level, only five hundred feet above the ground level of the city. I was concentrating so closely on the eavesdropper that the taxi's near misses and hairbreadth maneuvering around other air cars and frigates actually didn't bother me. Only slower frigates making short distance trips and air cars traveled the first level of city sky space. The second and third levels, much higher, were reserved for incoming space ships and private and public transportation ships.

Vartan Inc. was working in tandem with an energy company named Sunsee, that was sending employees and contractors to Langrenus to harness solar energy and also H-3, a light isotope of Helium, on the moon's surface. Vartan was also newly in the business of producing solar cells for Sunsee.

On the way home I wondered what Chip meant when he said that things weren't adding up. The taxi flew down below the line of traffic at the signal toward the terrace of my neighborhood.

Well, the new Will might be able to help us sniff out what is wrong. There was a little voice in the back of my mind telling me that I needed to leave well enough alone and do my job. I was given a reprieve. Did I really want to tangle with Teely again? Not directly. I wouldn't make that mistake again. But I now had the power to listen through walls and you'd better believe that I was gunning straight for his.

. . .

At work I went through my usual exercises of stretching, had my coffee and maple bacon doughnut ordered and brought to my office overlooking the assembly room floor and started up my computers, watching and monitoring the screens. After that, it was another day at work. Fred was on vacation this week, so as nine o'clock came and went he didn't appear. I was jittery and I had the eavesdropper in my pocket. Its cloaking function allowed me to slip through the scanners with the device at the front desk beautifully.

I finally settled down to work. After an hour, I glanced at the white, gray and black-suited workers down below in the assembly room. Busy as bees. I slipped the wireless ball into my ear. At first I heard nothing but a faint buzzing. Thinking it was interference coming from my computers I stood up, acting as if I were stretching and went to the other end of my office. Voices eventually came through from the background white noise. Many, many voices. I couldn't make out who they were or where they were coming from. Well, this won't work! I need to get out of this room!

I knew no one would call me on it any longer so I took an early break and went down the open walkway toward the elevators. The windows to Teely's office were darkened, but I thought I detected the movement of a shadow by one of the windows. I wasn't sure. However, I was picking up fragments of conversations.

"Never mind him. It's not to my liking, but that problem has been resolved. He's no longer a threat. We have far more important things to focus on." There was another voice, lower, filled with static as if coming in from a great distance. Then the first voice spoke again.

"Things are going forward just as planned. I have located the grail and the one who has it."

"Who?" Said the other voice, the pitch rising as if in anticipation.

"Richmond."

"You are sure this time?"

"Richmond. He's the one. He's carrying our great prize." Again, that name.

"And you know what he looks like?"

"What do you think I've been doing out here for the last few years? Chanting to Ancus? Of course, I know what he looks like! He's a part of the delegation to Langrenus. Remember the name. Richmond." The other voice said something I couldn't make out. Then static rose and both voices were drowned out.

"Who the hell is Richmond?" I murmured to no one in particular. I wished Fred was here. Fred made it his business to know other peoples' business. He would have known - or found out for me - but Fred was in St. Croix with his wife and she'd made him leave all of his gadgets behind so no one from work could contact him. I would be leaving for the moon before Fred came back and I had to do without him.

"Hey, Bob!" It was Jerome from security.

"Jerome! How's it going?" I asked, suddenly feeling very nervous. I had the implant in my right ear I shifted my stance quickly to face him, turning my head slightly to the right. After all, Jerome was the head of security in this building.

"You ready for the adventure to the moon?"

"I've been ready since I was a kid for this!" I said.

"I wish I was going up there with you guys."

"It won't be long. I've been keeping track of its progress on WSEL. The city is exploding in population. They'll need guys like you up there soon enough or else it'll be the wild west."

"True enough. I'll be looking to make a transfer one of these days."

"Jerome, I'm curious. Have you ever heard of a guy around here named Richmond?"

"I don't think so. Richmond who?" He furrowed his brow.

"That's just it. I don't know the guy's first name. Or even if that is his first name. He's supposed to be on the delegation with those of us going to Langrenus."

"Hmm. I don't recall ever hearing or seeing the name. But then I don't usually supervise security on this level. I'm headed to a meeting today. Several. Does he actually work here, you think? Maybe he's from Sunsee?" I hadn't thought of that.

"I don't know. I just heard the name bounced around here and there. I'm familiar with most of the names of the people on the delegation, but I've never heard of this guy before."

"You worried about security, Bob?" He asked. I gave him a sheepish grin.

"I have no doubts everyone's been vetted. Don't worry about it. You know how we are around here. Just curious is all."

"Well, if I hear anything I'll let you know." The door to the CFO's office opened and Teely came out, turned and left down the walkway above us. Whether he pretended he didn't see me or actually didn't see me, I don't know. I nearly jumped at the opening of his office door. And berated myself silently. He didn't appear to notice anyone below his office floor. Typical of him. After the fiasco that nearly ended my career here, I was relieved.

"What's the matter?" Asked Jerome, frowning. I sighed.

"Besides the fact that he nearly ran me out of here? Nothing." A look of realization dawned on Jerome's face and he nodded.

"Well, I'd better get back to work," I said.

"Yeah, I'll be stuck in meetings all day today myself. Talk to you later. If I hear anything about. . . Richmond," he said. "I'll send you a message. Might be important to check into." I nodded my head appreciatively. Silently my heart leapt at his mention of the name as Teely made his way down the upper walkway and turned the corner. Ears were everywhere in this company. The last thing I wanted was Teely or any of his toadies to find out that I was interested in who Richmond was.

I turned and went back in my office. I had a month to prepare for the trip and hoped more clues would surface soon. Even though I had no idea what that conversation was about, something about it didn't sit right. It felt sinister. What's he up to now? You see, my mind tends towards conspiracies. Can't help it.

Chip always went by an adage similar to Hanlon's Razor: "Never assume malice where stupidity will suffice."

Usually, I agreed with him. He and a lot of people around here always thought of Teely as mean, dense and barely competent. I once did too, but these days I knew better. There are many malicious people in the world and sometimes it suits their purposes for you to underestimate their intelligence. They will let you go on smugly thinking what you like. You may not perceive the damage they've done until it is too late to fix it. Then, who looks stupid?

3

It was the day of the trip. My heart was flailing all last night and early this morning. I couldn't sleep. My wife, Pamela, ever on top of things, had everything I needed to be packed. She was helping me get my flight suit on while we were both watching the live feed on WSEL. Disappointingly, Jerome hadn't found much on Richmond, except one thing we both found odd. He wrote me concerning a light probe and found that all information on this person was blocked and that this person was of "unknown origin".

"It's as if he's been erased," he said. I told him to just forget about it and decided to focus on the trip. But this issue needled me all week. My wife, who noticed just about every mood change in me, asked me one day what was the matter. When I told her she reassured me in her usual, warm way: "Don't worry about it. He's probably some government agent working in some capacity that doesn't concern us." She was probably right. But it still bothered me. Why was Teely interested in Richmond? What connection did Richmond have with him?

The whole delegation would be wearing the black, gray and white company colors. Most top level and highest paid employees that weren't part of the administration or human resources wore white uniforms. Those that did the blue collar work wore blue or gray depending on what campus they were located on. Security wore black.

My device was well hidden in my bag and turned on. I still had not heard anything from Will. But the information I had gathered, tidbits here and there, was very interesting. I still also wondered about what Teely had meant about chanting to Ancus. These disturbing things did little to dampen the enthusiasm of the Astor household today, however.

My kids, Jonah and Mary, were especially excited. Mary stuck on of her tiny bean-bag teddy bears in one of my bags.

"Daddy, Reese wants to go with you to the moon city to make sure things are okay. He's the soldier bear out of all of my teddy bears," she said sternly. "I put him in your bag." I took Mary into my arms. She was five years old and was very much the protective daddy's girl.

"Well, I'm glad, Marybear. I feel safer already. Look here," I said to her, swiveling the 3-D monitor image around on the desk. I slid my thumb down on the console and the screen came alive from sleep status. The screen saver was of a beautiful painting of the moon and an artist's romanticized impression of Langrenus's sharp, ancient looking spires of ivory colored rock. I put my hand through the screen to re-arrange the digital reproductions and the earth appeared. I brought it forward, feeling like a wizard with the planet in the ball of my hand. Mary always seemed delighted at this and she clapped.

"See that there? That's where you will be," I pointed to the state of Oregon on the spherical map and a tiny red dot pulsed out as my finger touched the digital image again then swiveled it back to the moon, "and, here is where I will be. We can talk and see each other through the vision-comlink your mom set up for us in the den." Her eyes suddenly grew somber, the light in them softening.

"It's so far away, daddy."

"I know. But when I call and when you guys call me, we'll see each other again. And besides, I won't be there too long."

"Bob! Come on honey, we don't have much time!" Called Pam. In my son came, flying like a dust devil. He jumped on my back, bear-hugged me and then ran off again.

"Come on, dad!" He urged as he was racing down the hall.

"All right, all right, I'm coming!" We swept the kids into the taxi along with my bags and then we were off to breakfast at an old diner and then to Lewis and Clark Spaceport.

After the lengthy process of security checks, I kissed my wife and said goodbye to Mary and Jonah.

"I'll be back soon!"

"Promise?" They both said.

"Promise!"

"Bye, dad!" Said Jonah, waving and smiling. We'd had many talks about what it might be like out in space and on the new moon city in the weeks leading up to my trip. I could see that little boy wonderment on his face and remembered my own so many years ago, whenever my father traveled to Remus Space Station.

"I'll be back soon!" I said to my family and turned and boarded the ship.

The ship we were boarding was labeled the Starbird. As passenger class space ships went, it wasn't the biggest or the most impressive. It was a plain, passenger class ship. Most ships were put in three categories: military, the most sophisticated, powerful and advanced, then passenger and then freight class. There were other ships at the port that engulfed the Starbird in size.

Checking my bags and having run the gauntlet of security checks, I ascended the glass elevator to port 101 where I would be meeting the others in the delegation. I got a good look at part of the spaceport from my rising vantage view point. As I arrived near the gate I saw twenty of the member delegates standing around in a half circle talking. It seemed I was one of the stragglers.

"Bob! We were looking for you!" It was Robin, the lead coordinator of the delegation, rushed in at the last minute. I had no idea what happened to the original one. As I had missed some meetings they had together before the change in coordinators I felt sort of like the odd man out in the group. The others had time to get together on several occasions for dinner and chats. They had all met at a hotel last night and rode together to the spaceport this morning.

I was already familiar with some of them, but there were a few I didn't know. Robin introduced me to a few of the engineers of Sunsee, Enviro and some executives from Aero, another company contracting with the U.S. in Langrenus. I was out of place here, a lower middle-management peon, but I didn't care. It was a lifetime chance. I did wonder what my real purpose here was. No one had contacted me to clue me in, so far. Robin, seeming a little jittery, as she was relatively young and I took it, new to the job, looked around suddenly.

"Where is Richmond?" She asked.

"He called to say he was on his way. He's running late," said one of the Sunsee delegates.

"Very late! He should have been here long ago!" Robin said. She was getting anxious. Richmond! He's going to be on the delegation? Curiouser and curiouser. Well! Now I could find out who he was.

"There he is," said one of the delegates. He came rolling a small suitcase behind him, looking bedraggled.

"We nearly left you, Taylor," said Robin.

"Sorry, Robin. I was held up in traffic," he said. He was a short man, of slight stature with short, sandy blond hair. He had reddened cheeks as if he battled rosacea. He had a nervous look about him and his eyes had slight, dark circles shadowing them. Beads of sweat shined on his forehead. He took a kerchief and wiped at his forehead. He opened his mouth again to speak and then closed it.

We all boarded the ship at around eleven that morning. Our flight would be forty-eight hours and we all had our own sleeping accommodations. My stateroom was labeled R222. I got settled in my room and then glanced out the viewport. The flags at the spaceport were waving crisp and high, colors competing against the blue sky. My room was tiny compared to some. There were a full-sized bed, a small desk and a tiny bathroom and drawers that pulled out of the walls for my clothes. During the leisurely paced flight, there would be one layover stop to Remus Space Station, actually itself grown into a small city. Ships docked there for repairs or refueling before leaving for Langrenus, Atticus, Washington or elsewhere.

I took out the clothes that I would need after the labor mechs had the rest of my luggage sent to my room. When the ship took flight I glanced over the itinerary on a data pad and then took a nap, tired after a long and highly anticipated morning.

After some time, I don't know how long, I heard the computer monitor in the corner on the desk click and beep. I rolled out of the bed and found myself in slight gravity free-fall. I floated toward the viewport, cruising across the walls and the furniture, and gazed out at the black expanse to one side. On the other side in the bottom corner was the vast blue, hazy atmosphere of the earth.

"Virtual Voice, regulate gravity pressure. Normal pressure" I said.

"Gravity regulating to normal pressure," said the Virtual Voice. The sight made me smile. Being lowered slowly to the floor, I scrambled toward the drawers to find the gravity boots my wife packed. Finding them in a bag in the bottom drawer and putting them on I was now firmly on the ground. I went to the monitor and drew my thumb down on the side panel. It sprang to life and I reread the itinerary. I decided to use the eavesdropper again in a pique of mischief. Slipping it in my ear, turning on the device and hiding it under my clothes I left my stateroom and wandered through the ship's corridors eventually making my way to the dining room. Mostly, I heard nonessential things on the lower decks of the ship. I could hear the voices of people raining down, coming in and out, some loud and crass others soft and low-toned, conversations in rooms, cabins and halls. I felt a twinge of guilt but shook it from my mind. Teely was up to something and that was what this eavesdropper was for. I was on a mission! When I'd decided to climb the main deck, that's when things got interesting. I turned a corner and heard a voice I thought I'd recognized. I stopped in the middle of the corridor and listened for where the voices were coming from. A few labor mechs were moving about on cleaning duty, in and out of the staterooms, but they paid me no mind.

". . . do you have the files?"

"Not yet."

"I don't have all year!" The voice snapped. Then he let fly a line of angry sounding invective that I couldn't make out. Afterward: "I need them by the time we arrive at Langrenus. The Proctor will be arriving at the kregei before the year is out and it will take time to translate and understand the information. The rat may very well disappear on us by the time we land! If I don't have them by then, there will be trouble."

"Don't worry. Richmond is being monitored. I've had him watched ever since he left D.C.."

"You nearly lost him back there."

"He's here, isn't he? Stop worrying."

"I'll stop worrying when I get the files. You are sure he has the schematics and all the codes to build the gate?"

"He has everything. I have surmised that he's hiding them somewhere on his person this time."

"You have surmised, have you? It had better be a fact. You know where to find me when the job is done. Do whatever it takes." Then there was silence. My heart pumped. I could not place one of the voices, but I recognized Teely's voice. The one who wanted the files. What files? I turned quickly and left the corridor, rounding the corner just in time to hear a door slide open. I ducked into an elevator before I could be seen. The Virtual Voice prompted me to choose a floor.

"The dining room," I said hurriedly. Teely was definitely involved in more than just stealing from the company. This Richmond guy was in mortal danger. Problem was, what could I do? I'd challenged Teely on far lesser issues and he nearly destroyed me. I couldn't do that again. There had to be some way to warn Richmond. Perhaps I could talk to one of the security mechs about the issue.

Shaken, I ordered from the bar and went to sit down by one of the wide viewports. The moon loomed large in silvery light. Pondering what to do, I glanced over and saw, to my surprise, Taylor Richmond sitting by himself having a drink. I cleared my throat and decided to see if he wouldn't mind some company. There were only a few others in the dining room this evening. Why I was doing this I wasn't sure. After all, what could I say to the guy? What if he thought I was a nut? I had no idea what was going on and the thought came to me that even sitting next to him could mark me as a target for whoever was after him. But I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I sat by and did nothing. Well, here comes bumbling Bob! I thought. He looked lonely.

"Ah, Mr. Richmond?" I cleared my throat nervously. He turned around, having been staring intently out one of the viewports. He widened his eyes quizzically but said nothing.

"Uh, you don't know me but I'm on the delegation," I said.

"I know. I recognize you."

"Do you mind?" I asked pointing to a chair at his table. He shrugged. I sat down, feeling frightfully awkward.

"So, are you looking forward to visiting the first moon city? The experience of a lifetime," I said with what I thought might have been a silly smile plastered on my face. The man's eyes looked haunted and desolate as he pinned them on me.

"Experience of a lifetime," he said quietly.

"If you don't mind my asking, is there anything wrong?" Of course, I had some inkling that the guy was in deep trouble and I felt odd stumbling into territory that was none of my business, but I needed to reach out to him, no matter how clumsily. His gaze was intense.

"Have you ever felt that you've reached the end of the line? The end of your usefulness to the world?" An unexpected question. I shook my head. A serving mech brought my order.

"Well, I've reached it. Even though this is a momentous time in history, I feel nothing but emptiness."

"I don't understand," I lied.

"Someone is trailing me. Even all the way out here. I don't have long."

"If something's wrong ask for a bodyguard or alert security. You're on the delegation. We're already going to have guards escorting us, I'm sure of it. I could alert someone if you're in any kind of trouble." Taylor smiled cynically and lifted his brow.

"I've crossed some very dangerous people. If they want to get to you, no one can stop them." He took a drink, still staring at me. He lowered his voice. "How would you know I'm in trouble?" I let out an involuntary sigh.

"Well, I, uh. . .I just sensed something might have been wrong. Gut feeling, you know."

"I hope your instincts work for you on this trip. You can't help me. I'm a dead man, Robert. And now I've said too much. It would be best if you got up from here and left. I don't want to bring any trouble to you." He looked around the dining room. No one new had walked in.

"You can't go to the police?" I whispered.

"Someone did. On my behalf, such as you are trying to do. He's dead. He was a friend of mine. That enraged them. When they were done with my friend the only thing they found of him was his head." He took a drink and glanced around again. I was horrified. But he seemed to grow a little warmer as if something in him really wanted to reach out to me.

"I have files," he continued. He lowered his voice significantly. "The files contain the plans, schematics and instructions, the codes on how to build a solar gate."

"A what?"

"A solar gate."

"What is that? You mean a stargate?" Taylor nodded.

"It's called a solar gate because the original gate was meant to be built in our solar system. Now the technology and know-how to build a device to help people travel through space much more quickly finally exists. There are plans to build it soon. I used to work for a company called Futura Technologies. I was on the team that created the ideas for it and the instructions on how to build the device."

"Does it actually work?"

"Yes. The prototypes used for experimentation were destroyed but as of now, the solar gate can take a spaceship from one part of the Milky Way to the opposite end or any place within it. The first gate built would be powered by the sun. This first gate would be the Mother Gate and would reside in our solar system. The files also include maps that chart where other suns with planets in this galaxy are located, and where other gates can and will eventually be built. This thing is no longer a dream. It's here and there are shadow groups who want to possess it at all costs." He drank down his liquor. I looked down at my plate of pork tenderloin, fried garlic scapes, and brown ale. Suddenly, I wasn't that hungry. I pushed the steaming plate to the side and took a drink of ale.

"Who is after you? Do you know who they are?"

"A group who work for an unknown entity. I don't know much about them. I do know one thing. Once it became known that a gate was being built and that it actually worked, they appeared out of the woodwork. They won't touch me themselves, you understand."

"Right." I tried to take another drink, but I felt a cold pit growing in my gut. "Taylor, I don't think you should go off alone. There's got to be someone who can help you."

"You, for instance?" He said in a slight mocking tone. "Look, I've already said too much. I have nowhere to hide any longer."

"Who are these files supposed to go to? Are you supposed to deliver them to someone in particular?"

"No. They were supposed to stay on the project site. But everyone who was on the team back home is dead. I'm the only one left. I took the files and made copies long ago. The project leader, a scientist named Minh, he warned me someone was after them and he sent them to me secretly. It took a long time before they found out I had them, but they found me. They are people who lurk in shadows, my friend. No one ever knows who they are. They stay well hidden while they hire others to do their dirty work." And one of them apparently worked for Vartan Inc. and was on the delegation with us.

"So what happens now? About these files? What are you going to do?"

"I have a source who is going to take over stewardship of them. I planted myself on the delegation in order to reach this person."

"You know, I. . .I overheard a weird conversation today, Taylor. I think the chief financial officer-" he threw a hand up to stop me from speaking and shook his head.

"Don't get involved. You're better off that way." There was a series of beeps. Taylor went to his right chest pocket, ruffling around in it. It was his transceiver.

"I need to go back to my room. Maybe when we get to Langrenus we can have a beer together if I'm still here," he chuckled but there was an undercurrent of fatalism in his voice. And he rose, made an about face, turning around again as if he wanted to say something, thought better of it and left to take his message.

I stared after him for a few minutes before I moved. I had to let all this information sink in. I ate a bit of tenderloin and finally left the dining hall, glad for nothing to do until we arrived at Langrenus. I passed by the smoking lounge and pool hall on the main deck. It was called Leonard's, a pub-like place on board where people drank fine liquors, smoked expensive cigars and relaxed around the billiard tables. The door slid open and thick, musky smoke drifted out. The convivial laughter of the gathered crowd of delegates under any other circumstances would have been inviting.

"Bob! What happened? We were expecting you. We'll be eating in an hour," said Robin. But I was in no mood for it. I had completely forgotten about the itinerary for ship activities.

"I've eaten. I'm not feeling well right now. Flight fatigue, you know. I'm resting up."

"Ah. That's too bad. Get well soon," she said, trying to sound merry. Her eyes darted around nervously at first like two gnats and then her gaze settled on me and became unusually intense, searching me, as if. . . well, I don't know. It was weird. It made feel even more unsettled. What's up with her? Maybe I was being overly sensitive. Fred often accused me of it. So did Pam. It was frustrating to know when my sensitivities were being led by good instincts and when they were simply clouding my judgement and making me paranoid. I slowly headed back to my own stateroom, mystified with a growing sense of trepidation about the trip.
4

Arriving at Remus started off uneventfully. Remus Space Station, while not the only one, was the largest, most advanced and most cosmopolitan of the space stations in character and color. It was a great, oblong-shaped station with ring structures that spiraled around its main, oblong shaped unit. The main unit held the military, medical and scientific personnel living quarters, ships and work sites while the ring structures housed all other civilian personnel, organizations, and units; hotels, shops, markets, offices, private employers, etc. It was vast, with what looked like round plates on either end. There was one hospital, stationed in the main unit. Think a humongous version of Seattle's (or Seaport's) Space Needle. With several round saucers ringing its length. Its docking bays, with more being built, were nearly full. Not only did U.S. ships dock there but all ships that were part of the Western Hemisphere Space Alliance. Ships from Western and Northern Europe, North America, parts of South America, South Africa, Western Africa, Japan, Australia, South Korea and a few other Asian countries. There existed another space station on the other side of the planet where the other alliance ships docked. On rare occasions, there was interchange but recent aggressions in Eastern Europe and the Middle East put a damper on the growing peace relations between the earthly alliances.

I decided to follow a few of the delegates who wanted a chance to get a good look at the place. There was a shopping center which was still in the middle of an expansion, a few restaurants and cafes and small businesses that catered to the permanent residents there, both military and civilian. We went for lunch at an afro-sushi bar and a few cocktails and walked the promenade, gazing at the earth on the horizon. For me, in fact for all of us, it was a marvelous sight. It was actually right there, near the promenade where we went for drinks while watching the ships come and go and the encompassing blue horizon of Earth against the deep blackness of space, when it happened.

A courier mech made its way through the promenade before turning off and getting into a tram car. Then a great explosion rang out through the entire level. The floor shook and trembled as blooms of fire flared out. Two people were caught up in the flames. Alarms shot off and instantly water sprinklers came on and the airlocks throughout the station started operation to ensure no air leakage. There was smoke and confusion.

"What's happening?" Shouted one of the engineers from Aero.

"How could this happen?" Said one of our own, a systems analyst from Vartan. A good question. There hadn't been a war or a serious skirmish on Earth for at least ten years. The Pax Americana was holding. What enemy did we have was deciding to rear its ugly head again?

The fire department and a bomb specialist quickly arrived to put out the fires, assess the issue and calm everyone down. An emergency medical tram flew in to take the two, civilian residents that had suffered serious burns to the hospital unit. After Robin nervously herded us all back to our ship, telling us to stay there until they could find out what was going on, our excursions were cut short. So I didn't get to see as much as I'd wanted to see of Remus. Later, we found out that just after the Starbird had arrived in the docking bay that a small pod had exploded just as it was preparing to leave the space station. Luckily no real damage to the station was incurred and no one was killed. Whether or not anyone was in the pod was unknown and no information was forthcoming.

The lights on the promenade blinked and some of them had gone out. I watched the work being done to repair the promenade from the Starbird. Wondering. It was on the day we had arrived that it happened. A small, supposedly unmanned pod. That was before the Starbird arrived. The more recent explosion I'd heard through the grapevine was that this was a courier mech that had been destroyed. Many agreed that it may have been a malfunction and that a recall of most C-4 carrier/courier mechs would be in process soon. I asked Robin what she thought of the whole matter.

"I don't know, I don't know. I doubt that mech was malfunctioning." I'd happened to catch her alone at the time, walking down a corridor. As soon as she made this comment I saw several delegates striding toward us.

"Ah, we have a meeting soon. Don't worry about it, Robert!" She said animatedly. Her demeanor changed swiftly, leaving me confused. It was a far cry from her more somber tone just a few seconds earlier. What a strange woman! She was like a room full of cloud and mist. I couldn't understand her. I tried to find her and speak to her alone again but for the rest of the trip she seemed to have acquired the ability to not be around unless she was swimming among gaggles of people. So I gave up that curious path. Besides, she was young and inexperienced in the position, and it seemed to me that she was in over her head.

A door to a gravity boot shop and the staircase near the north corridor had burned down in the explosion but beyond such damage to these, the pod, the mechanical courier and the promenade nothing else was affected. When I thought about it, I wasn't so sure. After my conversation with Taylor Richmond and the disturbingly dark conversation between Teely and whoever he was talking to, I suspected that all of these events were related. Taylor had mentioned that he was meeting someone that might help him get the files away, hidden and safe. Who was on that pod? Was that the person who was helping him? Was there even anyone in it? I wondered what he would do now. No one would release any more information about the pod. News reports on Remus made mention of it only twice and after that, I heard no more about it. I felt danger was lurking everywhere. Suddenly it wasn't about losing a job or a career but losing one's life. I was growing afraid of my own thoughts.

I didn't see Taylor as he didn't come on the excursion with us. I checked to see if he was still on board the Starbird. I saw him briefly, glimpsed him making his way from the dining room on the ship. His face was sunken and pinched and his pallor gray, but he was still alive. I ran to catch up with him. It would be a few hours before the Starbird disembarked.

"Hey, Taylor! I heard-" I said, quickly looking around.

"Stay out of it, Astor! Or you'll find yourself on the wrong end of a refuse chute!" He flared and stalked away. I decided to heed the warning. There was nothing I could do and he was adamant about not wanting any help. I stayed away.

. . .

The Starbird arrived in the main landing port at Langrenus the next afternoon. Though you could only tell it was afternoon by noting the time on clocks and timepieces. Space looked like an eternal starry night, no matter the time. My mind, however, was not on the time of day. It was full of doubt and worry. If the delegation was being watched or followed it would be best to leave off any communication with him. I kept glancing over at Taylor who would not make eye contact with me at all. He had the look of a haunted man. Strangely, no one else seemed to notice or care.

All of us delegates left together with a small phalanx of security officers. I noticed today that Taylor seemed slightly less aloof and nervous. After the incidents on Remus I wondered at that. Carrier-labor mechs had packed in our extra bags on hover luggage carriers and brought them, following behind us. We were all suited up in enviro-suits, courtesy of EnLab, protected from the air and the temperature. We were guided by another courtesy mech into the cold ether of the moon and along a vast open corridor and down steps into several riders (dune buggies, actually) and were driven across a small stretch of lunar desert, in and around craters.

Langrenus was much larger than I'd thought. Even after seeing it on holographic video and onscreen back home. It reminded me of the painting of H. D. Warren's Recreations In Astronomy, with its sharp-spired buildings that gleamed silver against a black starry sky. To see the earth rising and setting on the lunar horizon seemed like some bizarre hallucination. As of now, the city was unfinished and large parts of it's southern and eastern sections were uninhabited. But the northern, western and central areas were brimming with activity and residents. Though it was growing fast, it was still like a placid, calm suburb compared to the mega cities on Earth; some mega-cities even spanned and engulfed entire states or islands, built on top of older cities rising through more and more levels until some cities had grown to dizzying heights. Some neighboring cities were simply made into one, such as Seattle-Portland (Seaport) and Crescent City-San Francisco (Cresco) and Los Angeles-Sacramento (Angelento). Which end of the city you traveled to decided what you called it, but these cities in actuality were swallowed up into mega cities.

Thousands milled around ports or heavy hover cars, some were riding dune buggies and small spacecraft to the mining camps and sites just outside the city. The city surrounded the outside lip of a very large crater of the same name. Langrenus was a series of high towers and semi-circles and circles around plazas, a city graceful and round like bellies and sharp like spikes with silver-lined skyscrapers and soft, white environmental domes filled with the right gas mixture to breathe. Getting out my binoculars I could see far off into the desert long tanks, as large as three story buildings and grouped together with air regeneration tanks that filtered the air in the city and cleaned it as it flowed back out again. Recycled air. Recycled everything. I had forgotten about that and then I glanced at Teely who was busy talking animatedly in the next buggy with an executive from Sunsee.

Sharing air with that slimy snake. He too, I noticed, avoided my gaze. I was glad of that as I loathed him as much as he loathed me. The air, even enclosed in our environ-suits felt cold around us. I flexed my fingers in response. I heard Robin mention something about the military base being built about fifty miles from Langrenus.

When the buggies had arrived at the Port of Marius, crowded with larger civilian class ships and small single hovercrafts and riders we entered the vast dome. Coming through the decompression room first, the first doors closed and sealed shut and then the second wall of doors inside opened. I could feel the temperature of my suit changing instantly to accommodate the temperature increase inside the city. EnLab really did make the finest, most sophisticated calibrated suits for space travel. And they were prohibitively expensive. My helmet's faceplate immediately darkened to the change of light as we entered the dome where it was safe to take off our helmets.

I took a deep breath, feeling and smelling the air around me. It had a different quality to it. It was hard to describe since I'm not an astronaut and this was my first foray into space. Temperature controls kept the environment warm or cool depending on what was needed and the air was slightly moist. I also felt lighter, as if slightly buzzed. I took a deep breath, loving every second of this new experience. The others seemed equally excited. Robin clasped her hands together as another woman came forward dressed in a white, blue and gray uniform with the Western Hemisphere Alliance and the U.S. insignia emblazoned on her arm. There were three rows of uniformed personnel come to meet with us, security and some administrative personnel. A few thin, graceful looking, silvery courtesy mechs stood with them.

"Hello and welcome to Langrenus!" She said smiling brightly.

"Hello!" We all said.

"Thank you for inviting us. A momentous occasion for us all I'm sure!" Said Robin.

"Thank you, Robin. My name is Penny. I'll be your host for your stay in the city. I'll give you a tour of the building campus we'll be staying in while we are here?" She said, her expression highly animated. Behind us, the labor mechs carried in our luggage and left, making their way toward our living quarters. We were led across a series of moving walkways near the top of one of the first row of towers. I looked over at Taylor who seemed to be focused inward and not paying much attention to anything around him. I thought about talking to a security guard here in private. The guy needed help and I didn't know what else to do. A voice in the back of my mind told me to listen to him and stay out of it before I just poured more hot water on him and myself, but that just wasn't my way. Something bad was about to go down. Who would blow up a courier and a pod unless they were deadly serious? I had to so something.

. . .

The next three days our schedule was very busy. We were able to see the city at work, from the security force to a few of the mining outfits, science labs, and the hothouse farms and we visited a department called City Works, which basically functioned like city government.. Overhead, cargo ships were flying back and forth between Langrenus and Remus Station. We were also brought to some of the uncharted parts of the city still being built.

"When it's finished, we envision Langrenus becoming a sprawling metropolis. It will one day encompass the entire circumference of the crater here. Perhaps even rival New York City. And as you can see, there is a beautiful view of the crater, where at times a mysterious natural light show appears." Said Penny.

"I would imagine the real estate closest to the crater's edge would be prime." Said one of the delegates from Sunsee. Penny nodded.

"Most certainly." She said. "If you can move here now for any reason and be able to work from here or work here directly and commute each week, do so if that is your desire. Once more civilians start moving here this area near the crater view will skyrocket in price." No doubt. I thought. We also visited a huge energy complex built by Sunsee where energy and light from the sun were being harvested to power the city, and later, future cities on the moon. While touring this place, I noticed that Taylor was not with us. Neither was Teely, which alarmed me. All the rest of the day, I could think of nothing else but why they weren't in attendance.

Later, we had a long break before dinner and I made my way with the escort of a copper-plated mech back to my own quarters.

"I need to speak with security about something. Is there a way you can show me where I might find a security officer or police officer?" I asked the mech. The mech gazed at me blankly for a few moments.

"This city is very secure, sir. Why would you need to speak to someone in security? Is there something wrong that I may be of assistance? I am a security me-"

"I would prefer to speak with actual personnel if you don't mind."

"I see. It is an emergency then?" The mech asked with patient concern. I shook my head and glanced around nervously.

"Are you all right, sir? I can detect a slight change in your body temperature and chemistry that suggests you are under some stress."

"That's because I am. I would rather you not mention this to anyone. I would like to speak to someone myself instead of having a message relayed for me."

"Please follow me. I hope this has not ruined your stay here at Langrenus," said the mech pleasantly. What is this? A hotel hostess? I thought irritably. The mech led me to the security station of Ray Bradbury Tower, which is where we all happened to be staying. I was hoping not to draw too much attention to myself but wondered if that hope just floated out the window. The mech approached one of the security officers at the front desk.

"Excuse me Mr. Burr, but one of the delegates says he has a matter that he needs to discuss with security. It seems quite serious," said the mech.

"Thank you. I'll take it from here," said Burr, giving me a quizzical look. There were two others standing there and they were immediately interested in what I had to say.

"Yes sir, " said the mech and went on its way. How do I try to help Taylor without making it obvious? I thought, berating myself for not planning this out beforehand.

"There were two explosions at Remus Space Station."

"Yes. We are aware of it. It's been the talk of the place," he said. I sighed deeply.

"Well, a colleague on the delegation has told me that he feels he's being followed or watched by someone."

"You mean followed here?" Asked the first one.

"Yes."

"Did he say who?" Asked another one.

"No. That's just it. He doesn't know."

"Which delegate is it?"

"Taylor Richmond. He didn't give me any specifics. Just that he felt that his life was in danger." The first one frowned.

"I can't tell you anymore than that because I don't know anything else," I said.

"But why would he come to you and not us or the police?" I shrugged not telling them the real answer.

"No one by that name has come to us about it."

"Well, he's quiet, you know? Kind of withdrawn?"

"You know who he's talking about?" Asked the first guard.

The others shook their heads, except one who seemed to be watching me intently. A little more intently than I was comfortable with.

"I wondered if you could just look out for him is all. He seemed afraid." I wondered if I'd just had his death warrant issued even sooner than it would have been. Again I felt that dark, scolding voice in my mind that told me that I had just done something stupid.

"We'll take a look around, check in on him and talk to him." Said the first one.

"Thanks. That's all. I don't know if the incidents are related."

"Probably not. Jihadist attacks have been on the increase again and some of these countries are now in space with us. That's probably where those explosions came from," he said. "But thanks for your concern. We'll check it out." I was beginning to believe they were related, but I had no evidence to back it up. I got the feeling as I walked away that of the three of them, two of them did not take me seriously. They might do some cursory check on him and ask him about his concerns but beyond that, I don't think they'd probe any further. I guess it's not like they could do a whole lot anyway. About going to the police - Taylor himself warned me off that. Still feeling impotent, I went back to my rooms to think.

. . .

We were at a gala dinner with tables brimming with steak, lobster, caviar, oysters on the half shell, salads and all types of delicious ethnic dishes and beside that, a table for drinks only, full of prosecco, cava and micro brews. On the other side of the room were sprawling dessert tables. So far, we had seen nearly half of the city and its most important mining operations and energy bases. The city was built by Vartan and I took a certain small pride in seeing its gleaming towers and domes that first got their start from the assembly room floors and labs at Vartan. But I had other things on my mind and even through the conferences earlier in the day about all the new exciting developments in store for Langrenus I began to notice increasingly that not everyone on the delegation was at the meetings and events. I never heard back about whether the security guards ever spoke to Taylor and never expected to, but it bugged me. This morning I'd decided to go and see him. No one answered from his rooms. Puzzled and with growing alarm, I decided to ask someone else about the matter. Or check back later.

After our lavish buffet dinner, we finished the weeks' activities by going for a walk on the Grand Terrace, a large boulevard of hothouse palm and tropical fruit trees, flowers and exotic grasses. The Grand Terrace was a massive garden-like park of three levels, a top garden with a long winding stair that led off to the main terrace park and then the lower level. It was built right on the edge of the crater. We were here to see the famed lunar light show. Here was the prime place where the city's inhabitants got the chance to watch the mysterious light displays on the moon. Known as transient lunar phenomena or TLP, often times the lights came up from inside the crater; soft, silver mists or sometimes green, blue or violet, and on occasion, red. Everyone brought their pin cameras. I had forgotten mine I was so intent on other things on my mind. Some jazz was playing somewhere in the background, it was a sight to behold, almost like the northern and southern lights back on Earth. People had come from all over the city as today was supposed to be one of the best days of the year to observe it.

I was stuffed. I had never had some much surf and turf in my life! I also wondered if the way we were eating all week was representative of what was available to all inhabitants or just the chosen special. Relaxing back on one of the luxurious, wide terrace balcony chairs I sat with a small group of delegates watching others dance below and carefully surveyed outside for the lights coming up from the crater as Robin talked with and another woman from NCO, the company that supplied the silly looking dune buggies that were all the rage out here. Or rather, suffered through her non-stop bragging. I sat sipping an IPA when I decided to ask the question that was bothering me for the last few days. Robin herself was nibbling on a shrimp cocktail.

"Excuse me, Robin? I'm sorry to interrupt," I grinned at the other woman, a self-aggrandizing chatterbox who hogged any conversation within earshot and turned it around to dune buggies or whatever her latest Most Important Project was. She shot me a nasty look, but I ignored her. Robin seemed almost relieved for the interruption, and there was something else. Dismay? Surprise? I couldn't really tell.

"But where is Taylor? I haven't seen nor heard from him in the past three days. Isn't he part of the delegation? Anyone know?"

"Ah. . .well have you spoken to him before, three days ago?" Asked Robin slowly. I heard grating, harsh laughter on the lower level terrace below, sounded like one of the security guards I'd talked to the day before. The one that gave me funny looks. His voice bugged the hell out of me. Phony, overly loud and pompous. I avoided looking in his general direction.

"Look, it's just a little strange is all. He was even late arriving at the space port back home."

"True." Said Robin. "I haven't seen him lately, but I've been so busy I haven't been able to pay much attention." Her expression was odd. There were things going on under the current here that didn't make sense to me and I couldn't put my finger on it. You're the leader on this expedition and you don't know where this delegate is? I thought but said nothing. I'd thought that at least raising a warning that one of the delegates was missing might signal to others without getting too involved in Taylor's business that something around this guy needed to be investigated but people were either too self-involved, dumb or. . .the other thought was unsettling.

"Just thought I'd mention it," I said. I set my beer down and just as soon as I did a serving mech picked it up and put it down his recycling chute.

"Another, sir?" It asked helpfully.

"No, thanks," I said in annoyance. I wanted to have another sip just a few minutes later. Now my beer was gone. I wasn't used to mechs doing everything for me. Lots of other people were, but my wife and I tried to keep our lives at least somewhat authentic by doing most things ourselves. Even our own gardening. I resented the mech's eagerness and efficiency.

"I think I'm gonna go for a walk. See you guys later," I said. Robin nodded and the other woman started up her dull conversation again. I descended the last flight of stairs. A monarch butterfly flitted from one of the tall trees. The top tier had been transformed into a temperate forest-like garden. Each level was a garden chosen from a different climate of Earth. The main floor was a tropical one, the bottom a temperate one and the top, a desert one. The air and climate temperature here were exquisitely controlled environments. I welcomed and silently reveled in the coolness of the air of the lower garden. There were fewer people down here, none of them I knew. Mostly residents of the city. I looked over the hothouse flowers; tulips, daffodils, lady-slippers, roses, clover, even dandelion weeds which were harvested for food at times, dahlias, hydrangeas and even a few fir trees. It gave me time to think. From the corner of my eye I thought I saw something flicker. I looked out the vast viewports as roars of appreciation sounded from the Grand Terrace. There must have been a cloud of dissipating light from the crater. I turned toward the center of the crater to watch, but I couldn't concentrate on it. Robin's reaction was highly disturbing. Why didn't anyone care about this man? Was no one concerned? At all? Well, he did say that his days were numbered and that should I get involved I would end up dead. Maybe it was best for me to stop prying. Yeah, right.

Some time passed. Not seeing more lights, I made my way out of the Grand Terrace and back to Bradbury Tower. I requested one of the security mechs accompany me back to my room. It was rather good at starting and maintaining superficial conversation for a security mech. But my mind was far away. I saw a small black wing ship flying over the crater. It looked like one of the new military fighters on its way to the base on the dark side of the moon. Two, fat shimmering points of light shot out into space from the crater, violet and bluish colored. The security mech made no mention of it. Neither did I. As we came to my floor I told the mech that I was fine making my way by myself to my stateroom.

"Yes sir," said the mech. "Will you be needing anything else, sir?"

"No." It turned and hovered off. I breathed a sigh of relief and went inside and opened the drapes to my living room windows to see if I could glimpse the lunar lights again. Instead, I saw something else. To the left and below was a small ship port. I watched absently until I noticed something strange. A lone figure with a mech was making his way toward one of the ships. It was shaped like the sleek black wings but it was red.

"Computer, darken windows, forty percent," I commanded the Virtual Voice.

"Windows darkening, forty percent," said the Virtual Voice. They dimmed enough for me to still make out what was happening but more difficult for anyone outside to see me. I went for my binoculars and zoomed in to try to identify the figure. He or she loaded some bags and luggage onto the mech. The mech made its way into the ship. The human figure was dressed in full enviro-suit and helmet.

Hmm. Whoever this person was they were all alone out there. It was probably Taylor. It was none of my business. I sighed and finally set the binoculars down and went to the vid com to call my wife and kids. I sat down and looked to see if there were any messages. There was one from Jonah. I called home and waited for a response. After a few seconds, the screen came into view and I saw Pam sitting right there in front of me.

"Hi, Honey!"

"Hi. How is everything down there?" I asked, doing my best to hide my deepening consternation with what was going on up here.

"The usual. The kids have been asking about you non-stop. You've got to send us some videos if you can. Especially the lunar lights. Jonah! Mary! Daddy's on the vid com!" She called. I heard stampeding footsteps running into the room.

"If I didn't know better I'd think we were raising elephants, Pam." She rolled her eyes and laughed.

"I know," I screamed at myself silently. I'd had the chance and didn't do it. I would have to get some video of the lights in the next two days before we left on Sunday.

"Marybear! Jonah! How's things down there?" I asked, ridiculously happy to see their smiling faces. Jonah saluted me. He had his worn out Captain Picard costume on.

"Everything here is good, dad. Isn't it, number one?" He turned to his little sister.

"I'm not number one!"

"Don't tease your sister, Jonah." Said Pam. Jonah's eyes shined with mischief.

"I take it the ship down below is running smoothly then. I can see that Captain Jonah Astor is on the job. How is school, Captain?"

"Oh, it's good. I've finished all my homework this week. We had a field trip to the Science Fiction Museum today."

"What did you guys do there?" I asked.

"We. . .fought. . .aliens!" He said, his voice making the last word a grand statement.

"Well! Good on ya! I'm proud of ya!"

"What did you do, dad?"

"Uh, let's see. I went to a lot of boring meetings, I ate a lot of good food, I saw the mining camps, the hot house farms aaannnddd. . the lunar lights!"

"Ooooh, daddy, daddy, daddy!!" They both clamored to hear more.

"What colors were they, daddy?" Asked Mary.

"Green and blue and I saw silver light and some red too. Very misty or foggy looking. Some might say magical. I didn't record video of it yet, but I will, and I'll send it home to you guys."

"Yay!!"

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Marybear?"

"Did Reese protect you?"

"Oh, he sure did. But there weren't too many dangers up here, so his job's been pretty easy. I feel secure just having him with me." I said.

"Good!" she said, beaming with pride.

"All right, it's almost time for both of you to go to bed." Said Pam.

"But mom we're not finished!" Jonah protested.

"Don't worry. I'll call you guys again later." I said. "Daddy will be back home in two days."

"You have to swear you'll tell us everything you saw!" Said Jonah.

"I swear it! Ay, ay, captain!"

"And don't forget to bring a recording of the lights, daddy!" Said Mary.

"Sure thing Marybear!" I said. Pam put her arms around both of the children.

"Go on, go on now. When I get up from here I want both of you to get ready for bed." She urged gently. They said their 'good nights' and were ushered off to bed. Pam came back to speak with me privately.

"About security. I heard about the explosion on Remus," she said in a hushed voice. "No one on the ship was hurt, were they?"

"No. No one on the Starbird was injured. It did shake everyone up though. As soon as we arrived in Langrenus they had beefed up security. You would have thought the president was coming for a visit." I said nothing of my concerns. We made a bit of small talk about aging and sick relatives, what she did earlier in the week and small doings in the neighborhood. Afterward, we said our goodbyes and Pam blew me a kiss and then shut the vid com off. Seconds after her image peeled away from the screen I got an electronic message: Honey, you okay?

It was Pam. How does she know? I wrote back: I'm fine. It's just that the CFO is here. You know how that situation went down. Talk to you later. Bye. I felt slightly guilty lying and cutting her off, but I wasn't ready right now. I would end up telling her what was on my mind sooner or later. She would find a way to ferret it out of me. She could always tell when something was up. It drove me crazy and it was also one of the things I loved about her. I sat back, swiveling in my chair for a few minutes. It was like a breath of fresh air, connecting with my family, hearing their voices.

"I'll be home soon and away from here, thank goodness," I said to no one. I sighed. I decided to go and see Taylor. To at least check in on him and besides, I was ready for a nice walk before turning into bed for the night.

Taylor was staying in Octavia Butler Tower. I went across the bridged walkway to the twin Butler tower, passing by a small courier mech loaded down with packages and a bag along the way, took the elevator to the twentieth floor and wandered down the hallway until I reached his apartments. I buzzed the ringer at first. Nothing. I rang it again. No answer.

"Mr. Richmond?" I pressed my face to the door. "Mr. Richmond?" It sounded deathly still inside. Somewhere down the hall music was playing. In a fit of curiosity, I placed my hand on the doors. They immediately slid open with a whisper. I stared at the scene before me in growing fear. The place had been ransacked.

Furniture was upended and sprawled everywhere, even ripped a part at the seams. Lamps and vases were smashed, clothes splayed everywhere on the floor. Even the drapes had been ripped down and shredded.

"Oh, God," I said quietly. "Taylor?" I called. But I already knew. And I couldn't help myself. I crept toward the bedroom and there, I found him.
5

I stood there, numb. I'd never seen a dead body before nor had I ever thought to encounter a scene of such swift violence. Taylor had been shot in the back of the head. Finally, tearing my eyes from the body I saw his suitcases by the bed. The body was lying on the ground at the foot of the bed and beside him were the suitcases. One was still half packed. Which meant he'd been in the process of fleeing. Secretly? Where? And then it came to me. The files!

"Where are the files?" They had to be found. I fled from Taylor's quarters out into the hall. I would need my eavesdropper. Someone had those files and what they might do with them could be frightening. What would they do with them? How do they even know the information on these files would build a gate that would actually work? And who was that boarding the red ship? I raced back to my own room to look for my eavesdropper when I saw the blinking light of the mail chute by the door. I went to the mail chute and slid open the little door. There was a small brown leather messenger bag inside. Perplexed, I went to pick it up and stopped short. What if it's a bomb?

"Computer. Please scan the mail chute." I said hoping my vague command would get the proper protocols started.

"Please state the nature and reason for the scan."

"Reasons, security measures. Nature; question. Is there a bomb or any dangerous substance in the mail chute?"

"Beginning scan," said the voice. After a few seconds, it came back with an answer.

"Quick security scan for mail chute is finished. There are no bombs detected in the chute. There are no dangerous objects detected." I sighed in relief and picked it up, unlatching the buckle and opening the bag. In it were a key card, a chip hard drive, maps of Mars and a video recording device. A mental battle was growing in my mind. Taylor had been killed and now I had a mysterious package sent to me. I made a decision. I took out the recorder and slipped it into an input in the computer console at the desk. I slid my thumb along the side of the screen, turning it on and chose from the screen the only file that appeared to be on the recorder's hard drive. Immediately a video came up on the screen.

"Hello." It was Taylor Richmond. He had that haunted, desolate look in his eyes that bored into me. "If you are watching this, I'm dead. And not only that but most likely the files for building the solar gate that I've hidden away for the last two years have been stolen. There is a secretive group who were making a worldwide hunt for this information. The files should not ever be in their hands. They must found before all is lost. I can't go into everything as I have run out of time. The assassin sent after me has reached Langrenus. I put in the messenger bag a remote which is programmed to the tracking device implanted within the files on the disk. If you can go to anyone who can keep it safe, please do so. There are too many people that I can no longer trust. Even some police have been corrupted, controlled by this shadow group. I know I sound like a conspiracy whack, but there it is. You have the proof that I'm not crazy," he paused. "If at all possible, though it may be too late and my idea too far-fetched, I have a ship here at La Luna port, near Bradbury Tower. It's called Phoenix. It will take you straight to where you need to go, on auto-pilot. Please listen carefully: The end destination is a rough colony on Mars. I only know it by the name of Syzygy. If you are still following me," I thought I detected a sardonic tinge in his voice, "you must track the files and retrieve them and anyone who has them in their possession. If this information gets to the source of the conspirators' group, it will spell the destruction of our home world - Earth. If you are to go, you must go now. The earth is moving close to Mars now. Do not wait too long or you will not have enough time to get there. The thief may already be half way to Syzygy. If he gets it into the hands of his superiors, human life on Earth is doomed. And please, do not go to the police. There are too many on the force placed there by the shadow group. As an organization, I believe that they are compromised and cannot be trusted." The video then went blank and I felt as if I'd been shot by a thousand arrows. I remembered the look in his eyes, even the grim humor in his voice at the craziness of it all. Then I recalled an old saying of my mother's: "Respect the memory of the dead." When I was young I used to think my mother was just superstitious but her words tended to be full of innate wisdom. Taylor Richmond was now a voice out of the dead. I couldn't ignore it. I looked down to find my hands shaking. Curse you and your curiosity! I screamed silently. I sighed and steeled myself. All right, Bob. The first thing you need to do is keep calm and think. It seemed the best thing to do. He had warned that the police could not be trusted. I feared using that option.

. . .

A dead man throws cold water on festivities. I did not mention the package he sent me to anyone. I'd gotten the feeling after talking to him in the dining room that I was wasting his time. Or maybe he'd just wanted me to think that. Obviously, I'd made a connection with him in the dining room or I wouldn't be in this quandary now. It seemed to me that I had been his last grasp of human contact before he met his death. I was on fire and who was that, out there on the small spaceport? A fleeting thought told me to leave it for someone else, say a prayer for the poor soul that had departed and in about two day's time I'd be back home. I would simply lead my life and mind my own business.

But the man had reached out to me, even from death. He knew he was going to die. He'd said as much that night I talked to him. Was the killer someone he knew? Did he let them in, thinking it was a friend? They could have forced their way in or slipped in. Were they waiting for him when he arrived? All sorts of questions poured through my mind. And then there was his pleading message. Humanity was in trouble. What sort of trouble? What was the big deal if another company stole these plans? How would that hurt humanity? And was Teely behind what was going on? He had to be. I thought. Teely, suddenly to me, was not merely a crook but a murderous fiend. I was willing to bet everything he had Taylor murdered and took off with the files.

In that red ship.

Finding my eavesdropper, I put it on and that night I went snooping. On pretense to go and get something to eat in the middle of the night, I took the elevator to the floor above mine and walked past the many rooms and luxury suites, my ears keen on anything. I eventually caught something. But the voices! I homed in on them, recognized them and slowed down. This time I could not fathom what was being said. What I did hear was what sounded like a foreign language; guttural growls and then low wails from several voices talking back and forth. I sorely wished Will was working the way he used to work and I cursed everyone silently for his demise. He was now reduced to a recording device. The voices were strange, almost beast-like and the very sounds made my skin crawl and my hairs twinge. I thought I detected the timbre of four distinct voices. Or maybe even five. Hearing movement inside one of the rooms spooked me and I quickly strode down the hall and around the corner as soon as the door to one of the suites slid opened. Ducking around the corner I made my way toward the garden balcony on this floor and hid behind a thick clump of wild grasses, looking around for the first exit off that floor. I had two days left before we had to leave and soon there would be a full on investigation. I heard footsteps approach and then recede. I sat, quiet as a mouse. I could not see who it was, but it sounded as if several people had come out of that room. I dared not move from the spot. Sitting there for what seemed like an eternity I finally peeked out between the huge pot of willowy grasses. Suddenly, I heard a faint buzzing sound. I crept back toward my hiding place when the buzzing sound came close to me. I whirled around to see a tiny insectoid-looking mech, something I'd only heard about. It was one of the various spying machines used by the military, corporate raiders, and unsavory types. It had found me and was likely preparing to send back information about me to its owners. Heart pounding and barely thinking things through I lept after it a second too late. It's body changed color and a keening wail began to emanate from the mech. I took a clay pot and with stunningly accurate luck, hurled it against the fleeing mech, knocking it from the air. I raced down and stomped it, crushing pieces off of it. I was able to disable most of its components before it could really get out a good, long siren wail. I picked it up and hurried back to my room. Sweat was pouring off me.

"What to do, what to do. . ." I said to myself pacing up and down. I glanced at the messenger bag when suddenly I heard a voice in my head.

"The Vartan Pragmatic Heuristic Impression Linear model is ready for service." I looked around for the source of the voice. Then I heard it again.

"The Vartan Pragmatic Heuristic Impression Linear model is ready for service." And it finally came to me.

"Will?"

"Hullo, sir. Will is ready for service."

"But. . .how? Where are you? You don't even have a body anymore!"

"Not yet. But I have my mind. I sense your excitement. Your pulse is quickening and your heart beat is very rapid. What is the matter, Bob?" I couldn't believe it. Will had finally surfaced. I'd thought the android forever re-purposed as a listening tool. But he found a way to communicate to me even in this state.

"Right! Look, a murder happened last night and I just got through destroying a spy-mech. Which I'm pretty sure is going to piss off whoever sent it." I took it out of my pocket and threw it on top of the messenger bag.

"Who was killed?"

"A delegate to Langrenus. I can't say much more than that. He had some important information that was stolen. Will, did you retain any information from the conversations I overheard?"

"Yes."

"Like the most recent one?"

"Yes."

"Can you decipher that last conversation? It was in a foreign language."

"I am not certain. I have to have access to a language decrypting program." I wasted no time taking the chip device and inserting it as one would a small hard drive into the suite's computer. I wondered while I was doing this if my room and computer were being monitored. I logged into a site called Dappa, courtesy of my friend Chip who told me about it and gave me his password long ago. It had an extensive database where nearly any kind of open software, code or information about technology could be freely downloaded, modified ad uploaded. You could also see real-time activity of developers and other users adding to or modifying the code. Nearly everything there was updated every minute. Searching for and downloading a language encryption program, Will uploaded it and searched through. After some time, he came up with an answer.

"No, Bob. I cannot recognize this language."

"Is it that it's encrypted or something? Is it actually a language or are they speaking in code?"

"It is an unknown language." I sighed in frustration.

"Well, I suppose you are only an embryo compared to other androids-"

"Former android," he corrected. "And all the more that I am unfamiliar with such a complex language. This has the markers of a distinct language. Not mere code. And none that I am familiar with." Will paused for a moment. "It is not ordered the way human or even most bestial ways of communication are ordered, nor structured in any way I am familiar with according to what I have read in the software or understand about the language I was programmed to understand first, English. As far as I can tell, Bob, it is foreign."

"You mean a little-known foreign tongue?"

"I do not recognize it at all. It is foreign, as in alien." I was silent now, taking it all in. I slowly sat down in a wing chair.

"Taylor was right."

"Taylor, Richmond. Delegate."

"Yes, Will. He's dead."

"Is Teely in this location?"

"I'm not sure. He's a delegate too."

"I ask because one of the voices in the room I recognize as his. The cadence, tone and timbre registers as his voice."

"You're saying what I only dare to imagine. That he was speaking an alien language?"

"Perhaps. Did you go to the police, Bob?"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Before he died, Taylor told me not to go to the police. That there are some who are compromised. Not that the entire police force is corrupt, but that peppered throughout different police forces in the land are agents of a shadow group. The problem is that no one knows who they are. If you go to the police on this issue, you reveal yourself to them. He said it would be dangerous to alert them."

"They must be very patient to infiltrate the police force."

"Obviously, yes."

"What exactly are they after?

"Taylor sent me a message about a secret project, a powerful new technology the world has not seen yet, only dreamt of." I paused. "Will, you mentioned that this language is not ordered like most bestial forms of communication. Why only most?"

"Well, if it has any passing similarity with animal communication, it would be with whale song though it is different."

"Whale song. I guess that's a starting point."

"What are you going to do, Bob?" Asked Will. I was silent for a long time, thinking.

"Get ready to go on a long flight, Will. I'm going to get to the bottom of the pot."
6

I studied the contents of the messenger bag carefully and then I packed all the things I thought I would need, including the broken spy mech. I was assured by Taylor's instructions that the little Phoenix ship docked here on the smaller port, called La Luna, was relatively easy to pilot and now that I had Will working again if there was a problem I had some back up. Will did have stored knowledge of how to fly a small ship, though it was not practical knowledge. My gambit was an insane one and I knew in the back of my mind that I had no business doing this, but the stakes were very high and considering how things went down with Will a few years back and what I learned from my own cursory investigation and from Taylor, I couldn't risk just sitting back letting others take care of things or sticking my head in the sand and pretending that Taylor was a nut job conspiracy hack. I'd believed him from the get-go. His death proved that he was telling the truth. Something stank on ice around this and I was determined to find out just what!

Having put on my enviro-suit on strapping on the bag with my helmet under my arm, I went to the elevators and went to the first floor and slipped out of the building and across the dome. I was on the pretense of visiting a local bar in another part of the city if anyone asked. No one did. I was quite sure that I didn't have much time to get out of here before it was found out that someone was dead in the Butler Tower. I trekked to the small port and climbed the platform, hoping this Phoenix ship was still among them. A little voice in my head kept nagging me about how stupid this plan was and how I should get right back to my room before anyone saw me.

But then another voice dueled with it saying I didn't have time to be sensible against those interested in hiding information. I had to get those plans back and wondered how deep this hole sunk. How I was going to get back home? I had no idea.

There were only fifty ships docked on La Luna so finding the Phoenix wasn't difficult. I climbed into the cockpit, closed the door and looked around in wonder. Screens were everywhere and there was one wide console and a large laser gun mounted underneath the ship.

"I'm gonna need serious help here, Will."

"I will try to do my best walking you through this. Either find a port to inject my chip into the system directly through or you will have to talk me through what you see on the consoles."

"Will do, sir," I said growing nervous. My heart started flailing away.

"Calm yourself. Keep calm and carry on Bob."

"I'm trying," I said. My hands trembled. I took Will and slipped him into a port. At first there was dead silence. Then the cockpit lights came to life and all the consoles started up.

"I think this ship is supposed to be programmed for auto-pilot."

"Good. Make sure you are seated and strapped in."

"First, let me take a look around. I wonder how Taylor got access to it."

"His procurement of the ship may have been coordinated with someone else here or back home."

"Who, though?" I asked. The ship had a small room for living quarters and two tiny bedroom units. And a rack with a small row of weapons; atomic rifles and short range nova blunder-busses, an old laser-dragon, all outdated weapons which I had no idea how to use. I didn't even know they still made drags and blunders anymore. There was food, plenty of it, it seemed, but not of the tasty variety. More in the form of nutritional meal pellets. Gah! There were filled water bottles and a large, filled water tank as well. If this ship was as fast as most space shuttles were these days, it would take me eighteen days to get to Mars. Done inspecting the shuttle, I went back to the cockpit and strapped myself in. I took a deep breath and entered the coordinates of this so-called Martian city.

"So where are we going?"

"Some place called Syzygy."

"Interesting." Said Will.

"Yeah. Strangest name I've ever heard for a place."

"Syzygy: A syzygy is a phenomenon where one can observe a straight-line configuration of three celestial bodies in a system. Also used to describe unusual configurations of planets in general. One such case occurred on March 21, 1894 around 5:00 GMT when Mercury transited the Sun as seen from Venus and Mercury and Venus both transited the Sun as seen from Saturn. It is also used to describe situations when all the planets are on the same side of the Sun, such as the event on March 10, 1982. I wonder if there is something to that?"

"Thanks for the science lesson," I said dryly.

"You're welcome."

"Wait! Don't ignite the engines yet!"

"What is it, Bob?"

"I see someone coming!" I unstrapped myself and hid below the seat. Then, slowly peeking my head above, toward the cockpit viewport, I looked out and saw a maintenance worker's back as he was retreating away toward one of the buildings, a carrier-mech dutifully floating behind him. It suddenly swiveled around and came close to the ship, floating around its perimeter. I saw a small searchlight slice through the viewport and crawl across the ground of the ship and flattened myself underneath the seat. I heard the man outside give a short command and the mech left off its surveillance and continued following him. I breathed a sigh of relief, poking my head up again and waiting until I saw him disappear into a hangar.

"We should probably leave now," said Will quietly. I looked to the right side and glimpsed the unfinished domes of the science observatories. Suddenly the lights to an alarm in Butler Tower flashed and lit up the sky with red white and blue. Which means it must have been blaring something terrible inside the complex. My heart jumped. And then a terrified, sinking feeling dropped through me. Will started up the ship's engines.

"All systems are ready for go," he said. I said a silent prayer thinking this might just my last action. I saw my wife and children in my mind and said: Amen. I would have to find some way to send them a message while en route to Mars. And I thought darkly that it might very well be the last one they would ever receive from me.

The searchlights seemed to grow brighter and brassier with each passing second. Someone had finally found the body. I was willing to bet everything was being locked down now. We'd reached the port just in time.

"Won't someone find it odd that a ship is leaving here without any security clearance, Bob?"

"They might but it's still the wild and great unknown out here, Will. And I get the feeling that security at La Luna port is lax for a very specific reason today. Someone else was meant to leave here without any security check. They left in a red ship."

"Which happens to be a good thing for us," said Will.

"Yeah. Don't count on it happening on the return flight home. If we return at all." As the ship lifted up and thrust forward I looked deep into the blackness of space as it carried us away from the moon. I saw the alarm system on the port activate and lights of bright white blue and red colors and lasers spanned the length of La Luna spaceport, as all of the ships were being locked down.

I was on an adventure all right. Just not one of my own choosing.

"Let's find out what's going on," I said. My tongue became numb in my mouth. I felt a slight pulling effect and the dull roar of power and energy over my body as the ship quickly gathered speed. As the ship escaped the moon's orbit all became quiet. A slight, blue aura ribbon surrounded the Phoenix as it approached near warp speed. I could feel the shift in the air pressure from the force of speed. All sounds were painful to bear and I heard everything unfiltered, from the roar of the ship's engines to my thudding heartbeat. I heard every little thing except my own fervent and perhaps foolhardy praying. It was probably going to be a long and nerve-wracking trip.

7

Eighteen days later.

I was asleep when I found the Phoenix orbiting Mars. I awoke to feel that the ship had slowed down considerably. The blue aura around the ship had gone.

"Have we stopped moving?" I asked groggily. I was now used to speaking to Will from anywhere in the ship.

"No, Bob. But we are orbiting the planet's northern hemisphere. You have been asleep for two days. I decided not to wake you."

"Thanks." I was feeling stir crazy after the first ten days of the trip and had to sedate myself by using sleeping pills from the medical trunk to keep from doing something stupid. My thirst was monstrous.

"What can you tell me from here about where we need to be?" I asked, taking a large drink of purified water from the water tank.

"I can't scan anything down there until I am on the surface, Bob." I scrambled over to a cabinet drawer and took out the maps from the messenger bag. I had studied these for a couple of weeks over the trip.

"Okay. This Syzygy place is near Hecates Tholis. At the foot of this range, here."

"Do you know if the people in this city can detect us coming?" People. On Mars. Huh. The comment stunned me again, for a moment.

"Maybe. You did say there was a cloaking device on this ship, right?"

"There is a weak one. It will not last long as it drains the power from the ship, so hopefully we will not have to remain cloaked for longer than thirty minutes. The location of Hecates Tholis is 32.12°N 150.24°E, in the volcanic province of Elysium, and it is the northernmost of the Elysium volcanoes. There is a plain to the south of it."

"It has trenches located in the area too?"

"Yes."

"If you can, help guide the ship near the trench, unless it is too deep."

"Yes, Bob." The ship descended into the rust atmosphere of Mars. The planet loomed like a massive, red mountain, its natural colors were so utterly alien from the blue, green and white Earth and its silvery moon to me. Even so, I was filled, not only with fear but anger. Mars was still ours. It was in our solar system. To think some other species had settled it was a massive affront and danger to human existence. I wondered how far along this city was. How large was it? How many had already settled there? The dark night of space soon had all but disappeared. It was evening. Nightfall was coming. I could see as the Phoenix continued its descent the neat patchwork look of a city from above. I gasped.

"Yup. Someone beat us to it." I muttered. The ship was guided towards a large rock formation that looked like a petrified giant from ancient myth. Soon the lights disappeared as Will piloted the ship toward a trench near a small hill. The hill sat in a vast plain that gave one the feeling of deep emptiness.

"I hope no one saw us," I said quietly as the engines fired down. The landing was slightly rough but with the luck I was having so far, I had no complaints. The idea of a "Will" for regular people like me who wanted to go space-faring was a grand idea. If it weren't for him coming along I had no idea what I'd be doing now.

"If someone sees this ship, it's all over for us," said Will.

"You're starting to sound more human all the time. You're becoming a worry-wart."

"Thank you," he said, sounding slightly pleased. I unstrapped myself and stretched, or more like tottered and wobbled around as the ship was finally, after three weeks of travel, grounded. I grabbed an air tank and attached it to my enviro-suit and then looking over the atomic rifles doubtfully. I took one of them.

"Are all of them charged up?" I asked, more to myself than to anyone in particular. I'd seen Fred use one on hunting expeditions, but I had never used one before and knew by my friend's experience with them that they could be unpredictable.

"No one's been using them for the past three weeks."

"Funny," I said dryly.

"It isn't a matter of humor, Bob. Merely a fact. They are fully charged up according to the ship logs and diagnostics information." Said Will.

"Do you want to send one more message back home to your family Bob?" He asked solicitously. I had already sent them a message telling them that I was on an emergency flight to Mars, giving them only the barest hint of why. I knew it would seem cryptic and even frightening to them but I couldn't risk telling them too much.

"Not just yet." I wolfed down three brown food pellets which tasted like bark dust wrapped in greasy gravy, drank some more water infused with electrolytes, made use of facilities, washed up and I was finally ready.

"I think you should wait until daylight, Bob. Out here, the light is fading fast. We don't know what to expect." I thought I detected Will's voice becoming faint, weaker with slight static wafting in and out as he spoke.

"Okay then, let me know when dusk comes." Meanwhile, though the ship's scanning capacity was weak, we were able to scan the hill and surrounding land and found no life signs in the immediate area. A small comfort. I took a long and contemplative rest. When early dawn ascended, right before the sun rose, I was ready to explore Mars.

. . .

Soft purple and pink light limned the horizon. I put on my enviro-suit with its tank and my helmet. Will's chip was safely ensconced, turned on and underneath my suit with the earpiece lodged in my right hear. He didn't communicate with me at this point, so I was basically on my own. Slinging one of the rifles on my back I opened the door to the back of the shuttle as the doors to the living quarters closed and sealed shut. The ramp lowered. Then the outer doors opened and I met freezing Martian air. I breathed in deeply, looking around. My skin was prickling with nervous excitement, expectation, and ambivalence. I'd found by fiddling with my helmet on the way here that I could adjust the color spectrum, even changing the view screen of the faceplate to black and white and I could adjust the viewscreen as if it were a weak telescope. I could also scan the immediate area for about three thousand feet in front of me. My suit's heating elements adjusted immediately to the temperature. The system in the helmet scanned various things; air quality, various gas levels, wind factor and temperature. It could also show me the progress bar of life sign - my life signs, whether it was low, whether I was in danger of losing air, freezing or not. So far, all systems were fine. My gravity boots at first made walking a clumsy affair but simply putting one foot forward, steadily I could manage it if rather slowly.

I felt more alone now than I'd ever felt in my life, yet evidence pointed toward the fact that Mars was no longer uninhabited. I made my way over a surreal looking desert littered with rocks as far as the eye could see. I could see the mountain, Elysium Tholis in the far distance. I was approaching the large rock formation, long and wide like a red fist, looking somewhat like Ayer's Rock except that its base tapered down and was thinner than its top. When I was beginning to doubt my own sanity on this mission my helmet registered approaching life signs. I lurched to a stop, tripping over my boots. I gripped the rifle belt over my shoulder tighter even though I had little idea how to use the thing. Gathering my resolve as best I could (too bad I didn't have any fighting Virginian blood in my ancestry) I lumbered forward, approaching the rock formation. As I rounded the great rock I saw a small group of tents within what looked like a high, thin bubble, a nearly invisible dome. Staring in amazement at these strange dwellings I nearly missed the figures approaching me. In a fright, I lifted up my rifle, pointing it at them. Sweat beads formed, making me itch under my suit. The figures, humanoid in appearance from this distance - they were about one hundred feet away from me - stopped immediately. One of them slowly raised its arms high in the air. They both wore long, deep hooded robes. At first I could not detect if they were wearing environmental suits of any kind. Examining them closer I caught a glimpse of what looked like tangles of wires and tubes wrapped around their bodies. But I could not see their faces. Only pairs of eyes gleaming from the hoods, reminding me of animal eyes that shined in the night. I heard one of them making a low, muttering sound. On closer inspection, their arms and hands were covered in what looked like gloved material that covered their skin.

"Don't. . .don't come any closer!" I stuttered. One of them got down on its knees and then the other slowly did the same, prostrating their hands out before them in an imploring gesture. I lowered my rifle and looked around quickly to see if it might be an ambush. Then I heard a voice calling.

"I am called Sworda. How are you called?" It was one of the creatures. It seemed more to hiss the words out than speak. At first I wasn't sure I heard it right. Then it asked again. It was the one who was wearing what looked like a collar of metal and polished stones.

"Who. . .wait? What?"

"How are you called? Your. . .name? Ou mu Gumsa? Your name?" The creature enunciated the words very carefully either because it had trouble or for my own benefit. Sweat was running in streams down my face and body now. The environmental temperature levels in my suit adjusted accordingly and I felt the cool currents of air wash over me. I began hyperventilating. It was speaking English.

"My name is. . .Robert," I finally said, once my brain registered that I was not going to be harmed (as of that moment.) The creature nodded slowly.

"Robert," it repeated. It pronounced the last "t" with emphasis.

"How. . . do you know my language?"

"I was once what you may call. . .how to say it, ah. . . linguist and interpreter," It said. It rose slowly, as did its companion, with its hands still in the air. "What are you doing here so far from your home world, human?"

"I. . .I came to find someone." They exchanged glances. What they were thinking was anyone's guesss.

"Ah. So you are not the one who is called Abor, then? The one of the. . red. . ship?" I froze and nearly fell over. Teely!

"How do you know him?" The creature looked at his companion and they both made some utterances very close to what sounded like growls.

"Abor is not one of you. He is one of us." They started toward me and I raised my rifle again.

"We will not harm you, Robert. We are not in league with him."

"Stay back!"

"It is too late for that, Robert. You have come to a dangerous place. Besides, I can tell that you do not know how to fire your own weapon." They approached me slowly, even though I continued to try and threaten them. This was to no avail. The first one with the collar stopped about five feet in front of me.

"Come, Robert of Earth. You and your kind have enemies here, but we are not they. If you are here on a secret mission, you must know what you are going to see. Where are you going, truly?" The creature asked.

"To a city."

"Syzygy?" The other one rasped in surprise. I nodded.

"Come with us. Or stay out here and perish." Said the first one called Sworda.

I followed these two toward an environmental dome near the rock. Reaching it, they merely slipped inside and bade me follow them. I touched the slightly shimmering surface of it and my hand broke through. Then I stepped inside. It was still dawn and they took me up through a climbing footpath up the rock. It was bigger than I had even thought when I first saw it from space. The dwellings here were a mixture of cliff side dwellings carved from the rock itself, similar to those of the ancient Anasazi, and of what looked like rawhide tents. They led me across the outer ledge and through a long and seemingly confusing tangle of tents and to a small cave ledge where apparently their own tent stood. I saw all manner of various aliens going about their tasks with expressions that ranged from indifference to mild curiosity at my presence as I followed my two hosts. Many were cooking, cleaning, attending to or fixing clothing, machines, weaponry or eating. I did not see any children or if I did, I could not determine if they were children or not. Nor did I see what looked like females, but then, I only saw the barest glimpses of external activity.

"Welcome to my abode, Robert of Earth." Said Sworda. I decided hence forward that Sworda was not an "it". I didn't get the feeling Sworda was female either though I could have been wrong. In my mind, I decided to settle on "he" for both of them until I saw evidence to the contrary.

Inside their tent, it was wide and spacious and lit with a few globe lanterns that floated gently in mid-air. The first one took off its hood, startling me. His eyes, which at first appeared like cat-like slits, now that we were in the dimness of the tent his pupils grew much larger and darker, almost like bionic sight devices. His mouth was a very thin line with hardly any visible lip and his skin was a dark bronzed color, shimmering slightly like metal. His face was very long and thin, more exaggerated than a human head and the only facial hair he possessed was a long crop of what looked like a dreaded braid of a beard. His eyes had side lenses that opened and closed. He unstrapped his own environmental suit, took down a contraption strapped over his chest that looked like a breathing apparatus, clicking it open and unpeeling what looked like a clear skin mask from off his face. Vapors came forth from the contraption as he set it aside. He motioned to me.

'This environment is relatively safe for carbon-based beings to breathe. As long as you are inside the Mantri circle."

"The mantri circle?"

"The circle outside that covers the village. The environmental dome. Mantri means life, in our languages."

"Languages?"

"We speak many different languages, just like your kind do. But "mantri" is a word of special significance, so it carries the same sound and means relatively the same thing in all our languages."

"Oh," I said, feeling slow.

"Do you have such a word like this?"

"I don't think so."

"Ah," he grunted.

"Right. So. . .the city. How long has it been here?"

"So that is really where you are going?" The creature asked. I nodded. The other one simply stared at me and didn't say anything.

"Why?" Sworda asked. I breathed deeply. I saw no sense in lying about anything. He took out what looked like a skin and rolled it out on the ground and motioned for me to sit. Slowly, I sat down. The other watched me closely. His staring made me uncomfortable, but I continued on.

"I was a delegate on my way to a city on the earth moon. There was a man there who had some extremely sensitive information. Something about a solar gate. He was hiding from people who wanted this information, but they caught up with him. These plans were stolen and he was killed. I suspect I know who the culprit is."

"Culprit," Sworda asked.

"Killer."

"Ah. Assassin." Sworda glanced at his companion and they seemed to be holding some silent communication between them. Then he turned to me. His companion got up and went to a tray sitting on a glowing light source.

"Why doesn't your. . .friend, over there talk?" I asked.

"Besides a few words he does not know any language other than our mother tongue, Hanga. It is the rare one who speaks many languages, such as myself" I really lucked out! I said silently and gave thanks.

"The assassin is Teely. I followed him here."

"Teely. Not his true name. Abor is his true name.When we spotted you we thought you were he. it is good that you are not, for we would have killed you." My expression must have asked the question of why because he explained further.

"He is our deadly enemy, Robert of Earth." Sworda's eyes grew even wider until they seemed to fill the upper half of his face. "The stargate, or solar gate, is a common myth among all the peoples of Eraut, our home world. Such as like the Great Flood on your world. Our race of people especially," he pointed to himself and his companion, "the Suwudi revere it. It is a part of the Sacred Way. Another race, the Miku, of which your assassin is one, also see it as a holy thing that we are all destined to achieve. We have been seeking a way to voyage the stars for long years. A way to shorten the distance between them."

"Like a wormhole?" I asked. He gave me an odd look, or I thought he did. "I don't understand."

"It's a theoretical way to open up the fabric of space in one place and travel through it to another point in space. It supposedly cuts down the time in which you travel from one point in space and time to another point, exponentially. Or that's my understanding of the concept."

"Well then, the gate must work very much like a. . .wormhole. And it is no longer theoretical," he said.

"You're right. It's soon to be a reality now."

"Listen. I am Suwudi Erautian. Among us, such things used to be a distant thing, something for the great stories of old. Among our children, it is like a fairy tale. You know fairy tales?"

"Made up stories that tell lessons. Derived from older folk tales."

"And more. There is truth in them. A map to truths about a people. Surely you must realize that? Erautians are very much like your own race of human beings: creative, intelligent, curious, loving. A need for structure, order, and building societies. Also, warlike, violent, domineering, always striving for conquest. Destructive. But we are more advanced than humans. Our home world, Eraut, has reached its end-world age. The seas have mostly dried up. Rivers, lakes, ponds are vanishing. Most of the forests and farmlands are gone. But our system of rule is so vast and so old, so ingrained, that to turn back time and to recover lost resources, to change how Erautians operate, how they think, to make Eraut better is a political impossibility and now it is also physically impossible. The planet has past the point of no return."

"What does that mean?" I asked quietly.

"It means that we now understand the true meaning of our legends and myths. They are the ideals of First Destiny. They have long prepared us for a takeover, in a grand way, that our ancestors had not even dreamed of."

"You're saying that a whole planet full of people are coming here to Mars to look for a new home?"

"I am saying they are coming here to take over Earth. This red planet is merely a stop along the way. The last one. The bureaucracy that exists now and for the last five hundred years would not allow for those willing to save their world to actually save it, for it meant turning a vast empire around to another way. Empires do not turn. They rise and then they fall. They are rigid structures that cannot turn back or turn circles around. So, they embarked on the one thing they knew how to do - look forward to more conquest. Our astronomers found this world thousands of years ago but it was only the last one- thousand years that we came to understand that Earth was not merely another planet but one that could, and does, nurture and maintain complex life forms, through their observation and study. A world blue with water and green with vegetation. Like our old home. They launched the Rebirth Initiative, a massive scientific and political undertaking, to come and take it over."

"No matter that we are here already." I drew a sharp breath. He paused.

"No matter," he said. I detected sadness in his voice. Perhaps it was my imagination.

"Except the distances between worlds stopped them," I said quietly.

"For a time, but not anymore. They are patient. They set off one hundred years earlier in a Mother- ship to get here. That first ship arrived long ago. I say they, because there is a great division among us now over the issue." He took up a large bowl of hot steaming liquid that the other one handed to him and he drank it down. Then he continued.

"They came here to this planet. Then from here they sent some to Earth disguised as humans. But this plan, as you see, takes too long. They needed a new plan. They had thought to send the first wave of colonists on the first ship to Earth to help prepare it for the arrival of the rest of the Erautians. When they arrived in the solar system they found that humans were more advanced and dangerous than they had first imagined. So they have had to tread carefully and move slowly. A scientist from Earth created the technology for a solar gate which would greatly shorten the distances over time of travel from sun to sun, world to world. When it was found out, of course they had to have them. So they stole them. Abor is one of the agents sent to Earth to spy on humans and sent to watch for and take any technology that may be of use to our people."

"And they plan to build the gate out here?"

"Yes. So that those back home may travel here in a blink of an eye."

"And what happens to us humans?" He gave me something approximate to a grim smile.

"What do conquerors do to the conquered?" That dredged up sorts of ugly things in human history I didn't want to ponder on. So maybe all those movies about aliens coming here to destroy humans weren't just science fiction after all?

"How do you know about this, Sworda? And why help me?" If you're even helping me. For all I knew, his friend over there could be preparing the seasonings to throw me in a stew. I glanced over to where he was. He'd left off watching me and was busy stirring something in a pot.

"I know these things because I was once a part of the mission of colonists to come to this system. But as I have said, not all of us are in agreement. Some of us prefer to be. . .independent of the empire. I came to help you because I do not wish to see your kind destroyed. You may see all kinds of evil before all of this comes to fruition, but know this, Robert - not all of us are out to destroy the human races."

"So you all came on orders from your government and you've been traveling on a ship for a hundred years?" He nodded. I stared at him.

"You must live a very long time," I said finally.

"I do not know. What is a long time? The Realm had an ultimate plan and once the plan was implemented, the Rebirth Initiative, many served and sacrificed their lives for that goal even before we left Eraut. You see, it became easier to convince most of the people to accept this massive undertaking instead of trying to fix the problems of Eraut by telling them it was the birthright by way of the ancient belief of the Sacred Way. Once the pontiffs, prefects, and monks convinced all that the Rebirth Initiative was truly the Sacred Way, most accepted it. There was a great war between those who supported the initiative and those that did not. Those who were not. . .loyal, to the Realm on the matter of the Sacred Way were eventually defeated, but not before there was great bloodshed and loss of life, which further threw Eraut into a faster spin toward planetary death. Even so, the idea was never truly stamped out."

"What idea?"

"The idea that to purposely wipe out another species in order to supplant them with your own is wrong. Evil, even. Among the first generation of colonists on the Mothership, or hive ship, some had implanted this idea in their progeny. Even through all the propaganda and indoctrination training some of us had had enough. So this. . ah. . outpost, you say, we stay here, we do not go further. Those brave rebels who secretly told us not to listen to The Realm and its lies, the ones that have made the journey a hundred years ago, are no longer with us. We are those born along the way. A new generation who thinks differently. Some of us, anyway."

"If this is the case, I've got to find the devil! If I find him, I may have already found Taylor's killer."

"Teely, as he is so-called by your people, may well now look like himself. You will not recognize him. He will, however, recognize you. You will need some way to hide yourself." He then said something in his own tongue to his companion who readily went to what looked like a basket, opened the top and pulled out some material.

"Cloak with hood. Most here wear coverings and hoods. Many here serve the Realm, many do not. Of those that do not, some are sympathetic to your kind like myself and my brother here, Gruwdal, and others are not. There are many different kinds here. Even some other humans."

"What?" I exclaimed.

"Robert, you are not the first human we have seen traversing this planet. There appear to be a great many things you do not know about your own system."

"Apparently," I said, rocking back on my hips on the mat. They fitted the cloak over my suit and as I put my helmet on the hood fit over it so that my face was hidden. If I didn't know better I'd thought I was a Jedi master. The other muttered something to his brother and then they both looked at me and then pointed toward my rifle.

"Before I forget, my brother says that once you get to the city, look for a place called Dynashan. Very important."

"What's that?"

"Named after the first owner of the establishment, who is long dead. One of the largest and safest places for travelers passing through. It is a sojourner's place. Where you rest, eat and drink and most important of all, get information. Several owners of these places speak several human languages. The most common are English, Spanish, Chinese and Russian."

"Information, right! Dynashan. Dynashan, dynashan." I said, committing it to memory.

"Also," he said, looking to the rifle, "you will not be able to use your weapon until you slide the safety hatch down." He said. I looked over the rifle, clueless.

"It is the shining part there at the bottom. Looks like mercury liquid. It prevents it from going off and also from powering up accidentally."

"You mean the silver part here?" I asked. He nodded and pointed again. I fiddled with it slowly and cautiously, feeling rather stupid. Suddenly, it slid down revealing a row of brilliant looking light beams inside. It still looked fully charged.

"Keep yourself hidden and do not say too much to anyone. Perhaps no one will care enough to investigate why you are here. After all, some are here for their own purposes."

"Thank you so much. You didn't have to help me, but you did anyway. The gratitude I feel, I cannot say enough."

"Do not thank me until you come back from the city, alive. Then we can sit and drink and talk and then you can thank me. And I must tell you, there is a growing population of wild creatures on the prowl in the desert. We believe they have been engineered and released from a laboratory in the north. We are not sure where this laboratory is located. Be careful." They bowed to me and I bowed slightly to them, turned and made my way toward Syzygy.
8

I could see the faint outline of the city now. It was like staring at a mountain range from far off. I could make out its thin environmental dome, shining at times, depending on how the light would hit it. It was a far longer walk than I had guessed. I made my way past strange rusted rock formations, small sinks and valleys and over hills through volcanic rock and oceans of sand. Light was slowly waning. After over two hours of walking, I'd forgotten an important thing about what Sworda told me because of pondering the fact that a race of aliens had crossed space to get to Earth. It never occurred to me that I would find anything out here beyond a superficial atmosphere and oceans of red dust and rock. I was wrong.

I suddenly had the feeling that I was being followed by the time dusk came but at first I put it to tricks of the light and my fervid imagination, spurred on from traveling an alien planet. I thought I'd heard something and suddenly turned around to find a creature about the size of a mastiff coming around from behind a large rock off to my right. My helmet registered this life sign strangely. First, it had not warned me at all and I wondered if it was malfunctioning, which sparked a thought of panic. Then it registered as an unknown category life form. The creature was stalking toward me at first but now that I had seen the thing it made no more pretense of hiding. It had the thick fur of a bear growing in large tufts down it flanks, but it also had scaly feet and terrible, sharp claws on its front paws. It's eyes were a brilliant yellow color, wide, mean slits and its muzzle was that of a big cat. It had long, slender ears like a lynx that stood rigid like two columns on either side of its head. It had long, frightening teeth, fangs like sharp knives. It came to a stand, swaying from side to side, gauging its prey as if deciding to toy with me or strike now. It's fat, wormy, ringed tail whipped up and down against the skin of a lichenified back side. I flicked the rifle to the front and raised it to fire. This movement seemed to enrage the beast and as I was fiddling with the trigger it roared, seemingly offended that its prey would even attempt to defend itself. It sprang at me with all fury, its cat-like eyes widening and becoming bright like fiery orbs. It opened its terrible maw, its claws poised to rip me open and sprang upon me and would have nearly opened me from throat to groin had my rifle not gone off at the most opportune time. The flare of the atomic explosives cracked and exploded into the creature's open mouth and one side of its head exploded into the air. The creature fell to the side and let out a blood-curdling wail but got up and made another ferocious charge though now greatly weakened.

This time my intention was no accident. It raised its paw to swipe the rifle away and again I shot it, the shot exploding into its chest straight through to the heart. Its teeth had barely missed me but the force of its paw was enough to cause me to lose my balance and tumble backward. It fell and slumped to the ground, dead beside me. Lying on my back with the wind knocked out of me for a few minutes, I was too stunned to move. As I came back to my senses I felt pain in one of my arms. I'd always heard from Fred and his friends who went on occasional hunting expeditions, that anyone using an atomic rifle had better be in great physical shape. Now I understood. I struggled to get up and when I was finally on my feet I examined the horrible thing that had tried to kill me. If it had not have been for the rifle going off at the last minute I would be lying in the Martian desert with my throat slashed out and possibly a meal for this chimera-like creature and its cubs, if it had any. I had no idea what it was but it did indeed look like it had been engineered and put together with the parts of different predators. Why it was able to wander out in the open Martian desert air and temperature without any life support baffled me. Perhaps the horrid thing had no young. Apparently, Mars was no longer the Mars we humans had assumed. Shaken but still alive and thankful, I pushed on toward the city.

. . .

Syzygy, like the out-dwelling in the desert, was also a city encased in an environmental dome-like shield that visitors could come and go through at their leisure. Many - people \- were dressed in garb like me, robes and hoods, some with strange looking armor-like suits hidden beneath. Most avoided eye contact. It was a brand new experience for me. Shocking didn't even begin to describe it. Through my own deep hood, I couldn't stop staring at the denizens. Our solar system was already inhabited by alien races and we on Earth had no idea what the hell was going on.

Remember why you're here. I said to myself. I wished sorely that Will could communicate to me now. Indeed, something reassuring. Even an android would make me feel better among these creatures. Many looked like the two I had met just outside the city in the cliff dwellings. Many did not. Some looked even stranger and to my everlasting shock I saw humans too. With my own eyes. A few glanced at me and gave me a knowing smile. Everyone carried a weapon or weapons of some sort so I was not out of place in that respect. In fact, I was beginning to feel a bit inadequate with just my one rifle. I was up against an interstellar alien empire looking for a toehold on our solar system. After all, they'd nearly destroyed theirs. And to make the journey easier to swallow to their people they told them that they were destined since the dawn of time to take over Earth. Convenient. I wandered down a long, busy street and felt the eavesdropper coming to life again.

"I hope you're picking something up, Will. I need you now more than ever."

"I can hear you. But the Martian weather interferes with how I can function. It is too cold here. My communications may not be reliable." His voice was slightly obscured with static.

"Good enough for now." I'll take what I can get. I slunk down a backstreet that lay behind several round domiciles made from the Martian dirt. They looked like large adobe dwellings and there were buildings of beaten metal scattered throughout the city.

The city was a wild tangle of unfettered, disorganized sprawl. Like chaotic groups of shanty towns packed in together sprouting with endless towers, wires and huge glow globes that I could only guess served as light for night time on the streets, and haphazard, jerry-rigged looking robots and nefarious looking people scurrying here and there. As I got farther into the city, traffic became more dangerous. In one word, Syzygy was daunting! How was I going to find who I was looking for and when I did, if I did, what was I going to do about it? Sworda told me there was a place that many travelers lurked or took their rest and lots of important deals went down there. Dynashan. He said several of these pub owners spoke Earth languages, English, Spanish, Russian and Chinese being the primary ones.

Dynashan. Apart from it being the name of some dead alien, I don't know if that was the actual name for this particular inn or if it was a rough-handed way of referring to all inns in Syzygy, was a wide igloo-like building made of both Martian rock and metal. The doorway was little more than a broad, life-sized vision screen that appeared and reappeared whenever a customer was coming or going from the place. As I made my way to the entrance a large, brawny looking creature with long, slimy tentacles from what I assumed was his chin, shooting grayish blue secretions came barreling out of the doorway and, giving me a menacing snarl, shoved me out of his way, and went on down the street. He'd shoved me back so hard that I landed on the ground and I had to lay still for a few moments to get my bearings. Reminder: never to pick a fight with that guy if you see him again. I made a mental note to stay away from tentacled people if the rest of them were anything like him. I felt a presence behind me. I got up and whirled around to see Sworda.

"I thought you might need help. Not good for a new one to be alone here." He said in his odd accent. To be honest, I was relieved to see him again. Strange looking though he was, he was now the most familiar face to me on this outpost. That was a small comfort.

"Well, I breathed, "that's good to hear."

"I know this place."

"That's also good to hear." I lowered my voice. "I really, really need to find Teely. Or Abor. Whatever folks around here call him." He grunted as if in thought, cocking his head to one side like a bird.

"Follow me."

. . .

We looked like two raiders or outlaws on the make, much like everyone else here. Sworda told me that there was another entrance to the place, a safer one and so we decided to find that one. This required a fair bit of walking as he said most of the structure lay underground. I began to marvel at the size and scope of what this dynashan place really must be like. His familiarity and knowledge of the place left me with at least half of my senses to visually and aurally explore Syzygy in better detail and it was sensory overload. Along the way, my new friend gave me a crash-course education on what I was seeing. There were vehicles that Sworda called gunners; one or two person vehicles with laserguns or missile launchers built in them and the city swarmed with them. They flew in just ahead across the sky, though the vast majority of ships that flew into the city came from the west. Creatures that looked what I could best describe as jerry-rigged mechs made their way along with other heavily armed creatures sporting armor that looked spiked, some had armor outfitted with metallic-like wings. Some of these creatures could even fly. Everywhere I heard a great riot of languages I'd never heard before. It clouded the senses.

We approached a tall, slender spire-like column of rock, a natural formation to my eyes. The front door wasn't actually a door so much as a doorway with a canvas type material covering the opening. My companion suddenly slowed his pace and I slowed mine as well. A few moments later we saw something ejected through the doorway. A creature that looked humanoid except he had long ears, with lobes that fell to his chest and a great span of faceted wings. He wore body armor and his skin was a violet color. He rolled over onto his belly and began to shake and tremble and then vomited something from his mouth. Then he lay still.

"What's the matter with him?" I whispered.

"What you humans call inebriated. Be careful of that kind. The Glia, they are called."

"What's the matter with the Glia?" I asked. He pulled me aside as we gave this creature wide berth and slipped inside the building.

"Their diet is strictly carnivorous. On Eraut the Glia were well known throughout history as cannibals when they could not get a steady diet of animal meat. Some of them here exist on bone marrow. It has become quite a. . .how do you say? Delicacy, for some. And they are very good hunters. Many people go missing and the Glia are suspected as the cause. Bodies found, drained of all their bones with the marrow, and even their skulls." I shuddered, a feeling of horror surging through me.

The dynashan was a cavernous place. What looked like a security guard greeted us gruffly with an outstretched arm to hold us back and I began to truly appreciate Sworda's decision to accompany me. Somehow he managed to say the right words. He quickly gestured to me and said something again to the guard who was a Suwudi like Sworda.

There was a large hole in the floor which turned out to be a long flight of steps that led deep underground. We descended. Inside was an establishment much bigger than I had imagined. I could see below us three security guards, two Suwudi, and one Glia; I could tell because they wore what looked like uniforms and they all carried the same strange looking weapons. I reasoned that they must have been the ones who threw the other Glia out.

The ceiling was lit with different colored globes that hung suspended in the air. They seemed low, but somehow it was enough light. There were no obvious tables or chairs. Everyone sat upon tufts of shaggy material or hide rugs around large, round, flat rocks that served as tables. In the walls were holes. I saw shadowed figures passing behind them.

"What are those for? Those holes?"

"Those places are for. . .other activities." He said with meaningful emphasis.

"They don't like privacy? I mean it's, I don't know. . ." I said, feeling distinctly uncomfortable. He shrugged.

"What need they of privacy? The darkness in the roosts is enough. Humans have an odd need for privacy. Humans from where you are from, anyway. I suppose there is some approximation of, ah, privacy here. There is a level below this one where those who are sickly and water-bound prefer to have their business conducted underwater. You will see only Miku there."

"So, how many races of Er. . Erauti. . ," I stammered.

"Erautians," he corrected.

"Yes. Erautians?"

"Well, we are as varied as you humans."

"But I've seen several different species!" I said. He sat back and regarded me.

"What you have seen are different races, not different species. We are all of the same species. And I know of no other alien race of beings besides my own except humans."

"But some of you have wings! And then I saw one with tentacles-"

"You saw three different races of Erautians. Races that have adapted over millennia to withstand the environment our ancestors traveled to when they traversed the world without machines. I am Suwudi. We love the dry desert places, hot climates or and cold tundras. My forebears came from the deserts of Eraut. The Miku love the water and they are born with gills and tentacles. Great cities they built under Eraut's oceans. The Glia have always lived in the high mountains and built cities in the air. They were the first to build flying machines into space." I saw his eyes darken and he pressed his thin hand to his chin. "And then there are the Fiorjah. Or were. They were beings of fire and smoke. They lived near Eraut's crust and near active volcanoes and deep within its vast forests. We believe they died out long ago as a distinct people. A few were integrated into the rest of the cultures of Eraut."

"Really?" I asked, fascinated.

"Yes. Those whose Fiorjah blood could be obviously detected are quite different and were once worshiped as gods. There are also many who are of both races, though the Realm strongly discourages such. . .mixing together."

"So if a Glia and a Miku get together what do their children look like?"

"It depends on the manner of the pairing. If the Glia is male and the Miku is female the child will take on the dominant characteristics of the father with a few traits of the mother. Such a child from that pairing would definitely have wings and the ability to fly."

"Could he swim?"

"Certainly. For long periods of times such mixed race children could even live under water for many days, but they would not be able to live under water indefinitely, unless, of course, the father was a Miku and the mother a Glia. Such is the case with any permutation."

"Fascinating. What about the Fiorjah? What happened to them?" He gave me an expression that I could not describe.

"We do not have much time, Robert. Let us forget talk of extinct races. Now, your goal is to find the one whom you seek," he said, giving me a piercing look. But I wanted to ask him a thrillion questions and didn't like being put off. Especially, I was intrigued by this Fiorjah race but I was not here as an anthropologist.

"All right. So what do we do now?"

"If anyone can find him, if any information can be found, it can be found here. What we can do is put the desire out that this one needs to be found secretly. Wait until we are served and I shall show you." I nodded as if I understood. There was a fan-feathery object lying on the smooth rock in front of us. He picked it up, ran his fingers through one side of the feather's vane. It turned from its pale, bluish-gray color to a rich, deep blue. He then waved it quickly.

"This is a magrit feather. From the magrit bird of my home world. In resting phase it is pale. Run your fingers on this side and it turns darker blue which means you want information with your service. Run your fingers on the other side if you want something else serviced. Leave it be on the stone if you merely want refreshment and food." I made note of it. Another alien, a lithe, Suwudi female approached. She was dressed in a long, white tunic. Parts of her face were covered in what looked like liquid metal. Under it she looked as if she were wrapped in tubes running in and out of her body, with fluids of all sorts of colors pumping and running in and out of her flesh. She had thick, black braids that wound around her head and hung down in coils and her ears, longer and slender, almost elfin-like, were studded with wooden ornaments from the tips to the lobes. My companion turned to me.

"Robert," he said, pronouncing my name carefully in that odd, clipped accent, "tell her what you are after." She turned her dark, large eyes upon me with a quietly expectant look. Thankfully, we were sitting in a dark corner which gave us some privacy. I sat up straighter and cleared my throat nervously.

"I need to find someone who goes by the name of Teely." She blinked at me and then she shook her head.

"I do not know, that name," she said haltingly in English. I tried to be more specific.

"I'm sorry. You may have heard his name as Abor."

"Abor," she repeated, her eyes flickering curiously over me. "That name I have heard, though not in a long time. I think that one owns a ship called the Ocun. Someone just two days ago mentioned seeing it coming into the city. If this is true, it may be docked somewhere on the north side. How long will you be in the city?"

"Long enough." I managed to say coolly. No need to reveal more than I had to. She simply nodded.

"Very well. If I hear more news, perhaps I shall alert Sworda?" She glanced at Sworda, who bowed his head.

"Actually, we will be staying here for a few hours. If you find anyone who has information, let them contact us here." He lifted up what looked like a small, archaic data pad and said something to her in their own language, to which she bowed to him slightly. "Or tell them to find my brother Gruwdal in Dorwe. Let the information come there, then." He said. "Also, bring us two jun. It has been a tiring day for us." He produced from his robe what looked like a small mechanical gadget of unknown make. She took this and pocketed it and bowed slightly to him and then left, disappearing behind a living shroud in the back of the dynashan. I could see shadows moving back and forth in this shroud of what looked like a wide column of webs and mists that remained stationary in the back of the cavern.

"Dorwe?" I asked.

"Our village you saw when we first met you. It is named Dorwe."

"Okay. Now, what is jun?" I asked.

"A type a drink that restores the mind and the body, my friend. Is it too forward for me to call you such?" I shook my head.

"Friend is just fine."

"Good."

"So, I take it payment here is in technology?" I asked.

"That is worth far more than actual money out here. Engines, machines, even broken machines, are very valuable. Plastics and other materials. Different metals, alloys. These can be melted down and the more important or valuable metals stripped out and re-purposed." I went for my message bag and took out the broken spy mech I'd destroyed in Langrenus. He raised his hand at me.

"No need. You can pay next time," he said. I put it away.

"You guys don't use money at all?"

"We use currency. It has its place here. But mechanical parts. . .and biological parts, are far more valuable and flexible in their use. For the kind of information we are seeking, if we had simply offered money it would have had to be a great sum or we would have been thrown out."

The drinks came served by a serving mech. The mechs here were not the sleek, sterile minimalist robots of Earth or its satellite space and moon colonies but tended to have a ramshackle, some even a frighteningly weird biological essence to them. As if they were made with both mechanical and animal parts. Thankfully, our serving mech was simply a small, roundish robot with an extender and a tray. Nothing scary there. The drinks came in what looked like tall, thin, hand molded clay flutes. My companion drank his down quickly and then set the flute down upon the stone. I groaned inwardly. It was all too much for me. I counted silently to three and perceived that my friend was silently chuckling at my trepidation. I thought I saw humor twinkling in his eye.

"Other humans have drunk it, Robert. It shall not kill you. There is a version of it on your world." I sipped it. It tasted bitter at first. I took another sip and it changed from bitterness to sweetness. I drank it down. The liquid was dark and tasted of chicory root. It was slightly sweet and even lightly carbonated. The bitterness in the beginning was eventually washed away.

"Well, that wasn't too bad," I said, relieved. Just as he said, I felt as if I were being lifted up. A tingling sensation of sudden clarity that turned into a blinding lightness consumed my mind for a few moments and then I felt much stronger and energized.

"Whoa!"

"Didn't I tell you?" He said, grinning.

We spoke in low tones as the crowd grew larger. He quizzed me about my home world culture, America, and I quizzed him about his.

Sworda's people were from a planet that was dying. They now sought Earth for their new home. The first ship, formerly called the Mothership in older times, now called a hive ship, brought them here and had traveled for nearly a century. Those born on that ship, Sworda being one of the generations that were ship-born and not born on Eraut, were inculcated with the belief of First Destiny of the Sacred Way. It was all basically the same thing; First Destiny, The Sacred Way or the Rebirth Initiative. It all meant big trouble for humans on Earth. The few nuanced subtleties I'd picked up on were this: those that used the term "The Sacred Way" were very religious. Those that used the term "First Destiny" were the keepers and movers of culture and the political apparatus of Erautian societies. The Rebirth Initiative was a scientific term for both. All came under The Sacred Way, the foremost term used in this planned takeover. I learned that there was a small but growing contingent of people on that ship that were unwilling to go along with this plan. Though it was ingrained in the culture and religion had prepared them to accept it and science had made it possible to begin implementing the plan, though there had been a war to stop it on the planet many years prior, and the rebels thought stamped out, a new generation of rebels had appeared. Not all saw this takeover as moral or even their destiny. Away from the direct domination of the Realm, they wanted to control their own lives, make their own futures. On Mars, they would have a chance and there was a pitched battle separating the aliens into two sides on the hive ship. Later on Mars, they separated out into even more disparate groups: the loyalists and the rebels were the two general sides. Then there were the loyalists that supported the Realm and its plans to take over Earth, the separatists who wanted to build their own nation apart from the Realm on Mars, and independents; those that wanted no law or boundaries to restrict them. The independents liked things on Mars as they were. Chaotic, wild and dangerous and there was a large criminal element within this group, according to Sworda.

"But why would you go against your own people? What's in it for you and the others?"

"Does anything have to be in it? Anything material? It is the principle of the matter!" He said. He curled back against the cushion rug. "It has become imperative to face this down because more ships are coming. The first ship was merely the test ship, to see if we could even make the vast voyage across the galaxy. Always, they use their own people as animals to be tested, sometimes to horrific results. We survived the trip, fortunately. We do not know if this rebel idea has taken hold on the other ships. In fact it, probably has not. Ships full of many thousands of loyalists are coming," he said darkly, folding his hands. Then he gazed at me again.

"I will tell you. We want independence from the Fist. They call themselves the Realm. We call them by what they do! The Fist is the all domineering government of the Realm, where the nine princes rule like gods. Their word is law. It has been that way for over ten thousand years. For ages they have dictated our every move, how we think, dictated the rise and fall of leaders, cultures, cities and nations on Eraut."

"Who are the princes?" I asked. He nodded. A grimace clouded his face.

"The Realm. . .the Fist, are a council of nine ruling royal princes of our people. They are not elected but born into the position from nine noble families. I am one of the eldest of the generation that first openly rebelled against them by daring to disagree with their vision of the future. Now that we are so far away from the seat of government, some of us have decided that perhaps we do not want to follow the course they have laid out for us. We have seen humans, when not controlled by overbearing rulers, live their lives with some modicum of independence. You do not know how precious it is to choose your own destiny when you live, work and breathe under constant stricture, domination and thought-control. We have our own minds and destinies. Therefore, we do not go along with this plan to obliterate or enslave humans."

"You mentioned that more ships are coming. What will you do if and when the rest get here?"

"We are trying to figure that out now. We will find a way to fight them. But that will be a ways yet. They are many ages of years off."

"There are only thousands coming? Seems like the population has greatly dwindled." Good odds for us. I thought darkly.

"Oh no. There are hundreds of thousands coming across the galaxy in the ships but millions are still on the dying Eraut, waiting for salvation. The planet has not gone through complete collapse yet. That will be within one hundred years. Those still left on the planet await the time when we will have the ability to retrieve them. They work feverishly on a technological breakthrough to make it possible. They have come close several times."

"Which is why the solar gate is so important," I said.

"If they have access to the files of the solar gate, that will shorten travel almost instantly. Then those of us who have rebelled and you humans, will not stand against them." This last made the pit in my stomach twist in knotted pains.

"Yes," I said sadly. Abruptly there was a small serving mech that came and stood by us. It dropped something that looked like a large key-card onto the flat stone and then left.

"What's this?"

"The start of the information we seek. It is dangerous, what we do now, Robert of Earth. We don't know if it is. . .reliable."

"Then why trust it?"

"Do you have a better idea? It is all we have for now." He picked it up and slipped it into the bottom of his data pad device. He then touched the surface and the device came to life with color, symbols and letters I couldn't read. Fingering the screen, it went white and then what looked like two tiny rows of pictographs appeared. He glanced up at me.

"We are to meet one called Judzou, a merchant trader. Runs a profitable business near the outskirts of the city. He says he may know something."

"After all this bad news Sworda, that's good to know!"

"Then let us go, and know what we can know."
9

We made our way through the tangle and mayhem. I wondered again what my wife and my kids were thinking. What were they doing? They must be frantic! I suddenly felt the painful knot in my stomach grow over the guilt and anxiety. I needed to get another message out. Will had remained silent all this time and had me wondering if he was still online or broken. I caught the faintest glimmer of the biosphere in the air over the city, keeping the breathable air and drinkable water inside. I had nearly forgotten that without it I and possibly most of the other denizens of this strange place would be dead. It was so easy to let my mind drift and to immerse myself in this "alien" world.

Stay on target. You are here to find those files. Make Taylor's death mean something. Worry about everything else later.

After a fair bit of walking we came to a neighborhood that looked more modest and sparse, not as densely populated. It looked as if the rambling sprawl of the city was stretching out toward it. The buildings here were lower to the ground, squat looking. We approached a dome-shaped building made of red rock and sand. It looked somewhat like a large igloo, like many buildings here. The doors slid open and closed as prospectors came out. As we walked in, I could smell the odor of old things. Old, discarded tanks, rusted metal, worn out leathers. And other unrecognizable odors. It felt like an antique shop, yet the things here were so strange, marvelous and similar that I felt I'd walked into a wonderporium. At the counter sat a very portly, intimidating creature (most of the aliens around here were intimidating to me) with tiny, yellow eyes, short tentacles and a beard of black, wiry, bristly hairs beneath those tentacles, hanging from the bottom of his face. He reminded me of something between a hippo and a walrus. And a human. That's the best I could come up with. He moved, or rather, slid and waddled toward the front of the counter. He looked from Sworda to me and then back to Sworda.

"Good health to you, Judzou," Sworda said, glancing around.

"Good health to you, Sworrrda. No need forrr looking about, my frrriend. Business is slow today. No one else in herrrre," the fat alien said, and then he made a sudden call that sounded like a bark. A small mech entered. I nearly jumped ten feet in the air at the sound.

"What is the matterrr with yourrr frrriend?" Asked the alien, studying me with those little yellow eyes.

"He is brand new. Unaccustomed to our people and ways as of yet. Do not worry over him," said Sworda. Judzou grunted and turned his gaze away from me. A labor mech walked in from behind a back room, making its way toward him.

"Stay at the counterrr. We have business to discuss," he said to the mech. The mech warbled an acknowledgment and took up station at the counter.

"Come this way," he said, glancing curiously at me again. I suddenly felt even more self-conscious and anxious than before. Was this creature trustworthy or was he going to betray us? Sworda seemed to know him, but I didn't. Nor did I know much about Sworda. I was walking in blind to everything. My mind flew with all sorts of horrible scenarios. But what other choice was there now? I'd already made my decision after watching Taylor's video. I breathed in and out deeply to calm myself, trying not to drown in my crash course in Alien Culture and Society 101. We went down a short corridor into a musty smelling back room. In another room, I caught a glimpse of what looked like a large tank full of bright, glowing liquid. Odd looking apparatuses and hoses waved quietly in the liquid. A soft hum emanated from the tank. A long, wet trail led out from this room and down the tiny corridor and out to the front room. As the doors slid closed the creature waddled to a massive chair and sat down. The smooth rock floor under him was shining with water moisture.

"So, Sworrrda. You need inforrrmation about a ship."

"My friend here is looking for a specific ship."

"I know. Verrry imporrrtant." I now noticed how he rolled his r's slowly. His words came out more like a growl as he spoke.

"Forrr Aborrr and his Ocun. Tell me, why do you seek him, human?" He asked me.

"I have my reasons." I tried to sound tough. I wasn't convincing to myself or anyone else, though. His voice rumbled with a deep belly laugh.

"Trrruly though. If you expect inforrrmation in Syzygy then you must give it," he said. "Information, like metal, is good currrency." He said this last word with special emphasis. Sworda gave me a sidelong look.

"I do have some machinery-"

"As you see arrround you, I have morrre than enough metal and parrrts. I need no morrre, unless you have something exotic. Such as a hive mech," he said. I had no idea what a hive mech was and I thought I detected disdain in his voice. I sighed.

"Honestly, he has been hiding on my planet for a long time, undercover as chief financial officer of the corporation I work for. He has stolen extremely sensitive information, files that I need to recover." The creature shrugged.

"Many people steal many things."

"I also believe that he has murdered for these files. I must get them back, or at the least, find them and destroy them." I was reluctant to say anymore, thinking that I had already given away too much. I didn't know this creature and had no idea if I could trust him. Sworda, on the other hand, seemed quite comfortable.

"Murrrderrrr?" The alien pronounced this slowly as if it were a foreign word. "I do not underrrstand."

"What is meant," said Sworda, "is a man was slain for this information."

"People die everrryday. What is that to me? This inforrrmation. What does he plan?" I looked at my friend and he glanced at me, but neither of us said anything at first.

"All I know is that he has stolen something that was not his to have. It will become a dangerous weapon to all of us, in the wrong hands." I said simply.

"A powerful shift of the balance of power in this system will occur if these files are not found. One that will not favor those of us who want independence from the Realm," said Sworda. The alien's complexion darkened after he said this. Sworda went on. "I know you are like me in this, Judzou. If the princes and their supporters have their way, this place will no longer be, and all of us here will be enslaved or slaughtered." Said Sworda. The creature seemed to ponder this a long time, looking slowly from me to Sworda. He rumbled something incomprehensible. Then he spoke in English again.

"Aborrr is a trrrue loyalist if I have everrr known one. I do not wish the Rrrealm's rrrule to rrreach herrre. But how will this information empowerrr them? They arrre ages from herrre. How would they exerrrt contrrrol overrr us beforrre we have built a solid powerrr base?"

"Their long, outstretched hands will reach here very quickly instead of many years in the future. The information we seek is highly advanced technology, instructional plans to build a stargate," said Sworda. Judzou made a surprised, distressed bark.

"Yes, my friend," Sworda continued. "It is no longer a dream along the path of the Sacred Way. It is said this device can actually be built. The means, the will and the knowledge, all exist now. With this gate, what would have taken many, many years of travel will take only days or even hours." The creature exhaled sharply. Bloody looking mucous bubbled and fizzed at the end of his short, fat tentacled appendages.

"This cannot be!"

"But it is. Otherwise Abor wouldn't have killed for the information." I said.

"Calm yourself, Judzou. Do not tax yourself and die on us. If you know something about where Abor is, it is important that we know," said Sworda. The Miku said something I couldn't understand but it sounded like a curse. My friend nodded.

"Usually I would rrrequirrre some forrrm of payment. But I am no supporrrterrr of those of the Rrrealm of Prrrinces. We cannot allow it! We face death if Aborrr succeeds."

"Then he must not be allowed to succeed," I said. The Miku grunted, his yellow eyes becoming an intense, near white-golden color as he stared at me.

"This is wherrre I last saw the Ocun, and Aborrr's last known location. . ."
10

The Ocun was a brand new ship. Mx scout class, by my own reckoning. Mx scouts, though they looked identical to Blackwings, weren't military but used by diplomats or powerful private citizens. Judzou said it was last seen stationed near a place called The Dagger, north of the city. On our own data pad tracking system there was a motion map of Mars and this spot, according to the map I had, was near Tharsis Montes. This place called The Dagger in English was called Thakin by the aliens. According to Judzou, Thakin was a small base settled inside the dead volcano. Thakin was the beginning, the Miku said, of what he and a few others suspected was a secret military base of operations.

What I understood was that everyone here was fighting to make a name for themselves and to claim supremacy.

Now we had to find a way to get there. Sworda said he knew a way to travel there for free. My new found friend managed to secure a ride on a huge freight roadster, or a man-made, low flying ship. We hid in the shadowy depths of a corner near a warehouse watching some workers load up the freight roadster. When the ramp lifted and closed and the ship was nearly ready to move, he climbed aboard a thin ledge round the back and grabbed hold of a guard rail. He urged me to do the same. I shook my head, thinking we'd get caught.

"It is the only fast way to get there. Otherwise, we will be walking all day and half of the night!" He hissed. Finally, I built up my nerve and climbed along side him just as the roadster's engines were roaring to life. It took all my energy and might to hold on. Sworda croaked with laughter and held my back up to keep me balanced so I didn't fall off.

"You do this all the time?" I yelled over the roar of the ship's engines.

"Only when I'm feeling cheap!"

"This is like catching the sonic trains back home! Dangerous as hell!"

"Only if they shoot us!"

"They'll shoot us?" I yelled. He grinned.

"Only if they catch us! We are almost at the northern border! We will be long gone before they realize they are carrying extra weight and investigate the matter." I was not amused.

We were heading toward the edge of the biosphere and with a slap on the back by Sworda, I followed him as we jumped off the ledge of the ship. It climbed higher and higher off the ground before slipping through the biosphere and heading for the wide evening sky. Our robes helped break our fall and there we were, standing right by the northern edge of the city. I followed Sworda as he quickly scrambled up a wide piece of flat rock on a large hill from which we could to survey the area on its small summit. Just at the foot of the hill were a small group of cream and gray colored domiciles. I took out my binoculars from my bag to survey the area around Tharsis Montes.

"It looks bare." I said.

"Bare?"

"Deserted."

"Deceptive. There is certainly someone there. Have you noticed mechs here in the city?"

"Yeah?"

"Not all of them function as mere toilers over mundane things. Some of them are used for espionage."

"Spy drones?"

"Yes. And these spies often look like ordinary mechs."

"How can you tell?" I asked.

"Usually if you sit and observe them, you can spot them. They move and behave differently from ordinary mechs. They possess a fluidity and a light-flash speed ordinary mechs do not possess. And some have noted that these particular mechs come back here. No others do. This is why some believe this is a secret base where they report back information."

"Why do they keep such a small presence here?"

"All things are not, how to say? Ducks in a row, yet. And the bulk of their fleet is still many ages of years away. They may be awaiting this information Abor has stolen to make their invasion of this system possible."

"And how do we get in?"

"Of course, how to get in. I am not sure, yet." He said quietly. He placed a long, thin hand to his chin, tapping it absently.

"I see the ship here, just on the other side, the north side of The Dagger. But we do not know if the files are even still in the ship," he said.

"And then, what if someone is still on the ship?" I asked.

"That is possible. But it is likely that he is in the complex now. But why land it near the complex? He is there, perhaps to refuel and perhaps there are living quarters in there as well. No one I know personally has been inside."

"So, how do we get into the ship?"

"You mean, how do you get into the ship," he corrected.

"Right." I said dryly.

"We observe. Watch the mechs that come to this place. They might give us clues."

That's what we did. We sat back in a small cave to wait it out until late evening. About two hours had passed when something finally came back.

In all that time it seemed that the place was deserted, like ancient ruins, even. I was ready to fall asleep until a hand on my shoulder jolted me awake.

"There!" He whispered. I strained to see what he was referring to and then I saw it. It was a small, unassuming mech, gray metal with softly pulsing blue and violet lights like beams emanating from its head. It made its way deliberately toward The Dagger, moving like a wary animal against the deepening sky. It made its way outside the environmental dome of the city, creating a slight bluish flicker of light movement in its wake as it passed through into the harsh Martian air. I still had my eavesdropper and decided to turn it on, hoping it was back online. The ship and the complex itself sat just four hundred yards outside Syzygy's environmental dome. I checked my helmet and my suit's oxygen tanks to make sure everything was still working properly, otherwise it would be a very short and hideous mission. Even so, I couldn't help but notice the stark and beautiful desert of Mars at sunset. As Sworda pulled on and sealed closed his own breathing apparatus to ready himself to leave the biosphere I watched the mech through my binoculars. It did not actually go into the complex but toward the Ocun. The ship suddenly opened its docking bay, lowering it. Bright white running lights lit up as the mech crept up the short corridor and into the ship. The ramp lifted back up and closed. Suddenly, I decided to try something.

"Will. Are you there?" I whispered. At first there was no sound. I spoke again.

"Will, are you there?" Sworda gazed at me. Finally an answer came in, low and faint.

"I am here."

"Do you think you can read life signs ahead of us?"

"I can only determine life signs when I am working at sixty percent capacity and above. In this mode I am an eavesdropper, only."

"Okay." I said, sighing heavily. I turned to my companion. "Sworda, I have a small device in my ear that can help me to hear things better." He nodded but I am not sure if he truly understood. I didn't elaborate further. After all, he might get the notion to ask me for it to use it in order to pay for our return trip.

"Here goes." I steeled myself. I shifted my rifle along my back. We made our way carefully down the small hill toward the ship, my heart flailing away like wings. After slipping outside of the dome, any sound made us stop, listening for any other intruders besides ourselves. Such as wild, roaming chimeras. When we almost reached the edge of the ship, Will came up again. He'd detected something.

"There are two voices inside the ship." Will's voice receded and then I could hear that same clipped, harsh, alien voice I'd heard back on the ship going to the moon. There was also a second voice which was weaker and sounded as if it came from or through an intercom channel full of static. Someone was communicating to another person on this ship from far way.

The ship itself was an elegant thing, if I had to say so. It was of sleek, gleaming red metal, shaped with smooth lines like a sea animal of some sort. It must be German made. Maybe Italian. As we drew closer I detected the barely perceptible hum of the ship's engines. This was it. It was either here or in The Dagger. I could see the lights at the top spire of the rock, blinking like the lights on an electrical tower. The voices were then silent, as if communications were suddenly cut off. I thought I heard movement in the ship and then more silence. Even through my suit I could feel a suggestion of the dangerous coldness of the Martian air. We both went toward the ship's ramp entrance, now sealed closed. I pulled my hood over my helmet. My visor's faceplate screen displayed the freezing temperature, wind factor and chill and my own life signs. Seeing so far that things were as they should be with my suit, I then concentrated on a way inside. We heard the hiss of the entrance door opening again. Hiding behind one of the ship's support columns, we watched as someone crept down and out of the ship. My friend pointed to my rifle and then to his hand. I slipped it off and handed it to him. The mech that had gone in was coming back out. It stood suddenly, motionless for some seconds and then slowly it moved again. A small search light beamed out from the top of its head, searching the immediate area. I could only hear my own breathing and the mech's soft, mechanical pulses. It then seemed to light up and I heard the beginning of what sounded like an alarm. My friend launched himself forward with the swiftness of a jack rabbit, lifted the rifle and shot the mech twice. The rifle was terrifically powerful. It stopped the mech from giving off a full alarm, quickly disabling it. The second shot, aimed expertly at its torso, hit the mech with a powerful blast of energy. Lethal streams of bright, red energy exploded from the rifle. The force of the weapon pushed Sworda back a step but he recovered with finesse. The mech shook and raddled and a storm of lights crackled inside its frame until it smoked and collapsed down. He handed me back my rifle, looking around warily, pulled out what looked like a small laser gun from his robe and went to the destroyed mech. He deftly turned it over with his foot.

"Safe to touch. Sometimes these mechs self-destruct or are fitted with an alarm system that will kill you if you touch it." He said. I heard a soft hiss. The corridor door to the ship was slowly lifting up again. This seemed like my only chance. I ran to the corridor and looked back.

"Go and find out what you can! I will stay here and stand guard!" He said as the ship closed around me. Finally, I was inside. I turned abruptly, my heart hammering. The air quality and content registered as safe on my helmet's view screen. Slowly I took off my helmet and strapped it to my belt and took a deep breath. I could hear the outer chamber lock down from the outside, sealing the air of the ship inside. It felt very cold and dry but not unbearable. The soft hum of computer systems and the ship's engines ran in the background but besides that, it was eerily quiet. Gripping my rifle I stepped as softly as I could, walking lightly, though my boots made my footfalls sound so loud it put me on further edge. That didn't mean anything, though. Someone could be somewhere in the ship and besides that, I had no idea how I was going to get out.

The ship was twice as large as the one I'd arrived in, sleeker and newer, like a beautiful, high end hover car. I went down the corridor and to the cockpit, a spacious one. Near the driver's seat was a row of large consoles and thin screens. The viewports were wide and spacious. I thought about calling up Will but decided my time was better spent being able to hear and see all I could, instead of being distracted. To the left of the cockpit down the corridor was a surprise. A door opened right into what looked like a long, dark hall, straight into The Dagger. I held my hand out and touched a tangible, invisible surface, like a force-field. It felt like water to my touch and I imagined this was keeping the air in the ship. If I stepped outside into the hall I would need my helmet on again. After having investigated the several empty small rooms, I was satisfied that no one was in the ship any longer. I set to work looking for the files. They would be on a small, chip-like drive. But this was like searching for a rock in the Kuiper Belt. I thought about waiting for the culprit to arrive back and then I would hold him at gunpoint. I'd seen how powerful this rifle could be. But killing someone point blank was beyond my power, no matter how wicked the villain.

"How on earth am I going to find this thing?" I murmured. The ship wasn't particularly alien to me. In fact, it wasn't of alien make at all so I decided to put Will to work. I went to the cockpit and searching for a port, I took the chip from my suit and put it in the device input. One of the consoles lit up and a screen in 3D came forward, starting up and displaying systems information. Tapping through the screens and systems I made a search for "solargate files". Seeing it, I spoke the name of the file.

"Open solargate files." At first the computer did not respond.

"Okay. Perhaps he downloaded a copy into the system here." I said, searching. The computer took some time searching but it eventually came to the file I was looking for.

"Great Scott!" I breathed. I was surprised that he hadn't locked the system. But he probably wasn't expecting someone to have followed him all the way out here to his cave of evil. Least of all, me. Score one for me!

There was a massive amount of information, all dizzying and none of it I could understand. I managed to download it anyway. I wished I could find the original file. Teely-Abor probably had it with him. Why wouldn't he? Information of that sort was as precious as water on Mars. If I was going to go traipsing throughout space after a rogue for the solargate files, a copy was not enough. I needed to find the original. I took the drive out of the port once it had finished, shut down the computer and steeled myself to go into the doorway that led into The Dagger, having no idea what to find and no idea if I would ever come out again.

. . .

I made my way toward the door, affixing the helmet on again. I held the rifle close, pointing it at the door as I crept down the corridor. I jumped in near panic as the force field suddenly disappeared and I was inside the rock. It seemed much larger inside than from what I saw on the outside. Dim, diffused light emanated from the high, cavernous ceiling. Where the light source came from I couldn't ascertain. Nor did there appear to be anyone here. The force-field appeared again, making a brief buzzing sound. Trembling, I went on.

"Will," I whispered. "can you hear me?" But there was no answer. Whatever was the matter, I was on my own again. I saw an entrance way up ahead. I moved carefully through the rocks and sand, examining footprints before me.

There were many footprints leading off to various places. I moved through the doorway and descended. Going down, it was more a steep, slow incline that wound down rather than a staircase and far below there were soft glow globes that hung in the air of a cavernous hall hewn out of the rock. I saw what looked like gunners, hitch-riders and other land-roving craft parked in the middle of the room. There were several doorways that led to other rooms around its perimeter. A sinister feeling washed over me. I don't know why. I thought I heard animal sounds, beastly howls but when I stopped to listen I couldn't hear anything. I was starting to think I was going mad. I saw no one in this hall either as I touched down on the sandy floor but once I did, I could finally make out the sounds of other creatures. The glow globes bobbed and weaved silently like lazy moths. The voices were coming from one of the rooms off to my right. Creeping near this room, I went to the vaulted doorway down from it and hid myself behind an immense wall of rock. Down this wall was an intricate lattice work of natural rock where I could peer into the room.

Here is where I stumbled upon it. I now saw exactly what I had come all this way for.

In the middle of this room stood a large platform slab. From the top of this platform rose a series of 3D motion schematics, or holograms of a strange looking device and a tactical motion map. Several creatures were standing around this platform studying it. I could see lights fluttering from the tactical map. The map was of Planet Earth. Resting my eyes on the solargate I was awestruck by the size and complexity of it. One of the creatures reached a hand through the schematic, turning the hologram around. It looked more like a long-legged, armored black widow spider than a machine, but it was elegant in its design of black metal. Gazing at it finally with my own eyes, it looked both beautiful and monstrous and it struck me rigid with fear. The jump-gate itself sat in the middle of seven thin, spired arms. The image turned and turned at the creature's behest as he rolled his slender fingers over the image to examine it.

The solargate seemed nearly as large as a small asteroid if the measurements I was seeing were correct. It would be a staggering, fantastic piece of construction. The scaffolding for such a thing would be staggering in and of itself.

The alien then tapped something on the platform and the image turned blue-white hot and bright as a sun. It was an example demonstration of the solargate in action through the 3D model. Each spike lit up and then the middle crackled with heat and energy and then the middle of the gate opened with cloud dust shooting out and then I saw images or models of a great fleet of ships shooting through the gate and toward the hologram of Earth. The energy then stained with blood red fire and it transformed into something like the maw of hell. I heard a chittering sound from one of the aliens. And then another voice, one I recognized. Teely. He was pointing at something in the schematic and raised his voice. He pulled it closer and the image of the gate zoomed in and I could get a better look at the intricate design work of one of its arms. What they were saying I couldn't understand but it seemed like they were concentrating on a specific part of the gate and discussing - or arguing - about it. Another spoke up, lifting his heavy arms into the air. He was the fattest of the seven standing around the device and he had a deep voice that rolled and boomed across the room. There were two Glia, two Miku, two Suwudi and another tall creature I could not recognize from where I was hiding.

Marveling so closely over what I was seeing I didn't hear the security mech behind me. I heard something and whirled around to find a mech extending out what looked like a black laser gun. It blared an internal alarm. I took up my rifle in panic and a split second before it could shoot me I fired my weapon. The force from it was so strong that it shoved me back into the wall. I felt something in my back crack. The shot blew the tattling mech to pieces. However, I'd had the wind knocked out of me and when I tried to struggle back to my feet and flee I was caught by three of the aliens who were standing around the table. They roared, jibbered and cried out in outrage at my presence and one of them shoved me back down, pulling out a lasgun, preparing to finish me off. Struggling to try and find my rifle again, I couldn't do it before the tallest one strode up behind his fellows. I saw his face and those cold eyes now appraising me and then the shock that dawned on his face. One of the others must have said something to the effect of killing me. I could tell because he waved his lasgun in my general direction and then pointed it exactly at me, baring, large teeth. Teely put his hand on this one's lasgun and he lowered it. Then he spoke to me.

"How. . . did a simpleton like you get out here?"

"I followed you."

"Did you, now? You seem to take great pleasure in being an ass. An especially stupid one."

"I like to think of myself as an intrepid adventurer and a champion for truth and justice." I said, trying to be sarcastic. He suddenly broke into an ugly, unnatural looking smile that did not fit his face.

"You should not have come here. But since you are here, I'll find the perfect use for you. We were just discussing about the need for an experimental phase. You would be the perfect useful idiot. And now that you have no powerful ally to hide behind I can do exactly what I please. And I am going to punish you." Teely said and his face changed and I saw a glimpse of his true, alien nature. A dangerous light gleamed in his eyes. I felt the universe crushing in on me, as if I was falling into a black hole. I really was stupid after all.
11

I was dragged from the room over sharp rocks and sand, struggling and screaming out but to no avail. My rifle was taken. I was taken down a dark corridor with a deep sandy floor. The realization that Teely had something else in store for me was making me sick with dread. They clapped me in a cell and one of them pointed a weapon at me, shooting me. Instead of lasers or bullets or fire I found myself wrapped in chains of magnetic heat energy, stuck fast to the wall. I heard a sudden buzzing sound and then a hum as an atmospheric bubble enveloped the cell. They held me against the wall and energy bands wrapped around my chest, torso, and legs and strapped my arms down my sides. The heat from the energy bands was warm. I imagined that if they wanted to they could cook me or burn me to a crisp at their leisure. When I tried to move forward or if I moved in any way more than six inches away from the wall they sent painful shocks through my body. Teely gave a terse command and the others left. One of them turned and growled something vicious sounding, glaring at me. Then he too, turned and left. I was going to die here. I felt a strange emotion wash over me. Desolate, hopeless, grim humor. I guess he got the last laugh after all.

Now that it was just me and him I got a much better look at him. He had what looked like tattooed markings on his face, just underneath his skin. He carefully removed his own helmet and the tubes and helmet tank and set it aside, safely breathing the precious oxygen in the bubble. He began shedding his disguise of Bradford Teely right before me. He shed his outer skin, peeling his face off as if it were mere orange skin. Taking the bloody strips of flesh and throwing them on the ground. I watched in horrid fascination as the man transformed into his true nature - an Erautian of the Miku race. His real face was smaller, longer. Long, graceful tentacles fell from his chin and his skin, formerly tight around the neck, now released, fell in soft, ringed folds. A mucous membrane seeped from the tentacles, smelling like fresh salt water. His eyes seemed to grow larger, bluer than usual, with violet and orange specks darting in them and his true mouth was a small, thin line. He slowly tore the strips of human flesh from his face until most of the disguise was gone and I could look upon his real face. His skin was a light bluish color and seemed slightly iridescent in the dimness of the cell. His tentacles swayed and moved independently from side to side as he stared at me with those strange, large eyes. Suddenly they turned nearly silver in color, then back to blue and violet. He slowly moved toward me with the grace of a big cat and then stopped about two feet away, staring intensely at me. I finally broke the silence.

"What?" He didn't answer right away. Only smiled for some moments. Then:

"I shouldn't be surprised that someone trailed me here, that someone could have found me. But you, I did not expect. You've always struck me as dull-witted. Didn't know you had it in you. To come out all this way. Why did you follow me out here, Astor?"

"You stole something that belonged to someone else."

"To whom, exactly?"

"I don't know. I just know it isn't yours. And you murdered someone for it."

"Oh, I see. So you came for me, is that it? Come to bring me to justice? Your peoples' notions of justice and law are interesting if ineffective. And stupid. It keeps your governmental systems weak and in constant motion. No peace, no security among your kind. We will change all that." He said this last part softly. I could hear a quiet threat in his voice. And the timbre and tone of his voice had changed. It was harder-edged and deeper, on a level that made me even more unsettled than I already felt. The scent of sea, salt and another odor, a sweet odor, emanated from his tentacles.

"I am merely doing what I was sent to do by my superiors. You know how your job is? In that miserable office of yours checking and examining the quality of parts that go through the assembly lines? It's a job and you do it because it's your duty. My duty is to help save my people. By any way I can. It is why I was sent here."

"By destroying mine!" I said through gritted teeth. He shrugged.

"When we heard that a few scientists had found a way to create a gate to travel through the galaxy instantaneously, that was the thing I realized I was looking for. The thing to help my people come to a ready-made home, waiting for us all. You see, we were looking to build something similar ourselves but you humans did it before us. As soon as it was confirmed that this thing worked, I was alerted as to its whereabouts and those working on the project."

"Who alerted you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know? Suck my tentacles, human," he sneered.

"No thanks. But I'm curious. What about all the parts and the money you stole from the company? Where did it all go? What about all those engines, weapons parts, machine parts and other materials stolen? Stuff that disappeared from Recycling? What'd you do with it all?" I demanded, hearing my voice become louder with a harsh edge in it without my even trying. I surprised myself. It seemed to surprise him too, to amusement, if nothing else.

"Resources are scarce out here. Metal, technology that might be useful is needed. There's a whole economy out here apart from those on Earth. My people need these things. That's why I took them. We're a very, very long way from home and they are difficult to come by."

"But why kill? Why did Taylor have to die? You could have just copied the files or stole them without killing him!"

"He made it difficult for my people to acquire what we sought. Hiding them, running from us, trying to deceive us with dummy files. His pitiful attempts to expose us. He even killed one of my operatives. It all became rather tiresome. And besides," his demeanor changed into something colder and his eyes turned that menacing silver again, "we detest humankind. What is one death? When we arrive, none of you will survive. Humans are marked for destruction."

"Why?"

"Because your destruction will aid our survival. And because we can. You are like beasts. Any achievements you think you've made over the ages are merely like parrots copying their masters. You know, I could shut off the oxygen bubble, rip your helmet and suit off and watch you struggle for oxygen and die in the bitter cold of the Martian air. I could blow you to pieces or obliterate you with your own atomic rifle. I could turn up the power on your bonds there and watch your flesh fry, all simply because I can. Or I could throw you to my snagars, the first animals that will become native to this alien planet. Predators far bigger and fiercer than your tigers or lions on Earth. I admire the cunning wolf, the regality of the big cats. The great anaconda. The power of the Kodiak. But the snagar would tear them all apart. Come to think of it, it is nearly time for their next meal." He smiled. The rest of the ragged, torn skin stretched oddly over his face and his eyes shined with a harsh inner light. It reminded me of a dog or a cat moving around the house, eyes shining in the night.

"I know your name is not Teely. It's Abor. Before I'm thrown to your alien lions, who are you, really?" His eyes widened and he regarded me with interest.

"I might as well tell you as you don't have long to live. I am a Miku, of the blood of the Erilai, a noble family on my home world. We who serve the grand Nine of the Realm, the Erilai are of the minor noble families of Eraut. I descended from the first wave of colonists, come to take over Earth."

"Why Earth? You're already here. Why not Mars or some other earth-like planet?"

"Eraut is dying." He said simply. "It reached its death state over a hundred years ago. It has been in slow decline ever since. Fortunately, the Sacred Way has shown us the way out and pointed to our salvation long, long ago. It pointed to Earth, a near twin of Eraut. Mars is a dead place. And the other earth-like planets closest to us are nothing like Eraut. We can't live on them. We can live on Earth."

"So you destroyed your own planet and now you come here to do the same?" He leaned in closer and snarled which made me shrink as far back as I could. Which wasn't very far, being chained to a wall and all.

"We did not destroy our planet. Eraut's death is a natural phenomenon. As for your kind, we cannot all live together. Not enough resources or space. Humans are a far lower order of beings fit for destruction. There are some who say you may have other uses. I haven't seen this sentiment born out. Two suns cannot co-exist forever. One will swallow the other. Two species such as ours cannot live together on one planet. One must rise and the other must fall." I couldn't think of anything else to say but just a shuddering silence. He smiled at this.

"My fellow loyalists want to kill you now, but I want to see you torn apart bone by bone when you die, Astor." He spat out my last name. "That will be so much more gratifying than merely firing you."

"Are you always this repulsive or were you born that way?" I managed.

"You try hard, Astor. You truly do. You think you're clever, but you fail so badly at it. Human beings, in general, are stupid, but you are one of the dullest ones of the herd. You remind me of a maimed and diseased horse who still thinks it's of some great use to the rest of the herd."

"Herd animals now, are we? You should talk! You are the one blindly working as an operative peon for some far away government. Doing what you're told. This exchange is just from one sheep to another." I had to admit that at least after all these years of his ignoring me and pretending that I was one of the little people who didn't warrant attention at Vartan, I now commanded his full attention.

"You have no idea what is coming, do you?" He taunted.

"Go to hell!" I said, mustering my most hateful stare. It paled in comparison to what happened next. Teely-Abor's face, the lower half of it, morphed further and more tentacles drew out from his chin and cheeks and what looked like gills flared open in the soft folds of his neck. His eyes grew much larger and turned silver and his skin turned from light blue to a glowing green and what stood in front of me was completely alien. He said something guttural and ugly. I could only guess it was a curse.

"There is no hell like the one I'm about to send you to," he spat in English. "Make your peace because the next time I come back, my snagars will be here to feast." Then he strode out of the room. I sank down into the pebbles and sand. All I could see now was the dull darkness.

I was there, restrained for so long that I'd blacked out (or went to sleep, I'm not sure which) and I was beginning to regret that I'd forgotten to ask that alien jerk who the mysterious Ancus was. I wanted to kick myself. I could have at least gotten one answer to this grand mystery before becoming alien dog chow. Or cat chow. I had long since given up the battle against the energy bands as it was too painful to fight against them. My arms were feeling raw and they ached from the exertion. I was thinking darkly about this and other mistakes I'd made, such as coming here when the door opened again. I jumped, getting to my feet. But who entered was not Teely-Abor and his pet snagars. It was an alien that looked like a Suwudi. I also recognized him as one of the aliens gathered around the platform. He glanced around furtively as if watching for someone outside the room. Then he closed the door quietly behind him. He moved slowly towards me.

"Don't come any closer!" I said. He stopped. In a heady adrenaline rush, I began to contest the energy bands again.

"Rattling against your bands will only hasten your death. Do you think someone will come to save you?" His voice had a slithery quality to it that I didn't like.

"What do you want from me?"

"Do you want to get out of here? You have a friend waiting for you outside somewhere near the kregei, don't you"

"What's kregei?"

"This place. A hideout for loyalists."

"What makes you think I have a friend here?"

"I have seen him with you. He is known to me." Great.

"And do you serve the Realm too?" He didn't answer.

"What do you want?"

"To help you escape." Hope dawned again. I felt sweat beads form on my forehead at the very mention of escape. Then he said:

"But I need something from you first before I help you escape." He brought my rifle close to his chest. It was then that I realized he even had it with him.

"Anything! Please, just get me out of here!"

"We have time yet. They are in no hurry. First, I need to know why you have come here, human."

"One of your associates has something he stole from my world. Something that will make it possible for your people to destroy us. That's why I came. I failed. I guess you guys win." I said, feeling my desperation grow. He flicked his head from side to side oddly. There was dead silence, then:

"I despise him and all those who support his cause. I am not a loyalist. You seek the stargate files he took."

"Yes. Can you help me get them back?"

"I guarantee nothing. Whom do you serve?"

"I don't serve anyone. Just the greater good for my own species." I said. He grunted and narrowed his eyes.

"Whom do you serve?" He asked again. This time I sensed menace in his voice. He took a step closer.

"I told you, I don't serve anyone!" There was the faint sound of footsteps far away and voices that eventually faded as we both tensed up. When they stopped, I decided to give some clarification.

"I knew a man named Taylor Richmond. He was the one who originally had the files. He was killed for them. I believe Abor either killed him or had someone else do it. He's a murderer."

"Uglhmmm. Murderer." He muttered. "He is, what you people call, a patriot."

"And you aren't?"

"To be one to the Realm, one must give up all independent thought. All must be in service to the Nine. I value my freedom. I am no loyalist."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"I have my reasons."

"You are a separatist, then?"

"I am not." There was something about him I didn't like. It was a kind of hungriness that frightened me, but I was under his control. If I wanted to get out of here I had to give him what he wanted. The thought of being eaten alive by monstrous alien predators seemed far worse than any deal I might strike with him.

"So what do you want from me so I can get out of here?" His face changed and it was hard to describe, but his yellow eyes gleamed in a way that unsettled me even further if that were possible. He brought out from his suit, which looked like a profusion of faceted tubes and pieces of black glass and spikes, a thin, long blade. He began to hum softly at first and then his humming grew louder until his voice began to vibrate. The sound made my teeth rattle and his eyes began to bleed. But eventually the bands around my body began to pop and fizzle and then they quickly burned out.

"Are you a Jedi or something?" I asked. He didn't respond to my lame attempt at a joke. As to the blade, he touched its surface almost lovingly. He pulled a small capsule from his suit and handed it to me.

"Take this. Quickly. They will come for you within the hour." Not having any other option I took the capsule which tasted like chalk and then a sharp licorice taste permeated my tongue. It was rather pleasant and not at all what I had suspected. But as I chewed and swallowed it, I felt my tongue and mouth grow numb and this sensation spread through my entire body. Before I realized what was happening he grabbed hold of my now limp and numb arm and he jammed this blade like thing into the underside of it. He pushed a button on the handle which turned out to be some kind of medical device. I felt something, a very thin metallic tube pass through my flesh, injecting itself into the bone. I felt no pain, but I was horrified just the same.

"What. . .what. . ," I began.

"Be quiet or they will come sooner!" He hissed. He then slid the device out of my arm, blood gleaming on its shaft. He took the tube and inserted this into another larger tube and put it deep inside one of the folds of his environmental suit. I nearly fainted, feeling weak.

"Come!" he urged. I struggled to get to my feet. He helped hoist me up. We escaped the cell and crept toward the room where they had held their meeting to examine the gate.

"One of the guard mechs holds the schematics. The one there with the red lights. You see it?" He pointed. "We have one chance to destroy him. The problem is that if we destroy him, we may destroy the files he has in safe keeping." He said. I had to make a decision right then. We didn't have much time.

"I have to destroy it. All of it." I said resolutely. If I would accomplish anything in this wild goose chase, it would be stopping any more hostile aliens from being able to access technology that would bring them within arm's reach of their goal: taking over Earth and destroying the human population.

"You are sure?" He asked. I nodded, starting to shake. My arm was bleeding. He flicked me over with his eyes as if appraising me. Then he gave me back my atomic rifle. The mech seemed set in sleeper mode and was inert for the time being. I shifted under the weight of the weapon, trying to focus my aim. My arms trembling, I fired the rifle. I hit my mark sideways, the blast just barely missing the mech. It squealed out an alarm and lights everywhere went off with jarring loudness. It shook and lit up as if its circuitry were illuminated by some internal electrical storm. After a few seconds, it exploded. We heard lots of footsteps approaching.

"Come, this way!" He said, practically pulling me along. We entered a dizzying chain of halls that looked like the maze of a honey-combed beehive that drifted lower and lower until we were deep underground. We encountered a small patrol of guards and he wasted no time in eliminating them. Whipping out the lasgun at his side before turning the corner, anticipating their presence, he shot two of them down before they even knew what was happening. I fired my rifle, blowing a third one up into the air before he hit the ground. The nearby explosion burned the helmets and suits of the others. They screamed, writhed, withered and froze as they tasted cruel Martian air. I felt my shoulder shift abruptly, feeling another crack in my body. The numbness effect of the capsule was quickly wearing off. My shoulder was dislocated and I was in so much pain I thought I'd faint. I felt a rough push in my back.

"Get up! Or you will be a meal for Abor's accursed snagars!" He shouted. The thought of it electrified me even in the searing pain of my dislocated shoulder. Remind yourself to learn how to actually use this stupid thing when you get home!

We turned a corner and came to a low riding rover. He jumped in and I struggled to get in just as we heard others getting ready to descend upon us. He snatched the rifle from me and with one arm fired it at the top of the doorway. I marveled at his sheer power and physical prowess. Great volleys of rock and debris broke off and came crashing down, blocking the doorway and our pursuers. They yelled and screamed curses as we rode away. Holding onto the back of his seat for dear life, we sped through the dark caverns, slowly climbing up until we reached a round cavern outfitted with consoles in the walls. He slowed down towards the middle of the room, drove up an incline and settled the rover on a raised platform. The platform lit up and began to rise. The roof opened up and bright, shining moonlight flooded the cave. I adjusted my helmet. A broad energy beam tore through the air after us. I looked back to see a mech firing at us, but we were well out of range. When the platform raised us outside, we sped off across the desert toward Syzygy.
12

My newfound "friend" dumped me off, bleeding and in pain right in the middle of the city on a busy street. Struggling valiantly not to scream out, I lifted the rifle in my other arm and just started walking. Or, rather, limping. I drew my cloak close and drew deeper into my hood. A few people glanced my way but none lingered. I limped along, desperately looking for some landmark. Turning behind a building, I leaned against the side of the wall at the edge of an alley. I peered around hoping not to encounter any dangerous characters or things I wasn't meant to witness. I suddenly heard a low purring or humming to my right down the alley. Regrettably, I had taken my helmet off to breathe the fresh air of the biosphere, so I could not instantly focus on the sound for a figure to go with it. My eyes however had adjusted to the night and as the Martian night was bright because of the two moons overhead, it wasn't hard to eventually sense, without the light, that I was being stalked by something. Or someone. I lifted my rifle up, getting ready to launch an energy beam of fire when the figure leaped into the air and out of the range of my weapon. I detected a flash of silvery metal as the person landed a few feet in back of me. Whirling myself around and whipping my rifle round to get ready to fire I wobbled and fell off balance, falling to the ground just in time to avoid the whoosh of a broad blade that would have taken my head off. Falling to the ground on my back the rifle exploded into the air, far wide of my mark. My back injury made me roar out in anguish. My attacker kicked the rifle, trying to force it out of my grip but I held on with death-like strength. My attacker then put a large, booted foot on my ribcage, stomping down hard, forcing the breath out of me and raised his blade again. I thought I felt something in my chest crack. In wild desperation I swung my rifle up and forward and fired again right before the silver blade came down again to slice my head off. The force of the blast threw my attacker up into the air and he fell forward. I was in so much pain that I was seeing imaginary flares of colors. I lay still, breathing hard and wondering if another attack was imminent. I lifted my head and saw that my attacker was lying beside me, dead. I finally gathered the strength to lift myself up and sit up. Acrid smoke filled the air of the alley. I scrambled to my feet and looked over the body, feeling myself going down a black road I'd never anticipated. I threw up after seeing the body lying there, even though he had tried to kill me, whoever he or it was. The alien's blade lay beside it. I took it up and strapped it to my belt, wondering if those at the rock complex had caught up with me. I had to get out of here, get out of sight, but I had no idea where I was.

Bewildered, I thought I caught the figure of a human peeking at me down the street just beyond the alley. Then the figure vanished. Focusing on this shadowy figure helped me take my mind off of my pain and the mess I was hurrying to leave behind in the alley. I followed the person, cloaked and hooded, half galloping, half limping down the maze of busy streets, of people, vendors selling wares from carts and land riders and rovers. In the whir of activity a land rider came so close it nearly shaved off my arm.

"Hey!" I shouted. The rider ignored me and kept going. I was feeling dizzy and sick again and I began to perspire. I wanted to collapse. From behind, rough hands grabbed me and before I could say anything. I felt a sharp blow to my head and everything turned to darkness.

. . .

When I came to there was a dry, foul taste in my mouth. I felt cold. My helmet and suit were gone and I was naked, flat on my back and strapped down to a metal table. Beside the distant regular sounds of what sounded like the low hum of deep machinery, it was silent. There was a sticky substance under me. Finally fully coming to from grogginess, I was able to lift my head up a few inches and look down toward my right arm. It had finally stopped bleeding but under it blood had pooled and turned brownish and sticky. I wasn't in pain anymore and to that I was thankful. The room had an antiseptic smell that reminded me of a hospital, yet there was nothing in the room except low light, myself and the table I was tied to. The bonds weren't as tight as I'd expected them to be. I tried to move my dislocated shoulder and found that the pain that had come with it was gone. I gingerly arched my back. And curled up as far as possible to check my ribcage. Those pains were gone too. Someone had fixed me. Why? Why did I come here? Oh, that's right. I was trying to save the world. Above were glow globes. But these were considerably brighter than most I was used to. Still, they weren't your average blinding lights that seared into your skull that most alien abductees complained about. Thank God! By the way, are you out there? Do you see what I'm going through here?

"Hello." I called out, softly at first. "Hello." Louder. Silence. I tried to wrangle my arms out of the bonds. The metal of the table was warming up under me. I heard footsteps striding purposefully toward the room. That old thudding heart of fear rose again in my chest. There was a beeping sound and then the sound of doors sliding open. Three figures filed in and all came and stood around the table. Two of them were so deeply hooded that I could see nothing except the suggestion of their alien visages in shadow. Of the third, who stood by my right side, I could see a shadowed face and this one drew the hood from their head. It was a woman. She had blue black hair and dark brown eyes rimmed with orange. Contacts? The irises seemed to grow unusually large. Her stare was so intense I could see and just barely hear the pupils turn and zoom in and out. Bionic? They adjusted to the low level of light in the room as she took her time looking me over and then met my face again. She had a small, oval-shaped face of fine bone structure but her expression was taut and grim. She was smaller than the other two, diminutive, not much over five feet. Yet, she had the confident air of command about her.

"Who are you?" She demanded. Her voice sounded deeper than I had expected.

"I was just about to ask you that." I quipped. She didn't look amused.

"We found you bleeding, suffering from the beginning stages of a staph infection that could have spread to the bone and turned deadly, and with two cracked ribs and a dislocated shoulder. The last shot you fired from that. . .antiquated excuse for a weapon you have went off uselessly into the air. I had to shoot your assailant down for you from behind. The cheaply made sword blade you took off your attacker we've kept as payment for services rendered. I brought you back to health. I could just as easily have you sold off for cash or parts to one of the vivisection specialists around here. While still alive. I still just might. Resources are scarce around here so don't piss me off. Who are you?" I gasped and then cleared my throat nervously.

"Uh, yes ma'am! My name is Robert Astor. I was on a delegation to Langrenus." One of the others said something to her in their own language.

"It's that colony-turned city on the earth moon," she said to him. "Who do you work for?" She turned her attention back to me.

"Vartan Industries."

"No, who, as in, who are your superiors? Why in the hell are you out here? I can't believe agents from Vartan or any corporation sent you out here. You're a nobody." Well thanks, lady! I swallowed, not sure I wanted to reveal any information. Depending on who this woman was, what I told her might cause her to decide that selling me off, limb by limb was a good idea after all. But then, she and her associates could have killed me already, were they so inclined. I might as well tell the truth. I was bad at lying.

"There was another man on the delegation to Langrenus who carried something very important. The complete schematics for a solargate." The woman's eyes burned with special intensity at the word "solargate". I paused briefly, watching her closely, then went on.

"He knew someone was after him. He sent me a recorded message about what he was carrying and how important it was. He told me that those who wanted this solargate could be found here on Syzygy. He said the schematics had to be retrieved or else life on Earth would be imperiled. He told me to come here to look for the one who stole the schematics. He was murdered and I know who took them and who murdered him."

"You do?" She asked, surprised. I nodded.

"He worked at Vartan Industries as its chief financial officer."

"He's a spy for his government, is what he is," the woman said flatly. Then her expression softened.

"The man who sent you, you knew him well?" I shook my head.

"Not exactly. The delegation was the first time I'd met him. He was kind of a loner. I think he reached out to me because I'd reached out to him. He had no one else."

"No. I don't suppose he did."

"You knew him?" I asked. She didn't answer at first. Her eyes seemed to drift with a far away look. The other two remained silent as stones.

"Who are you?" I countered quietly. She studied me again.

"I'm Genevieve Boleyn," she finally said. "I knew of him. Taylor Richmond. A good man. An imaginative mind. Brilliant. Like many I once knew."

"You're human like me, I think. Why are you out here on Mars?" I asked, feeling slightly bolder. I got the feeling that I wasn't going to be sold out. Though I still had no idea what she was or what she wanted.

"I have. . . various projects that I'm involved in. One is helping my own people survive this place. I brought you here to examine you. And rescue you from a bad end. There are a lot of scary folks around here. With their own private agendas and many of them are not friendly to human beings. From our examinations I can see you are not a spy-taken-human shape. Some aliens are and these were sent to Earth. Many of these spies work in the higher echelons of various governments and the most powerful corporations."

"I know. I followed one of them here."

"Abor. He's not even the worst of them. But there are factions. Well. You'll need something to drink and maybe something to eat and then I'll let you go back to your. . .ship?" She asked.

"That would be magnificent." She gave a hand signal to her two associates and they untied me from the metal table and helped me to my feet. I nearly stumbled and collapsed, feeling weak and sore but so greatly relieved.

They gave me my clothes back, cleaned and pressed and brought me to a room upstairs, to what looked like living quarters. I was given cold water, which I drank down thirstily.

"So, Genevieve, who are you working for?"

"I don't work for any one person or organization. I am what you might call a watcher. Some around here would call me a reactionary. Less charitable ones, a vigilante killer. There are factions here, as I said before."

"Right. I think I've heard something to that effect before."

"Oh?"

"Well, separatists, independents and loyalists among the, um, aliens." I said glancing at her silent companions. She appraised me quietly and then nodded.

"It goes even deeper than that. Within these groups there are factions that fall along thinner lines. Those on the side of human survival are called watchers, or sentinels. There are also some independents who are willing to work with the loyalists for their own personal interests."

"What does that mean? Wouldn't the loyalists kill them?"

"Not all of them. Not necessarily. At least that is how it is on the ground at the moment. If the loyalists are able to gain more than a toe hold on Mars, you'd better believe those kinds of shadow arrangements will change. You've always had those types around. Willing to sell their own out for fortune, money, prestige, anything. The sellouts don't truly appreciate the gravity of the situation we all face; why the princes of the Realm want to come here."

"I know why."

"Do you?"

"They destroyed their own planet and now they are looking for one like their own to take over and populate. They've set their sights on Earth."

"You know, for a nobody you sure have a good grasp on the situation. How do you know all that?"

"Let's just say I got lucky when I landed here and some friendly aliens found me and helped me get my bearings around here. They clued me in on a few things. Not that I have an extensive knowledge of the place, though." I said.

"They've been here for a long time, Robert. The only reason humans are still here and haven't been exterminated are because, one, there are those that don't want to have anything to do with the Realm anymore. A brewing war for independence is coming. There were several battles in the past already. Even within the rebel factions there are different reasons why they want independence. Not all rebels feel any noble sentiment toward human beings."

"So the alien that attacked me out in the street. He was a rebel?"

"Most likely. Or perhaps an agent from the loyalists' camp? We examined the corpse. He looked very much like a rebel to me." I felt slightly sickened at her mention of the corpse.

"Relax, Robert. He would have taken your head without a thought. You would have killed him in self-defense, if you knew how to actually use that. . .thing. Nothing wrong with that. Anyway, secondly, there are the middle-of-the-road loyalists who want to use us as servants or slaves. They think they'll find us useful. Then there are the hardliners who want nothing less than the final solution for all humans."

"Final solution. I never thought I'd hear something like that brought up again."

"Amazing how history comes round and round again, isn't it? Believe it, Robert."

"Actually, it's just Bob. Only my mother calls me Robert." And my wife. The corner of her mouth wrinkled into something of a faint smile. It was brief.

"My apologies, Bob. Are you hungry?"

"What do you have?" I thought I'd heard something of a grumbling chuckle from one of her companions.

"Rusaron seaweed and cloned udu eel meat. Tastes pretty good. All of it specially cloned in the Malgor lab east of the city." I wrinkled my nose.

"Is that supposed to be special or something?"

"They don't use shortcuts in their lab work or use diseased, lame specimens. Honest, good quality products come from that lab. Usually."

"I think I'll pass."

"You sure? It'll be a long way back home before you get any down home food. It's at least real food instead of those godawful food pellets you have to eat on board most long voyage space ships."

"Well, since you put it that way, I'll try it." And hoped that the stuff didn't make me nauseous. She gave a command and a serving mech left the room.

"You seem to know a lot about this place, Genevieve. When did you find out about all this?" I asked.

"I used to be an artist years ago, if you can believe that. My then boyfriend was an engineer at Sunsee. In his spare time he did a lot of open source coding. Created a lot of ingenius stuff that went into building the backbone of Dappa. Anyway, we both had a few friends, some employees and some who were independent contractors at Sunsee and other various companies. They were also hackers. They'd found something odd in these companies' systems. These were systems that acted as high level security vaults. In these vaults they encountered code in a secret project that they had never seen before nor did they understand how it worked, at first. As it turned out, it was alien designed code. At first they were simply fascinated with what was new, wonderful and exciting. Alien computer code! Unlike anything they'd ever seen before."

"What was it like?"

"It was very much biological in form and look. Structured like DNA. Like the cells in a human or animal life form. It was far beyond what any human coder had ever written. But things turned sinister. Someone found out that they'd discovered this. One day my boyfriend and most of his friends had disappeared with no trace. I never understood code so I was on the periphery of the issue but I understood enough to know that they had encountered something they weren't supposed to see. Something so advanced that they had a difficult time fathoming how it had been put together. I recall one night that Jason, my boyfriend, said that it looked as if the parts he'd examined were for a virus of some type. He wasn't sure though. There was a police investigation for a while but all leads went cold. It became classified, I found out later."

"Classified. Huh. How long ago was this?"

"Ten years ago. I am the lone voice calling out: "Where are they?" Where is he? Even his own family will not urge the police to investigate further. They've given up and not because they don't care. They're afraid, Bob. One late night someone came to visit me. A man came to the house and handed me a file on a disk that had some strange symbols on it. They translated into Project: Blackguard. He told me what I needed to know about what was happening at Sunsee. I asked him about whether he knew what happened to them. To Jason. He said they were being held somewhere and that he didn't know the location." Weeks later I found out that two of his friends had eventually been sent back home - in pieces. Similar to what happens to hapless human victims here on Mars when they run into the wrong aliens. To this day, I have not heard from Jason. No one knows or if they do, they won't talk."

"What was in the file he gave you?" I said, my skin beginning to crawl.

"The file contained information about the solargate; who worked on it, its creators, all at Sunsee and others who knew about the project and had some direct or indirect attachment to the project. Blackguard also contained information about the alien races that came to this solar system. The man showed me how to see for myself behind the shroud and believe me, these beings have been living beneath a shroud before us for a long time. I flew small space and aircraft in my spare time for fun. My father taught me. So the tangle of information from that disk eventually led me here, to make a long story short."

The serving mech came back with a flat stone plate with a large, dark green lump in the middle of it and set it in front of me.

"I would eat. This place takes your essence from you. Your water. It steals the minerals from your body and the essence from your soul, even in this dome of air we breathe," she urged. She herself was a whip thin woman that moved with the grace of a cat. Her muscles were small, elongated and hard and her skin very pale. She had a hunted quality to her expression I found hard to describe as anything else. Considering what she'd just told me, it was no surprise. I wondered if I would eventually take on such a look. A new world had suddenly crashed into my consciousness and it wasn't a brilliant, bright one either. It put the one I lived in grave peril.

"What do you think is preventing them from already taking over?" I asked picking up the green stuff and looking it over doubtfully.

"Numbers and distance. That's what gives us so much time. There aren't enough of them on Earth to orchestrate a full scale takeover. So they bide their time. They come from the Libra System. Their planet revolves around Gliese 581, a main sequence star about 22 light-years from our solar system. However, the distances are so great even for systems close to us that it takes centuries of normal travel by ship at light speeds to reach here."

"And the stargate or solargate gets around that."

"Which is why they want it so badly. The solargate technology was a fluke in how it was discovered. At first they were content to simply travel here by ships so vast and advanced that generations could be born, live and die on these ships. That was their original plan. But things sometimes don't work out the way you want them to. They shift and change. Like the universe itself." She said with a sardonic smile.

"I learned that the last generation of aliens born on the ships weren't so interested in world conquest like their ancestors were."

"Right. So we have allies in some of them. Of a sort," she said.

"What do you mean, of a sort?" I asked. She looked at my wounded arm and pointed.

"Your arm. Do you know what happened to it?"

"The alien that helped me escape said he needed something from me. My blood, I guess. At least that's what I thought," I said. She shook her head.

"There are many different types here on Syzygy among the free radicals or independents breaking off from the Realm. Many are mercenaries and merchants and some, well, let's just say there is a booming industry just beginning to revolve around human bone marrow. That's what was taken from your arm, Bob. Mostly, bone marrow is like an addictive drug to some of the aliens here. Others use it in their experiments. Don't ask me what, because as of yet I don't know what these experiments entail. But a few of them have gotten a taste of something deemed more exotic - human bone marrow. To them for some reason, it's a transformational substance." I felt as if the wind was knocked out of me. My eyes slowly crawled down to my wounded but healing right arm again. This time with horror. And I began to think that perhaps the one who helped me escape wasn't a Suwudi after all.

"You mean he treated me like walking cocaine?" I exclaimed.

"More like PCP, the way some around here carry on. Be glad he was willing to help you. Addicts of any sort can be unpredictable and murderous, even if they don't want to be. Addiction drives them. Just be mindful. It's an exploding trade here and who knows where it will lead. Some of my associates suspect that some loyalists are no longer towing the line with the hardliners for this very reason. They would prefer to keep us alive to feed this growing, secret trade. Some of our allies may not always remain allies if they see us as a way to make profit or get their next fix," she said bitterly. "I've been here long enough to know that you never know how things will shake out."

"That's kind of how things work back home too." I said. She smiled ruefully. "I'll say this, if I hadn't found you or if you hadn't found me, I'd dead by now. Thank you." I said. "I don't know what I was thinking coming here." I felt bewildered and lost as the scope really began to sink in. The universe suddenly got a whole lot bigger. Or was that smaller?

She shrugged and then pointed to my meal. I finally worked up the courage to taste it. Besides the seaweed flavor of the green stuff it wasn't too bad and my body was so undernourished that I soon wolfed it down, famished, and then licked my fingers. The salty taste of the seaweed was actually gratifying. I was given a small jug of water which I drank down noisily while she sat and watched me in silence.

When I'd finished, she suggested I sleep. I was sent to a small room with a shower and a device that looked like a large, flat headed tube which I was told was the toilet. All body fluids were recycled here, I later learned. It made perfectly good sense. I wanted to retch at the thought of that perfectly good, sensible implementation but nature was calling. I stifled the urge to retch. And besides, that too would only be put to use again.

After my bath and other ministrations I came to what was my bedroom for the night. I was standing in a room built in the side of the top of a high, rocky hilltop where I could get a good look at the stars. The ceiling was partially exposed and made of material hard as metal but clear as glass. Below, Syzygy looked like a jungle of lights, flying vehicles and tubing, a garish, riotous, exposed threadbare looking place. Above was the pure expanse of sky and the milk circle of the galaxy's arm extending out into forever. I examined the Martian sky for the first time that I'd been here, about two days. It was different but just as lovely as the earth sky at night. The two little moons were now high in the sky, making the dimness of the room less shadowy. Three large glow globes bobbed slowly near the ceiling. I pushed them away and they drifted toward the far end of the room like jellyfish under water. I thought, if I ever found myself out here again, I will need to know certain things. First, about Mars. The aliens beat us to it. And I had so many questions for Genevieve. She said that the next day they would help me find my ship. I'd told her of my friend, Sworda, who had traveled with me to the kregei where Abor was hiding. She seemed aware of who he was or at least where he resided, outside of Syzygy. I felt blessed that with all my naivete and bumbling around I had fallen into good hands. I wondered how long that would last. Even so, I was thankful for the good fortune I had been given thus far. I had no right to it, no right to even be alive after what I'd seen and done. With all my thoughts whirling, trying to organize themselves into a real plan of action, I fell asleep and I dreamed of many things; of dust and ash, of storm waves of sand, the faces of my wife and children. And of bone and blood.

13

I awoke early and went back to the window, getting up from the bed, twitching at the slight pain and stiffness reappearing from my wounds. It was just before dawn and the sky was separated into bands of pale purple, rose and pale orange. I began to wonder what life would be like as an explorer here in this wild place instead of a peon at Vartan. I had never given it serious thought before. Coming out here after all the luxury resorts and exotic getaways had already been built for the pedestrian man and woman, well, I assumed I'd be a part of all that, but to be those first intrepid folk who created the path was beyond my imagination. I'd always assumed that my job was to support the company by doing my part behind computer consoles. Here, I was off the grid.

Off the grid.

I heard a buzz outside my bedroom door. Then the doors slid opened with a whisper. It was one of the silent alien associates of Genevieve's. He bowed slightly before me, his violet eyes slightly glowing. I slowly backed up against the wall on the far side of the room. This one was different from any of the other aliens I had seen up until now. He was a Miku, like Abor, but with jet black skin like polished ebony. A shimmer or a faint aura seemed to flicker about him when I gazed at him. Attached to his face was a breathing apparatus and a mask and at his side was a tank of liquid he seemed to be breathing in. Bubbles pooled up near the top of the tank and popped as he took in a deep breath. Long, black tentacles hung from his chin. He unhooked his mask from his face.

"Welcome, Robert," he enunciated carefully, his voice low and gravelly. "I apologize for our rough beginning. Genevieve and we have been through much these past few years. One can never know who to trust in these times." Though the voice sounded deep and rough there seemed a note of concern in it. My alarm faded.

"How are you healing?" He asked.

"I. . .I'm, fine. It doesn't hurt much now. My wounds are more psychological than physical. I just feel I've failed. And now I have no idea what I'll face when I get back home. If I get there," I said. Gazing at him and getting a much better look I saw that he wore a type of armor under his cloak and it seemed to move and shift across his body. It was deep red with an odd, but beautiful filigree design etched across its surface.

"It is a living armor, that all of my kind of our military order wear. Made from biological cells of a now extinct armored sea creature of my home world. It is spliced with metal and our own cells."

"How does it work?"

"When we are youths we are enjoined into a military school if we are physically fit and during our training, blood and skin samples are taken. If we have survived our training our armor is built from our own DNA to fit us perfectly. The DNA samples of well-preserved rosku are spliced with it though the animal no longer exists. It has the toughest exoskeleton known on Eraut. The armor is a kind of living organism and it feeds continually from us as we wear it, as it also strengthens us. It is a secret."

"That's amazing! And it keeps you safe from everything?"

"From most things. The writing and symbols you see are prayers from my family clan and to my clan gods. The generations of my forefathers and their deeds are etched into the armor."

"Ah. I suppose that always helps." I said. He bowed again.

"I think when you go home you will find that you have more friends than you know, Robert. There are others on Earth who know of what is happening here. Mars has become the battleground for the solar system."

"Small comfort there. And are you a Miku like Abor?" I said, casting my eyes along his tentacles. He made a disgusted sound.

"I am Miku, yes. Gerian Miku. I am called Tulos. We are descended from those that lived within the deepest depths of the oceans."

"Is that why your skin sort of glows?"

"Yes. His kind lived within the upper tiers of the oceans. Mine lived below. The Realm has destroyed Eraut. I myself came here as a soldier, but I have become a mercenary. Usually that would be a great dishonor but because of the times we now are thrust in, a necessity if we are to survive with honor. I became a rebel when we were brought here. I work with Genevieve now. The Realm must be stopped. They are a juggernaut of political and military might more dangerous than anything humans have ever faced and they have now set their sights on your planet. Are you hungry?" He asked, changing the subject casually. It caught me off guard.

"I guess some more of that green stuff might help. Breakfast of champions and all." I said, smiling weakly. Tulos nodded stately and made to leave. He turned again.

"I'm curious, Robert. What makes you think you've failed in your mission?"

"I just feel things are not finished. I couldn't retrieve the files and though I think I might have destroyed them so the loyalists couldn't use them, I'm still left in doubt as to whether my efforts did any good. Any copy protection or encryption these files may have had were bypassed long ago. I saw them studying the full schematics in a meeting room in The Dagger. Who knows how many copies could have been made."

"Yes. I see the problem. Well, if you come back, know that you have friends. Ask for G3. That is the code name for those interested in finding us." I nodded, making a mental note of it.

"Tulos, how did you meet Genevieve?"

"The ship that carried us here went aground. There was a war on the ship, a great rebellion. I believe your people would call it a mutiny. Many of the captains were killed and when the ship ran aground here, we rebels escaped and built this city and the surrounding places. The loyalists who survived stripped the ship of most of its valuable resources and fled in escape pods to the outer planets. We were on this world a long time before humans ventured here in the flesh. We heard tales of strange happenings on your planet from these human travelers that began coming. Eventually Genevieve appeared with the small waves of human adventurers and prospectors, looking for ways to profit or for answers about the strangeness. They became renegades, like us. I met her in a dynashan. She wanted information about the unknown computer code her mate found. I knew of someone who could explain some things to her. That is how we met." He made a regal flourish of his cloak and produced my atomic rifle from its deep folds.

"By the way, here is you weapon."

"Thanks! I was wondering where it had gone. You have no idea how much I need this!" I said, greatly relieved.

"I think I do. It does look quite, how to say. . . .old and beautiful. And it has its uses when used to proper effect."

"You've tried it out, I take it?" I asked, fingering the wooden and bronze shaft. I felt its warmth and the faint vibrations of the weapon, knowing that it had been used recently.

"We did examine it. It does have a handsome look to it if it is inelegant in its operation. It is quite effective. Rychik was not impressed. He prefers sleeker blasters and laser guns, but Genevieve and I respect the power of this weapon. She said you may have it back but that you should really learn how to use it properly." I smiled. She was right about that. My success with the weapon so far had been pure, clumsy luck.

Then, Tulos turned and left just as quietly and swiftly as he had come. Later, the serving mech had brought the same meal I had last night. I ate, thankful for it, and just as soon as I was done eating and began licking my fingers I heard an ear-shattering blast. It rocked the entire building. I fell to the floor from the force of it, as tables and chairs jumped and some tipped over. I rolled away in a split second before a large metal and glass cabinet came crashing down to the ground. I got up and raced to the window. On the other side of the city, I saw a fiery plume of cloud and fire blossoming out near the edge of the city. Ear piercing alarms sounded throughout Syzygy. I could feel the air around me becoming colder and my ears popped painfully. Below on the streets people were scrambling. An air taxi swerved, narrowly missing a tower only to crash into a freighter and explode.

I got the sickening feeling that this was my doing. What rose up from the cloud looked like an explosion of molten lava. Several buildings were rapidly burning down to the ground. Fires in several places leaped up, catching several cargo ships passing through above. Two of them exploded, debris flying out over the streets and material becoming shrapnel missiles. Everyone was scrambling, panicking. The doors slid open. Genevieve ran in.

"What's happening?" I cried.

"A gorgon ship! We're under attack! Put on your suit, now! We have ten minutes before the sphere is compromised and we won't be able to breathe!" I scrambled, pulling my suit and helmet on as quickly as I could. Just as I had adjusted my helmet a large shadow passed overhead. I looked out of the window to see a very large ship looming over the city.

"Follow me!" Genevieve shouted. I ran down the hall after her with several fighting mechs and her two associates fast behind, robes flying. We came to an underground port with several fighter craft. She opened a cockpit door to one of them and slid into the pilot's seat. Tulos sat beside her and the other stationed himself at the gundeck, at the laser launcher outfitted below.

"Strap in!" She said looking at me. I took the seat to her right and did as I was told. The engines came to life moments after.

"Who's attacking?" I shouted over the ship's engines.

"Loyalists! Who else!" Shouted Tulos.

The massive ship nearly engulfed the city skyline. Other fighter ships flew up to attack like moths against a great toad. Jets of fire streamed from the large ship's gunwale, searing through the near invisible layers of the atmosphere bubble.

"If this keeps up the breathable air in the city will disappear!"

"Rychik! Do we have any atomics left?" Called out Genevieve.

"We have only three left!" He shouted. She looked at me.

"These ships have one weakness we've found. A stellar energy cap in the front, beyond the bow. We have only a few minutes to launch a defense attack before its over!" She pressed the fighter up through the sphere until we were on a near vertical climb and soon the sky from the viewports were filled with only the behemoth, attacking spacecraft. Another, larger fighter craft managed to sear a line on the underside of the ship and follow it with a powerful laser blast. Short blasts of laser fire erupted from one of the big ship's gunwales, destroying three attacking fighter craft. I watched in terrified and exhilarated silence as the very air seemed to erupt in fire. Genevieve flew the ship past one of the exploding fighters, barely missing the cross fire of the gorgon ship and a freighter-turned battleship.

"If we can destroy the cap, the gorgon's done for! Tulos, cover me!" She said and Tulos left his seat and slid into hers to pilot the ship. Genevieve grabbed a jetpack from under her seat and strapped it on, along with fastening on an oxygen mask. Rychik handed her two slim looking tubes. The atomics. She strapped on her suit and made her way out of the cockpit to the nearest door of the ship.

The door slid open and Genevieve was sucked out of the corridor and into the air. I felt the freezing air slap my face with a thousand pricks, even with my helmet on. My head was forced against the back of my seat by the pressure controls of my suit as the air pressure changed from the open doorway. I took a deep breath from my own oxygen tanks for more air. I watched as she became a tiny figure jetting toward the gorgon ship, the little atomic devices in her gloved hands shimmering with light. She then flew out of view.

The gorgon was on fire, a series of explosions burning throughout its hull. A few minutes later, after some smaller explosions there was a massive shift in energy around us. The gorgon ship began to implode in a great wall of fire and smoke as the tiny fighter ships careened away from its violently burning hulk. The ship tipped to its side and then to some miles outside of Syzygy it crashed in spectacular devastation. Rychik landed the fighter to the ground. Through a viewport below I saw people swarming in on the failing ship, beached in the red desert sand like a dying whale. I heard a voice on the ship's audio comlink. I answered it.

"Genevieve! Is that you?"

"It's me! The atomics were just the thing to weaken the gorgon. Bring that atomic rifle. There may be invaders on the gorgon ship that need finishing off. We need every weapon we can get at our disposal, primitive or otherwise." I shuddered inwardly, remembering that it dislocated my shoulder the first time I'd tried to use it.

"Right away!" I heaved an apprehensive sigh, shut off the comlink and followed Rychik and Tulos toward the burning ship. Fighter craft were hovering, flying about or shooting at any loyalist brave (or stupid) enough to climb out of the ship. In the smoke and confusion, I eventually caught sight of the disheveled but confident, small figure of Genevieve Boleyn. She ran toward us.

"We nearly lost it this time," said Tulos.

"I know," she said.

"Nearly lost what?" I asked.

"The biosphere," all three of them retorted.

"Tulos, I thought they hadn't arrived at this system yet," I said.

"The rest of them haven't," he said. "But the first hive ship that came from Eraut was large enough to house several of these gorgons, plus thousands of escape pods. The loyalists on the hive ship took most of those ships with them and fled to some location near the outer planets." My eyes widened in disbelief.

"If a hive ship could carry something that size. . .I. . .I can't even fathom what that hive ship must have looked like." Both Tulos and Rychik both made something approximate to smiles.

"I've never actually seen one, since from what I've heard there was only one. It had to be vast," said Genevieve.

"If there are a fleet of alien ships here in the solar system, how in the world do humans on Earth not know of them?" I asked.

"Advanced cloaking devices." Said Rychik.

"So where in the world did this ship come from? You said something about the outer planets? No one can live on those planets."

"It was once assumed no one could live on Mars either." Said Genevieve.

"Some believe there is a fleet of warships hidden on one of the Jovian moons," said Tulos. "Ships the loyalists took with them when they fled the hive ship. How they are surviving there we have no idea."

"Many suspect that they are trying to build more while they await the coming fleet." Said Rychik. We all gazed at the burning heap in the distance.

"Burning slag heap full of gold, right there, if anything can be salvaged. We'll find some very useful things in there. Re-purpose them," she said. I watched the lines of her face. Steely, hard, as her resolve.

"This defense of the city was whip-fast. Looks like you all constantly survive by the skin of your teeth," I said. She turned to stare at me. Those eyes fixed me with an intense look, the pupils dilating and the orange rims becoming fiery.

"That is why there hasn't been an invasion. Yet."

"A storm is coming. I feel it." Said Tulos.

"They've been coming for a long time," said Rychik.

"I am not talking of ships. I mean a massive dust storm. You know what that means," he said.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"If we don't get the biosphere working at full capacity soon, it will destroy the city."

"Even so, there's nothing we can do to fix it. Leave that to the City Triage Network. It ain't the first time they've had to deal with it. We have scavenging work to do before all the best stuff is taken and we've been standing around here too long already," Genevieve said impatiently. "Let's go."
14

Stormy mayhem let loose around the burning hulk. Smaller fighter ships overhead were systematically coring, shredding and demolishing the underside with bombs and laser fire. Those on the ground were screaming curses at the fighter ships for needlessly destroying valuable metal. The scene invoked in my mind thousands of small predators tearing apart and feasting upon the corpse of a large beast. It was an odd scene that should have been in National Geographic. Or in this case, the companion zine, Cosmic Geographic.

I followed behind Genevieve and her team closely and this wasn't easy as we made our way among the throngs of other scavengers on foot. If any aliens had remained inside, by nightfall they would not survive and any tech that remained in the ship would be as precious as water. People would be fighting for their survival no matter the side they stood on. These conditions made the site lethal. Even just the baser metals and other external materials, if those were the only things to be salvaged, would be carried off. Finding the shipping and loading deck, Genevieve and the other two turned on the charged up power pack lights they had attached to their suits. Slices of bright light flooded the corridors.

"Don't get lost!" She said to me through her helmet transmitter. She motioned to Tulos with a hand signal. He took the lead guiding us into the ship.

"Engineering. And the science labs. That is where the most useful tech is held. This way." He motioned for us to follow, his laser sweep on at full power. We followed him on a dizzying journey of corridors and halls. We passed by others tearing down walls, cutting out doors, support columns, rails, carrying out sacks of material and objects with them. There was fighting and laser battles below us as the remaining crew gave some resistance when encountering the scavengers.

"I don't know guys," I said, worriedly. "The deeper we go into this ship the more of the crew we'll probably encounter."

"Actually that isn't likely. Gorgons these days are only outfitted with the barest of skeleton crews. If they weren't killed in the fires of the crash or by scavengers, their life support systems are giving out. Most of the ship is now exposed to the air. There won't be many of them here because they don't have nearly enough people to man the ships." Said Tulos. His mask and helmet faceplate fogged up with moisture as he breathed and then drew a deep breath from the tanks attached to his back.

As we climbed farther inside the central area of the ship the fewer scavengers we saw. We entered the vast engineering section. Dead alien bodies littered the floors, all twisted as if they'd suffered and died in agony. I nearly felt bad for them and absently touched my helmet just to make sure my own oxygen levels were not amiss.

One alien, a Suwudi who had managed to find and put on an oxygen mask, was injured badly and bleeding. Tulos strode toward him, pulling his head up roughly and said something to him in harsh tones. The other did not answer at first. Tulos struck him repeatedly and barked a command in his own language. The other still would not speak. Rychik then moved forward and shot him, to my surprise and dismay. They swept through engineering which turned out to be a long series of connected, honey-combed rooms. I gazed in awe at tech I'd never seen before and wasn't sure how to describe. Winding through the rooms I came upon what looked like the engine core reactor; a monstrous thing which looked as if it were alive.

"Don't get too close to it. It is what helps drive the stellar cap, in the front of the ship. If it starts leaking, it will poison the air. . ." he began.

"Which is why we need to get moving on finding things we can use or sell!" Urged Genevieve. Rychik stopped short.

"What?" Asked Genevieve.

"Something isn't right," he said. "Can you feel it?" I shook my head. The others said nothing. Genevieve, determined and single-minded, waved it off and continued making her way beyond the present room, scavenging.

"You may feel it soon enough. A pulling in the air." As he said this I noted a distinct change though minute, in air pressure.

"Hurry before others get here!" Genevieve called from the adjacent room. They scavenged the engineering room, using laser metal cutters, cutting away walls, panels, doors and taking gadgets, devices that I knew not what they were. I wandered over to a unique looking panel in a room just beyond the reactor core. I fingered the design of this panel and then began feeling for a way to try and open it.

"Do not open anything in that area!" Rychik warned. "Gorgons are powered by dead star energy. This is an early, primitive gorgon."

"A black hole, you mean?"

"I suppose that is what you call them, yes. This ship may eventually self-destruct. Take any weapons that you find and do not fall too far behind. But that, do not trouble it." He said to me. Reluctantly, I did as I was told. For a while. Finding weapons among the corpses I picked up laserguns and what looked like a ceremonial blade from one of them who was dressed in black and red regalia. His clothing looked less like a uniform and more like the robes of a cleric or priest. Of all the corpses I encountered, their bodies looked stripped of all bodily fluids and moisture, their skin crisp and frosted over, cold and crepe-like, just like dry husks. No breathable air.

All of a sudden, metal and other objects began to fly through the room, clinging to the strangely paneled door. I felt my teeth grit as if they were being pulled. There was a terrible groaning of metal and we all stopped to listen. Shouts from various areas of the ship sounded. Suddenly, the ship shifted downward. My helmet scans registered a sound like that of thunder outside the ship and the air pressure and gravity pressure readings became scrambled. Genevieve's hair began to flutter and flip beneath her helmet in response to the growing air currents. There was another groan from the ship. Then silence, except for the faint thunderous hum of the ship's dying systems and the wind flowing through the corridors. After waiting in silence to see if anything else might change and seeing nothing, the other three finally went back to scavenging. Wow. Nothing phases them. I marveled.

Wary but curious, I finally ventured off on my own. Every warning in my mind said not to. But this was a chance that most likely would not come again. I ignored the voice in my mind and forged ahead. After all, I wasn't going to go far. I wandered out to a corridor and passed by two aliens arguing over some machine one of them had managed to dismantle and pull from the wreckage. As I turned a corner one of them pulled out a lasergun and shot the other dead. Thankful I'd just missed that incident, I crept away and climbed a steep incline to an upper level of the ship. I still couldn't get over the vastness of the ship. It was as big or maybe bigger than a luxury class civilian starship back home. Or the largest military class ships. You hardly ever saw those unless you were in the military. And to think the hive ship or Mothership carried many of these. It boggled the mind.

Light seeped in oddly and randomly from different places. Shafts of it streamed in from the many holes, viewports and cracks in the ship's hull and walls, where the metal had been burned out or sheared off. Then there were the ship's own internal lights, some dimmed, others blinking sporadically. Genevieve had given us trackers so that we would not get lost. I went through a narrow doorway and climbed what looked like a drop shaft. Thankfully there were tracks I could place my feet upon and climb up. I saw the winking lights of other scavengers searching below and above me. Hoping to avoid any fights or murderous scavengers, I went off down a dimly lit corridor where I didn't see or hear anyone. Coming to the next platform and stepping out onto this next floor, I found it was slightly offset sideways. Trying to keep my balance, I wandered through strange rooms filled with liquid tanks. Some of them were filled with the bodies of dead crew members. Those in the tanks were Miku but there were Suwudi and Glia dead on the ground. Some bodies were smashed or caved in, some were shriveled up, wounded, all with mouths contorted open as if gasping for air that would only kill them in their dying moments. It was then that it hit me. I began to feel that no matter how advanced, frightening or powerful they were, they were fragile creatures just like humans; subject to the physical laws of the universe, like we were. And they suffered, bled out and died horribly just like we often did.

Rooms with tubes and liquids of what? I knew not what. Some of these liquids had since evaporated away, but there seemed to still be a viscous thick black substance on the floor in certain rooms with the tanks. I thought of taking samples but had nowhere to put them, nor did I know whether they would cause disease in humans or not. Leaving this series of chambers behind, I wandered up to another floor where I saw a closed- off room. There was a panel by the door here that was identical to the one I saw in the engineering chamber. I touched the panel and it lit up with symbols. I touched it again as the symbols lit up, some red, the others violet. I touched the side of the panel with the violet symbols and the doors, with difficulty, shuttered open. Then another glass-like door lifted. This chamber was quite unlike anything I'd ever seen. It was round and in the middle of the room was a vast reservoir of water. It moved to and fro as if it were a small ocean. The pull and sway of the water was soothing, nearly hypnotic. There was a soft, low hum. Something about it felt ominous to me but not obviously so. I moved toward the pool. The reservoir looked as if made from a type of stone and metal together. The domed ceiling was near black with lights that looked like stars reaching out into space. I was nearly at the pool and ready to touch the waters. I could not see the bottom, but it was so large that it was impossible to judge how deep it really was. Slowly, out of the air a hologram right above it appeared. It was the image of a planet. A soft blue and purple atmospheric water planet with a thin ring of ice and rock encircling it. Three moons soon appeared, two, soft silver, and the other, blue-silver. They revolved around the looming planet. I felt a profound sense of sacredness wash over me. I was so entranced at this new projection-scape that I barely noticed the shadow creeping up behind me. I felt a presence and suddenly whirled around. It was one of the alien denizens of Syzygy. Or so it seemed to me, for he wore no uniform like the dead crew members did. He was deeply hooded and peered out at me behind bright yellow eyes. He stood some paces away from me, regarding me with those disturbing eyes.

"What do you want?" I finally broke the silence. My voice sounded unnaturally loud and awkward. The alien didn't respond right away. He moved around the pool away from me. My eyes followed him, ready to grab my rifle at a moment's notice. My heart beat faster, but I kept my cool. He finally spoke.

"You walk on hallowed ground."

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you know what this room is?" I shook my head. He went on. "It is a blevdas. A sacred place for the Jannisii."

"What is that?"

"It is a holy place. Contemplation for the away-ones. For those of the Order of the Jannis, those who are keepers and the font of all wisdom in the known universe, future, and past, according to the Realm."

"The order of Jannis."

"It is hallowed ground. Only certain gorgons have such a room. Those not of the order who set foot in these rooms are put to death."

"Are you going to kill me?" I asked.

"Now, why would I do such a thing?"

"Well, you did mention it. You sound bitter," I said. He smiled grimly. "Do you belong to this order?" I asked. He hesitated. Then:

"I do not." His shoulders seemed to drop ever so slightly. "I did not come from family blood worthy enough to partake of the ceremony of consecration. My grandfather belonged, however. But here, on this desert world there is no one to stop me from coming into the inner sanctum."

"Taking advantage of a downed ship in the middle of chaos?"

"One could say that."

"So, you come from an important family?"

"I do, but not powerful enough to be a part of the highest of the orders in our society."

"Because you descended from colonists." I countered. See? I'm catching on.

"Yes!" He hissed. I was taken aback by the vehemence of his answer.

"I am sorry if I touched on something I shouldn't have," I said.

"I stopped you before I would have had to kill you for committing sacrilege," he said quietly. My blood pressure shot up in alarm, but I had no retort to this particular comment. He sighed and went on.

"But. . .I cannot blame you for entering and lurking. It is a place of beauty and peace."

"If you are barred from this, why kill someone else over it?"

"What is sacred is still sacred, even if others who have no right to, bar their own people from what is everyone's by right. This place will remain holy even when all the rest is scavenged and taken apart. In fact, a way must be created to preserve this place. It is all we have that is pure and good from our world," he said. I pointed to the beautiful planet rotating on a slight axis with its delicate ring and triple moons.

"Yes. Eraut. Our home. This rendition you see is a pristine image of when the planet was in its natural prime and beauty. Oh, the beauty of Eraut. The tangles of vast jungles and forests and great seas. The thundering waterfalls and rivers and the tongues of waterways. Mountains and beaches and even flowering deserts, flowing snow plains and the vast mountains of Cadumaw that circled the equator all around in one great ring, and its fertile valleys."

"Sounds like Earth."

"I know. That is why the Realm ordered all to travel the Sacred Way. Either in the mind or physically. To look towards and come to the planet most like Eraut. You know, so many from your world see the cruel Mars or the even crueler Venus as sister planets to Earth. But Eraut is Earth's true sister world. A sister that is dying." He was slowly moving around the pool until he was on the other side, his steps keeping in time with the swaying tide of the waters. He stopped and looked up at the brilliant hologram. It suddenly felt as if we were both standing in space, in the blackness of the universe with these heavenly bodies floating around us.

"The idea of the Sacred Way is more than ten thousand years old. It is a way to heavenly paradise. It is said that a prefecture shot a fiery arrow into the heavens and that arrow never came down and that was the beginning of the Sacred Way. "Like a fiery arrow fired into infinity", does go the saying. The arrow to infinity is the soul reaching to the Light."

"Sounds mystical," I said slowly. He grunted.

"It is a metaphor for overtaking Earth. Look," he pointed to the little moons, "Caret, Edet and Bolet, the shepherd moons that shepherd the diamond ice rings of Eraut and her vast seas, as they shepherd the wombs of our women. But now there is barely any ocean to shepherd."

"Our moon is a shepherd of sorts too."

"I know. You do not know the ache of losing your home in the vastness of space. To lose one's homeland is one type of terrible thing. To lose one's home or abode-roof is another thing that is terrible as well. But to lose one's whole world in this way. . ." He grew quiet for a few moments. "I suppose there are different ways to lose one's world. But to lose it in how we have. I have no words. Only a black pit in my soul. It could have been prevented but once a powerful and entrenched institution sets itself on the path to self-destruction, there is no stopping it. So we came here. The Realm decreed it."

"There was no way to save Eraut? At all?"

"There comes a time, my friend, when a planet reaches the point of no return. Eraut surpassed that critical point centuries ago. It has long been in decline. All we have now, those of us who came on the hive ship, are these kinds of places," he swept his arm around the chamber.

"Is there another place like this somewhere?"

"There is. This is a shrine. A place for reverence. There are other blevdai."

"You speak as if you were actually on the planet." He was closer to me now and he smiled.

"Those of us living now never saw Eraut, we away-ones. But the holograms, the pictures, the stories, the histories make it real. A few colonists did see it, the rare few that are mighty enough to live very long lifespans. But I think even all of them are dead now. The rebellion was a great blasphemy. What I did, what I do, is a blasphemy against all that is natural and right. One blasphemy among many."

"What are you talking about?" He came and stopped just a few paces from me, watching me as keenly as I was watching him. Then, I recognized him. But my limbs would not move.

"I am of the blood of the nine princes, distaff side, as your people would have once called it. Distant blood. My maternal great-great uncle was a brother to one of the ruling nine. Those of us of the blood have special talents. Some of us are genetically blessed with long life. But there is a downside too."

"You. . ." one more thing I had to throw on the giant pile of I-don't-know-what-the-hell-is-going-on-but-I-need-to-find-out-later, ". . .you are related to one of the royal families of your world?"

"Distantly."

"You turned your back on a lot to come out here and merely subsist." I wanted to move away, to flee but felt strangely compelled to stay rooted where I was.

"I have a will that will not allow me to bow down to anyone. The Realm requires blind obedience and subservience."

"You mentioned a downside."

"Of course. Nothing can ever be perfect, now can it? Those of the blood, like myself, we have. . . . .unnatural antecedents." My arm began to hurt in memory of what he had done. Finally, I found the strength to back away from him, grasping at my rifle. He chuckled.

"And after I saved you from a most horrible death. This is how it is now? Come, I will not harm you. If I'd wanted to, I would have killed you already." He turned and gazed at the planet again. I shifted uncomfortably.

"So, those of noble blood that made it out here, they need human bone marrow?"

"It is not spoken of, for it is offensive in the extreme to loyalists and all those of that camp. An unhappy secret, and a growing thing in Syzygy. Their ways of thinking require human beings to be inferior and useless in every way, otherwise their beliefs come apart. To even suggest that some of us who are of the blood need certain things from humans to function is a blasphemy. We are the best our genetics has to offer. It is crushing for some to even think about." Well, humans often need animals for nourishment. But I decided not to mention that out loud.

"If it became well known among the princes, who are coming, they would take steps to eliminate those of the blood who, as they would see it, need pruning off the vine. There would be an unimaginable amount of bloodshed. To rival the devastation of the Kriani wars so long ago. It is shameful, yet for some of us, necessary. Thankfully, the trade is very small. For now."

"I can only imagine what someone like Abor would do if he knew about you."

"Which is why I left the kregei. But you'd be surprised how many turn a blind eye when there is profit to be made. Presently."

"So, what did people like you do about your, predilections before you all came here and encountered the human race?" I asked.

"Some things should be left to the imagination. I will let you ponder that." Honestly, I didn't want to know. I could no longer tell if he was grinning at me or not. It was an expression I'd never had any experience with, had never seen before. And all this talk of spirituality, orders and prefects and things jostled my memory. A thought was suddenly resurrected.

"I'm curious. What is. . .Ancus?" His face darkened several shades as if his alien blood had flooded to his face in some flush of powerful emotion. It morphed through several expressions. At first he expressed shocked, then a dark, ominous look sat on his narrow face.

"Where did you hear that name?" Even his voice was several octaves deeper. I knew instantly I'd bumbled onto truly forbidden ground.

"Ah! Well, uh. . .I once heard someone mention the name is all. He-"

"Don't you say that name," he said very slowly. His voice sounded like a menacing growl and I puzzled at it, feeling my fear grow.

"I. . sorry! I didn't mean to offend!" I stammered. He didn't answer. His eyes darkened dangerously. The air had changed from mysterious contemplation to darkly ominous in a matter of seconds. Whereas before I only felt the slightest suggestion of menace emanating from him, now I surmised that if I committed any more verbal blunders that he would be quite willing to do great violence to me. Even while holding my atomic rifle in my hands, I felt impotent.

"Uglhmmm. You had better go. When the scavengers find this room they may not take well to a human defiling it." he murmured. I glanced at the luminous planet and its softly glowing moons over the waters of the pool and then slowly backed out as I saw him turn toward the holographic images, raise his hands in what looked like supplication and then bowed deeply before them. I left the room with a lot on my mind.

So, human bone marrow was needed for those of the blood, as he said. Why? Were they genetically abnormal? Likely. Perhaps this nobility of the various societies of Eraut were products of too much inbreeding. It was once a problem among royal houses the world over on Earth. It created numerous genetic problems among royalty and the nobility. This seemed similar to me. But why human marrow? Perhaps on their own planet they used some type of marrow from some animal native to that planet but found that human marrow was superior once they arrived here? Did they use the marrow of their own people? I shivered to think of that possibility. And I suspected the growing trade of bone marrow I kept hearing about was being cultivated and encouraged by those who had no wish to see humans wiped out. After all, if you desperately need something, why would you wipe it out? On the other hand, I could think of a thrillion earthly species and entire environments and habitats that had been ruthlessly hunted or resourced into extinction, only to find out later how important they were. My own species's misbehavior toward our own lesser species and our own planet didn't give me much hope that the Erautians who wanted our bone marrow would practice good stewardship.

After all, when addicts were in the grip of addiction they didn't give a damn about anything but the fix. And I was convinced these aliens were addicts.

And another thought occurred to me: I was very glad that I hadn't asked Abor about this mysterious Ancus if this last alien's reaction was a natural consequence. Abor loathed me. I didn't want to think about what he might have done to me had I mentioned the name in his presence.

Instead of leaving the ship immediately I made my way back towards the engineering section. It was empty of living people. I heard the ship groaning around me again. Parts of it were stripped bare, but much of it was still intact, it being vast. But the core and the tanks were gone. The panel was still there. The pull of air in this room was stronger. I wondered how the cap, as Genevieve put it, reacted with the core to power the ship. I'd heard some time ago of scientists coming close to creating something like a black hole engine, references to it on the various news feeds often referred to it as the Dyson Cap and there were a lot of problems they were working through. But these aliens had done it! We needed this technology and I had no idea what to do about it.

Before I left, I needed to find something useful to take home. I could feel the force of the pull of gravity on my body, even in my teeth. I made my way carefully to the panel and carefully placed my hand upon it. If only Will could communicate with me, but I didn't have him to rely on now.

The panel was about the size of a trap door. I tried to move it. Nor did its symbols light up. At first it didn't budge. I could feel the irresistible power of the tiny artificial black hole engine behind this panel which led to the stellar cap, in the front of the ship. On the adjacent wall, the control panels near the seats did light up. But there must have been a reason no one attempted to open or take what hid behind that panel. Leaving this panel, I went to the control panels. There, my hand flew over consoles, screens and lights lit with symbols I couldn't read, and intricate, high-definition holograms of various systems of the ship. There had to be some way I could get this information. I slid my hands over the under-panels beneath and found what looked like a thin, crystal-like disk. It was almost invisible. I took it out of its slot. I found several, one of them a cube and took them as well. Whatever was on them I'm sure someone could learn something. The lights and holograms of the ship's systems eventually sputtered out and died. I stuffed the disks in my bag. I could feel the pull of the dying engine becoming more powerful and unstable. It was with difficulty that I found my way out of the ship with my tracking device. Far off I saw on the horizon a dust storm coming in. Tulos was right. My helmet faceplate was recalibrating itself and my suit for air pressure and warmth as I ventured back out into the cold desert. Hundreds were milling down the gigantic rampway. Everyone ignored me on their way out of the ship, boarding their own craft to leave the area. I finally found a place to stay put, sitting on a large rock with my rifle in my lap, waiting for Genevieve and her team, hoping they hadn't forgotten me.

. . .

I had closed my eyes, nearly falling asleep when I heard a loud boom that made me jump and fall from my rock. The ship was continuing its sluggish journey of collapsing in on itself. Genevieve and her team were coming toward me. I sprang up just in time to see more mayhem and confusion unfold right before me. A great crowd of scavengers were escaping, streaming from the baleful ship. Smoke was ascending to the fiery colored sky, blackening it as we headed back to the fighter.

When we had arrived back to the compound I'd found that they'd gathered a very large collection over the years of weapons, parts, engines, and other strange machines that I had no name for. They piled their new finds in with the rest. A small labor mech began sorting and examining these new machines, parts and objects. Genevieve set to work examining a small device she was holding. A blaring alarm sounded throughout the city.

"It's safe to take our suits off now. The sphere has been repaired," she said. Relaxing a bit, I took my helmet off and set it aside.

"Good! My wings grow heavy and sore. I need to stretch and release them," said Rychik. He left.

"Wow. You guys have a lot of stuff." I said, wandering through the room. It was organized like a warehouse with stuff in crates and stacked on broad cabinets.

"This is how we keep our independence."

"What is that over there?" I asked, pointing to a ball of light inside of what looked like a clear, metallic cylinder.

"It's a mini-core engine made of lantium. It's one of my experiments. If I can get it powered up and keep it powered, it will make a very efficient traveling device, even a weapon. The trouble is figuring out how it works."

"You have Rychik and Tulos to help you," I said. She laughed.

"Tulos and Rychik are not scientists, Bob. You have any weapons you've collected?" She asked. I put the one weapon I'd found, the stone and metal looking blade and brought back with me on the table in the middle of the room. The blade was about one-third the length of a long sword and looked ceremonial but also looked frightfully sharp. It had the shape of a long, broad tooth of some carnivore and I did wonder whether it really was a re-purposed tooth of some gigantic alien beast. Its handle was made of what looked like scrimshaw. On its surface were what looked like script and pictographs.

"Very nice," she murmured. However Genevieve, whom I was beginning to discern was very one-track minded, had gotten out a box of tools and was busy with her own find to pay me or it much heed. I wandered away from the machine room and happened to glance up to see one of Genevieve's companions coming down the corridor. It was Tulos.

"Tulos! I have a question."

"What is it?" He asked. He had pulled back his deep hood to reveal his long tentacles that laid like long, thick dreads.

"I found this. It looks like a ceremonial blade. I wondered if one of you might have seen something like this before." His eyes widened as he gazed at the thing. Then he took it up with reverence in his hands.

"It is beautifully made. Made of gristone. The handle is of the horned tusk of the bithra. You found this on the gorgon?"

"Yeah. What is gristone?" I asked.

"A type of rock, a substance that is holy to us. We use it for creating and holding sacred utensils. Gristone can only be found on one mountain on Eraut. The mountain at the heart of the planet. This is a ceremonial sword. It is strange that any simple attendant or soldier carried it with him. It's rarely seen outside temples or the home shrine of its owner."

"Well, on the gorgon I saw a dead man dressed in black and red robes. I found it on him. He didn't look like a soldier or civilian. Didn't have a uniform or armor on."

"A prefect then. Someone with this would be high in rank from an important family. Or a prefect who is supremely skilled in wielding it."

"I thought you said it was ceremonial?" I asked. He looked at me.

"Ceremonial blades in our cultures are still hard working blades. They do not sit around attracting dust. Nor are they hung on walls or in museums for decoration." I thought I detected a note of reproach in his voice.

"Do you think it was stolen?" I asked. He frowned.

"Doubtful. You said you found it on a prefect, the very sort of person to own one. Stealing? One would be executed for such an offense. Besides, it is useless to those who are not initiated. Only those of the Order of Jannis have been trained to wield them." He paused, his face darkening. The name Ancus came to my mind again, but I was afraid to ask. So I didn't.

"What is it?"

"I think I have an idea as to what may be happening. Let us go find the others." He led me back to the machine room.

"Genevieve!" Said Tulos. He was holding the sword in his hand.

"What is it?" She asked, finally looking up from her work. She had completely taken apart the mysterious looking device. I was in awe of the woman's knowledge of alien devices.

"A ceremonial blade. Robert found it."

"He showed it to me already. Where was it found?"

"On that gorgon ship," I said, feeling slightly irritated. She could've at least feigned interest. She gave me a sidelong look under long lashes. Tulos expounded further.

"Only certain people are allowed to even touch it. An approximate situation would be like a non-Aaronic Levite priest presuming to touch the Ark of the Covenant." Okaaay. Genevieve finally put her tools down, cupping her chin. A large patch of grease stained her cheek. She frowned, her lazer-intense gaze finally studying it from across the room. I thought I could hear the tiny zoom of her bionic lenses focusing on it.

"Fine. I won't touch it anymore, as I am not an Erautian prefect. It's all yours, Tulos." I said. I admit I felt greatly disappointed in losing such a wonderful find.

"But, what a find, Bob! If only we had a prefect or one of the Order of Jannis in our midst," said Genevieve.

"I may know of someone," said Tulos.

"Really?" We both asked. He seemed hesitant.

"Though I am told he is a disgraced prefect."

"Disgraced?" I asked.

"A. . .heretic, as you may call them."

"Well, that's an ancient word and an old concept hardly in use now," she said.

"Thankfully," I said.

"Perhaps, but it is the closest expression that I can give for what he is. Still."

"Tulos, if you don't feel comfortable allowing him to see it. . .don't. You won't get any pressure from me. However, we could use the money or the metal that sword could bring in. That's about six month'sworth of good scavenging." She said. Tulos frowned.

"Well, it is Robert's find, after all," he said, handing it gingerly it to me.

"Hey, wait a minute! I thought I wasn't supposed to touch this object?"

"To be honest, times have dramatically changed. That was a rule for an old world order; a world that no longer exists," he said sadly and then shot Genevieve a disapproving glance. Genevieve fixed me with a greedy stare. But I wasn't going to give it up that quickly, nor would I let her desecrate an object that obviously had some spiritual significance for Tulos.

"What do you say, Robert?" She asked.

"Let me think about it for a while. In fact, I may keep it. It is my find, after all." I said. "Mystical alien swords aside, it seems we have more pressing matters to think about. These attacks on the biosphere are troubling. Frightening, even. How do people even sleep at night? An attack could come at any moment. What are you going to do?"

"Several things," said Genevieve. "First, we get on with life because there is no other choice. What are we going to do? Bite our fingers and worry ourselves to death? The most pressing issue is that they're stepping up their attacks on the city. This one failed. But that doesn't mean later attacks will fail. So, we don't have time to sit around panicking."

"I don't follow."

"What do you mean you don't follow? Like I've said before, we think there is a base of operations near one of the Jovian moons. There is a hierarchy throughout the entire realm of Eraut, from all strata of the societies there. That ship may have carried soldiers descended from important minor families. Those ships are the ones with the most powerful weapons and technology. And over time we've noticed they have improved but we need more information. Spies. Next, we formulate a plan of attack. With all that's going on around us, we don't have time to be frightened." Rychik had arrived silently and took a seat at a table to examine some of their new finds. His wings, which looked like great, faceted structures, were folded tightly against his broad, strong back. She looked at him for help.

"What is the matter?"

"We are discussing the reasons why these attacks are becoming more frequent and deadlier."

"I see," said Rychik, glancing at me. "As far as I already know, they have been testing certain technologies. Today our raids on the gorgon bore out my theories, as you and Tulos well know." Tulos grunted in approval.

"True," she said.

"What's true?"

"Did you not feel it, Robert? The gravitational pull on the ship?"

"Oh, yeah. I felt it. You mean the stellar cap?"

"Yes. They have found some way to make an infinitesimal . . .black hole. . .we think on that secret base of theirs. It is not entirely stable as of yet."

"That would add to the rumors in the past of gorgons disappearing, self-destructing suddenly in mid-flight," said Tulos. "Strange accounts of ships that simply collapsed in on themselves so violently that no one could understand what they were witnessing until some wise people put the clues together."

"Black hole engines," I said in wonderment. "I know on Earth they have attempted it. We even know how to make our own black holes in labs. But the cost of creating an actual spaceship engine powered by one!" I whistled at the thought. "Where are they getting the energy and materials to do this?"

"We don't know. Maybe some phenomenon on the planet this secret base is located on is a clue. There are powerful energy forces and a wealth of raw materials to be tapped in this solar system alone, Robert. Only a guess."

"The materials are not the mystery. The universe is rich with raw materials and if you already have the systems in place to harvest them, you can do so. The means of harvesting the energy needed is the real mystery," said Genevieve. A shadow fell over her face. "I had heard my Jason once talk about something he had deciphered in a coded message before he disappeared. Something called the Dark Energy Project. It was actually a part of Project: Blackguard. They've had a plan in place for some time. I'm not surprised at what they've accomplished." Rychik spoke again.

"I can surmise this: desperation and need can fuel great discoveries. The idea and the ability to create black holes is not unknown to Erautians either. It has been known for ages. But with this, they have made a quantum leap."

"Why would anyone create such a thing in such close proximity to so many people?" I asked.

"They were desperate, as I said. The Dark Energy Project was supposed to enable our military to create a black hole smaller than a proton and to use this energy to fuel new ship engines. Several ships, it was said, disappeared during the trials. They keep the engines locked behind one of the special panels in the ships' engineering rooms. The panels themselves are decorated in holy script for protection."

"I still can't believe I was that close to a black hole," I said. "But why go ahead with a project with such instability issues and loss of life?"

"Need drives them. Just like need drives them to steal technology found on Earth for the solargate. Whatever is going to help speed up their plan to repopulate this solar system. To make room for the millions that are going to arrive in the future. Time is running out for them," he said. "So they are moving fast."

"Which means time is running out for us," I said.

"Yes. If our people have traveled this far across the galaxy for the resources in this solar system, they will not give up now. Part of Project: Blackguard has been achieved. I am convinced that this was a test, as were all the other previous attacks. The next time there may be a fleet of ships attacking and they will not be so easy to defeat."

"When do you think it will happen?" They were all silent. Genevieve shook her head.

"And so waves of colonists on a moon somewhere in this solar system are readying themselves with this new technology?" I asked.

"That is the question isn't it? We don't know and those who are not of high rank have no way to know their military secrets," she said.

"Yet." Said Rychik.

"Eh?" Genevieve asked, raising a thin brow.

"Elucidate, please," Tulos demanded.

"There are those working on a plan to infiltrate their secret base."

"We have heard this before, Rychik. Nothing has come of these rumors," said Tulos.

"I know, but this time there may be more to the rumors."

"So this base isn't alleged then? It really exists?"

"It has to. Otherwise, where else would these ships come from?"

"We've been dog-fighting them ever since we've known about them. I don't know how much longer we can go on without everyone in Syzygy coming together as a unified force," she said to them both.

"I know," Tulos said quietly.

"I wish we could go back to the ship and dig around. I have a friend at home, a near genius who could figure out how to build a fleet of cyborgs with some of the stuff I've seen on that ship." I said. "Think of what we could do if we could find a way to acquire and study that stellar cap. Then we would have such an advantage!"

"Oh, someone is going to find a way to get to that stellar cap if it doesn't self-destruct completely, first. I don't think the ship will have been stripped utterly bare yet. But we have more pressing concerns now." She shot Rychik a quizzical look and went back to her mechanical work.

A few hours after we ate dinner in silence shot with muted conversation. Something was brewing, as I was learning, always in Syzygy, but this was something different. Rychik seemed to know something about it, which disturbed and excited the other two. Genevieve turned on a computer and opened up an online network full of information feeds. She switched to a feed called Mars Weather Signs. From what I heard, the communication was slightly garbled, the biosphere was not yet as stable as it should be.

"The environmental bubble is leaking precious breathable air here from the city. How long will it take for the CTN to get it to full capacity again?" She snapped in frustration.

"It will take time. Always does." Said Rychik.

"If you're going outside, put on your suit and helmet, Bob," she told me. "The biosphere isn't entirely repaired."

Back in my bedroom I was resting and thinking. I had planned to go home at this juncture, find Sworda and go back to my ship. But once again, chance put a wrench in my plan. A Coriolis storm was on its way. From my bedroom window, I could see it like a dark hand of fog coming over the desert. Genevieve had said that once a storm like that hit the city, no one would be able to see a thing on the streets. I wondered and even worried for my new friend out there in Dorwe. I heard a soft rap at my door.

"Come," I said. It was Genevieve.

"Something is brewing. It is interesting that you turn up when things are starting to roll together."

"What do you mean?" I was ready to go home. I was mentally exhausted from everything I was trying to process. She sat down on a steel stool by the window.

"We could use another man on the ground, either here or on Earth to help us out. You have ties to Vartan Inc. Some type of alliance with someone down there who can help us would be an excellent thing. You never know when I might need you or when you might need me."

"What kind of help are you looking for?"

"Material resources, for one thing. Metal, old chips, old hardware, wire, raw materials to build ships. You may not know it, but there are people back home who know what is going on and can find ways to help. You just have to be careful who you contact."

"But that's just it, Genevieve. Who to contact without finding myself in trouble. Besides, I get the feeling that when I arrive back home I'm going to have a whole lot of explaining to do and no one is going to give me anything but a hard bed in a jail cell." I said. She smiled ruefully.

"Maybe. You might be surprised though."

"If I could help you, how would I send anything here without actually coming here?"

"There are ways. I can give you instructions on setting up a comlink between your location at home on Earth and our location here. It will be fuzzy and intermittent, but it might work. We can start there."

"Okay. Sounds like a plan." She seemed to hesitate.

"Yes?"

"There's something else I wanted to tell you. Rychik has been hinting for a few weeks now that a major plan is brewing among both separatists and independents. In fact, things have moved along at lightening speed ever since you came. You destroyed something important at The Dagger. The solargate files, right?" She asked. I nodded slowly.

"Well, that was a large victory for us all. I don't think you realize how important this is. What you did. Most people here didn't even know about the solargate until we heard about it from informants and spies a few weeks ago. Some of our contacts on Earth have dried up."

"You mean disappeared."

"We don't know. Probably. But we nearly missed this one and all of a sudden you came in like a white knight and tore a very big hole in their grand scheme. I don't have much use for niceties but . . . thank you," she said. "Anyway, a captains' meeting of the Martian Allied Powers is assembling. It's been a long time since one has been called. It means they've got something important brewing. Something big. I want you to come with us. You deserve to be there. You might also learn something valuable that might be of great help back home."

"Where is this meeting?"

"An underground chamber. And it concerns the Realm." Something in me dropped like a stone. This Realm was an entity I now feared as if it were already here. It was unimaginably far off, seemingly intangible, yet it was a shadow reaching across the galaxy to destroy us. I hated the fact that we even shared the same galaxy. I'm already so far down the rabbit hole that I can't see the light anymore. How much farther could this meeting possibly take me?

"I'll go." I didn't bother to mention my suspicions of failure on the mission to The Dagger.

We left twelve hours later. Rychik had what looked like a weather and air control gauge, measuring the air quality. I watched the rolling numbers and symbols of the meter reading, which was in the blue and rising toward green. Which meant the bio-dome was nearly repaired. The Erautians, with caution, could breathe the air without their suits and helmets attached. Genevieve and I, however, could not without some difficulty, so we were suited up. She led us beneath the compound and into a long, dimly lit corridor. It took us to a cave with a walkway over a vast drop into darkness. We could hear only our own footsteps and Rychik's machine's soft, clicking noises, tracking air pressure and quality. Far down I imagined a molten core of lava. Of course, there wasn't, but the darkness wasn't a complete blackness that you'd expect but more a deep, black red. A mysterious fog descended down into the maw of Mars. The walls of this place were made of sharp, angular columns of rock and I imagined that below they fell into a vast and sinister underworld that arose in the myth-dreams of Earth.

But I digress.

At the end of the walkway stood an ancient, rickety looking elevator chute. We climbed in, myself with great trepidation.

"Come! We don't have much time!" Genevieve said impatiently. "Hold on." She touched a brass lever, pushing it down through a vinyl pad box. I heard levers, wheels, ropes and pulleys creaking to life and I grabbed onto the bars as we jerked downward at an alarming pace. You would think that after flying in aircraft and spaceships that this would be nothing. But flying in a ship, you are enclosed in steel and other strong materials and in relative comfort. This was like being in a rusting, rattling shark cage nearly falling apart, with the sharks just outside! At first the jolt nearly toppled me to the ground. The other three swayed at the force but seemed accustomed to it and held their balance. Tulos, with a strong arm, helped me up. I grabbed his arm and then clung to the side of the elevator cage as if life depended upon it. I could see her grinning at me through her helmet faceplate. My own registered a drop in air pressure and gas levels. The temperature had gotten even colder and I could feel the temperature controls built into my suit responding immediately. We entered into red darkness and then the other three became nearly invisible to me except for the occasional, dim reflections of light racing over their figures. We reached a rocky floor a few miles down beneath their compound headquarters. The soft glow of hanging glow globes that floated in mid air was the only light besides our power pack flashlights. Genevieve switched hers on and moved a lever in the pad box and we slowed down until we reached a thin walkway of rock jutting out of the cave wall. The elevator settled upon the platform and we were finally out. Shaking in anxiety, I was glad. I wanted to vomit, but I was too embarrassed. I managed to hold it in as we made our way into another, deeper cave in the wall. They moved swiftly down this next corridor and we finally came to an entrance, me struggling to keep up.

"This gathering, the Martian Allied Powers," said Rychik, presumably to me. "it's one of the most powerful counsels in the city."

"I'm curious to hear what they have to tell us," I said.

Upon entering, it was a large chamber lit up with glow globes. A large, motley assortment of mercenary looking folks were there, alien and human. Somehow, I was expecting a vast, daunting chamber of dignified officials. I should have known better by now.

"Finally. Took your time," complained one of them as Genevieve led us in and took her station around a platform in the middle of the chamber. Rychik, Tulos and myself stationed ourselves beside her.

"Attention!" Growled a massive Miku in a deep and nearly incomprehensible accent. He raised his powerful arms and stretched them outward, apparently a signal that meeting was in session. He nodded at Genevieve and she nodded back. His voice was brutish, sounding something close to a rumbling Kodiak bear. He wore a gold circle on his armor, something I noticed no one else wore. Must be the leader of this rough-hewn crowd.

"Factual news has finally reached us about where the enemy is hiding. We have long thought that they have a secret military base near the area of the outer planets. One of my own commanders was able to place a stealth tracker to one of their LAS fighters. We tracked this fighter craft heading very close between. . .Europa and Ganymede." He pronounced these words with great trouble. "We believe it is Europa, as it is a moon of water." It appeared that everyone spoke at least one of the universal languages of the system, English, so that all may understand what was said.

"What else?" Asked one.

"I am getting to it, Zutar," he rumbled. "The attack of the gorgon ship, we think, was a test."

"To see if we are ready?" Asked a human male.

"No. To see if their ships are battle ready. To see if their new source powering their engines can work. They made a mighty attempt and it seems as if these new engines can work."

"How long before the real attack, do you think?" Asked Zutar.

"We have no way of knowing this yet." After this a collective gasp and murmurings of dismay rose.

"If they can make such a bold attempt, even though they risked and lost so many, they know one thing now - it can be done." Said the massive Miku.

"What good is such an engine if they have the ability to create a solargate to bring the rest of the fleets in?" Asked a female Glia. Her outstretched wings fluttered so quickly at times they seemed invisible.

"Because the information tells us the solargate blueprints have been recently destroyed." Said the big Miku. He made what sounded like a sneezing sound and his tentacles flew out with a spray of thick phlegm, which did not seem to arrest or disturb anyone. I was thankful that I wasn't sitting near him. Shouts of applause and praise went up from the gathered crowd upon hearing that.

"By whom?" Asked one. Genevieve turned to me.

"By a man on my team." Genevieve pointed to me and smiled. I immediately felt sweat forming under my armpits.

"You destroyed the plans?" Asked one of the Miku mercenaries in disbelief. Suddenly, all eyes, alien and familiar, were on me.

"Yes."

"How?"

"To be honest, I got lucky. The kregei, called The Dagger, just outside the northern edge of the city where some of them are hiding is where I tracked the one who had stolen them. I tracked his ship there." I said, feeling the weight of what they were planning falling upon me as well. "One named Abor killed a man for these plans and took them to the kregei to hide them. I was captured right after I got in but I encountered one there among them who helped me escape. A spy, I think."

"Ah. Even the enemies have spies for us!" Said a Suwudi female.

"Huh. We don't know this man nor have I heard this tale before. He could be a double agent," spat another Suwudi male. "Why would any loyalist let him go free like that? That is suspicious."

"He is not a spy. We vouch for him." Said Tulos firmly. Genevieve raised her hand.

"We found him, torn, bleeding and about to be slaughtered in the street by a marrow hunter. After we took him in, it was then we heard his story. My team vouches for him." She said stonily. The Suwudi sniffed but said nothing else. The leader of the council regarded me calmly.

"You have done a great deed. What is your name?" He rumbled.

"Robert Astor, sir."

"Great, indeed, Robert. You have bought us time we had thought run out."

"I'm glad to be of service, sir," I said, feeling both proud and a little foolish. I had bumbled my way out here and through Syzygy. If they were looking for some kind of super spy or special forces trained soldier, they would be sorely disappointed.

"Copies could have been made of this information and most likely were, in between him stealing the files and Robert coming here to destroy them." Said another Glia male.

"This may be true. But we must deal with what we already know. The files have been destroyed as far as we know." He glanced at a group of Miku and Glia operatives across the room from him. "We will deal with what-ifs when they become facts." There was a loud cacophony of voices as everyone scrambled to speak. It looked more like a brawl than a secret meeting, but it was exciting. I saw tiny hovering mechs that silently roved the chamber, Recorder mechs. I thought. It occurred to me that any number of them could be spies. Who could really know? If they were to win against the Realm they needed iron-clad discipline and clear authority. Just the things many of them detested. I couldn't say I blamed them, but facts were facts.

"We sit here, nattering away at strategy when what we need is more weapons and materials. Why do we waste time, Suttu? There is a burning heap of a failed ship out there to be stripped. We have not reaped even the half of it yet." Said another Miku in impatience, who looked more like an alien cyborg, bathed in his breathing implants, hissing and wheezing as he exhaled green gases. His long tentacles were thin, wrinkled and withered, like the corners of his sallow green eyes.

"We are always in need of such things. The gorgon can wait, Tagor. What we need is a good strategy. All we have now are random tactics. Tactics win battles, but they won't help us win any wars against the Realm."

"Once we declared independence from the Realm we were already in danger. Of the elder ones among us, we can remember the great, surging battles on the hive ship. Our mistake then was to not plan out a strategy. We used tactics to free ourselves of them and destroy the ship-" Said Suttu, the leader but he was interrupted.

"But we destroyed most of the loyalists! We won!" Piped up a Glia female.

"We won nothing!" He bellowed. "All we accomplished was to buy ourselves time. A good amount perhaps but it is now running out!" She sat down, visibly upset. He softened his voice. "You are young, Kiria. You only heard the long memories. Now we need a strategy. Stop interrupting and listen, my people!"

"I agree with Suttu, our leader of this alliance." Said Tulos. "We've already put our luck in with the humans and thusly, we're in danger of extermination by the Realm and their forces," he said. "We need a good strategy. We cannot continue without one, living each one for themselves. The Realm demands an answer of unified and organized force." Yes, these angry, independent warriors needed organizing.

"What is that to us? I say this is the slow and ever-present whine of the separatists, who just want to create another empire in the end." Said a Suwudi male. Some nearly came to blows over this.

"Put your weapons away! We are not here to fight amongst ourselves! We are already lost if we can't be unified on this!" Shouted Genevieve. Suttu roared again, this time so fiercely that everyone quieted down.

"Those who cannot see themselves part of this alliance, leave now or be silent," he growled. The room became dead silent except for the low beeps and warbles of the tiny recording and security mechs of various members.

"So what are we going to do?" Asked Tulos to Suttu.

"Assemble a strike team, at the very least. I want those with the swiftest ships to answer the call." Said Suttu.

"I say we build fortifications. A stronger biosphere and a great force-shield wall around the city." Said one.

"A wise solution, but that will take time. What about now? I say we find out where all their stations are and prepare to make some strategic attacks. We need reconnaissance missions. We need to find the most important of their bases to strike," said a human woman. She was masked so heavily that I wondered what was wrong with her face. She glanced at me then looked way.

"We may also have the element of surprise. They know that we are here. But they do not know we have found them out. We need surprise attacks when they are least looking for it," said a man. He wore armor like Tulos. Suttu grunted in approval but said nothing.

"I say we find some other place to build another city, a hidden one. Somewhere in the grand valley that divides this world in half. Cloaking technology has come a long way since the destruction of the hive ship," said an ancient looking Glia.

"Not far enough to hide an entire city sufficiently," said Suttu.

"Why do you persist in your isolationist ideas, Wykrim? Such ideas help no one!" Shouted a Suwudi male from across the room.

"And I say, yay to that! Why not? Why not? Why should we fight in their battles?" He bristled. His gray beard twitched. This seemed to draw and divide the members of the council once again.

"You will not defend your own life and freedom?"

"I would. But it seems to me that not only were we born and bred as mere flesh and bone mechs for their armies when we came on the cursed Mothership, but now we are still forced to fight and die again. Too many have died. I am no coward. I fought beside the eldest of you in the uprising. But we've lost so many. So many! I say we change the field to our liking. Why fight and destroy what has been built? If we go to war with them, what we have built here will go down in fire. We do not have the power they have."

"So you will run and hide! You are a coward!" Cried a young Miku.

"Careful, young one," warned another Glia.

"I am no coward. But I value my life over all else. I am free and wish to remain free and I would not in some foolhardy attempt to attack a military base that is heavily protected and armed! Besides, we are not organized enough to carry out such an assault. Look at us! Look at how we squabble!" He said.

"I understand your point, Wykrim, but there is no freedom while the Realm remains. They will not rest. I see no other alternative." Said an old female Suwudi. "Besides, we have detected weaknesses. Unstable engines that destroy their own ships. Why not strike them now before they can improve on the technology?"

"Why not just dig our heads in the red sand instead." Sneered a young Miku.

"Enough!" Warned Suttu. "A series of reconnaissance missions must be carried out. We need more information. As stated before, we now have the element of surprise on our side. How we use this advantage will determine the future." Suttu looked over to another Miku beside him who then stepped up and addressed the group.

"Who here is willing to lead their teams to scout out the territory near Jupiter? We need as many eyes out there as we can get to map out the territory and find where they are hiding."

"I'll go." Said Genevieve. "My team is ready and willing to examine the area and when we have the measure of it, to make a strike."

"So will I." Said a human male captain. Several others also volunteered. I looked at Genevieve in horror. I would have to talk with her when this was all through. I'd made no such commitment to strike an alien military base. I'd seen enough and felt I'd accomplished my mission. I was ready to head out of here!

"The strikes will come later. Right now, we need information to form a proper plan." Said Suttu.

When the meeting was over, after more arguing, debate and planning, I raised my concerns as we walked back to the elevator platform.

"Genevieve. . . "

"I know, Bob. When I volunteered, I wasn't saying you had to go."

"Are you sure? Because you had no problem pulling me into the aerial fight with that gorgon ship!" I said.

"You're all right, aren't you? You toughed it out. Even made a great find of a priceless ceremonial sword in the process. All on your own."

"Genevieve!"

"Relax. You would probably be killed anyway. You aren't going. We didn't draft you." I breathed a visible sigh of relief. "However, when the storm subsides, Tulos, Rychik and I are going back to see what we can scavenge again. I'd encourage you to come with us. Who knows what else you might find?"

"I don't personally know anyone who understands alien technology, Genevieve. I'm not sure how useful that would be. I certainly don't understand much of it."

"So? For someone who was able to get out here without having much skill or knowledge you sure seem to be low on motivation or imagination. Look at what we're up against! Build up a network, Bob. Find the people who might know or are smart enough to find out. Start with the Dappa forums. I think you mentioned you knew someone who was a genius type, didn't you? What we're up against is something no one has ever faced on our planet. It will take thinking in ways that don't belong inside a box. Looking to others who supposedly know better, who are suppose to protect us won't always help. Because sometimes they don't know. And sometimes they are compromised. I learned that the hard way."

"Right," I said, feeling even more dull-witted than before.

"Look, if someone back home was smart enough to create a working stargate or study alien computer code like Jason," her eyes darkened as she mentioned his name, pausing for a few seconds before finishing, "then, I don't see why you can't help us build a network. The privilege of waiting on others to save us is gone. You saw the ragtag milieu in there! We need all the help we can get. We live in times where we must all think on our feet and take ultimate risks, even when we have no expertise. Or we won't survive. You've already done that. Otherwise, you would never have had the balls to come out here in the first place."

"Well, since you put it that way, I'll do what I can."

"And that's all I'm asking," she said simply. We got in the elevator and began our flight back up topside. The meeting in there did not give me much confidence in the future. Then my mind went immediately to the sacred chamber on the burning gorgon, where I met up with my mysterious rescuer. Why did he not kill me after all? Did he have some other purpose? The guy in the alley tried to take my head off. Why not him? Maybe I was over thinking things. But something told me that his reasons for rescuing me were for some darker purpose. Yeah. I needed help. All us humans desperately needed help and there was no one else to do it but those of us brave enough to do something. Even if we didn't know what we were doing.

I don't know. My mind tends toward disasters and conspiracies and things. Can't help it.

15

"It comes. The Black Fleet," I heard Rychik say to Tulos. They were speaking in low tones down the corridor, their speech easily slipping in and out of the universal English with one of their own Erautian languages. A dialect of Hanga, I thought, but I couldn't be sure. I was relaxing and doing some stretching exercises in the small hothouse where a few labor mechs were cultivating fruits and vegetables. If it was what I thought it was, the Black Fleet were powered, or would be powered by black hole engines. I pretended not to hear. Having the eavesdropper had trained me to listen well without letting on that I was doing so. It really is an art form. I wondered where this legendary Black Fleet was located. I had guessed that it must be part of the Realm. But was it hiding near Jupiter or was it on its way, sliding toward us from the Libra system? The Coriolis storm raged for three days and finally died down on the fourth day, but weather reports warned of another wave of storms coming later this evening. Genevieve, Tulos and Rychik had made another trip to the gorgon much earlier in the day. One thing I discerned here was that once something like this crash landed, it was a windfall to the denizens of the city, no matter the danger or how trashed something looked. Nothing was wasted on Syzygy.

They had been busy formulating a plan of attack and they were communicating with another team located elsewhere in the city through a comlink in the Red Room. They had set up hologram models of Jupiter and its moons and were focusing on Ganymede and Europa, based on the cursory information coming in from other members of the alliance. The model was becoming more detailed and clarified with each new bit of information factored in. I tried hard to ignore it. After all, I wouldn't be here to see them make the missions. I had packed all my meager things together, getting ready to leave for my ship, hoping that no one had stolen it or taken it apart. Now that I knew how folks around here were in regards to "found" stuff, my hope was teetering on the edge. Genevieve had informed me that if the ship had been taken or stolen, that I was welcome to remain here as a permanent member of her team. I thanked her and hoped the ship was still there.

Eventually, Tulos and Rychik's voices died down into their own language and they left the corridor, heading back to the Red Room for more planning. I sought out Genevieve and found her in the galley fixing dinner.

"Hungry?" She asked without turning around as I walked in.

"Not right now, thanks. Genevieve, I wanted to talk to you."

"What about?" She was slicing off a thick piece of what looked like a cow tongue, but I couldn't be sure, piling these on a slice of bread with pickled peppers and onions.

"Where did you get that? What is it?"

"Tongue of snagar beast. Rychik is an apt hunter. For all the planning and work we'll be doing soon we need super rich protein foods. Tastes good too. So, what can I help you with?" I was quietly fascinated and repulsed by the thought of eating that animal. But it made sense out here. I tore the thought of writhing snagar beast tongues from my mind and got to the point.

"Well. The one that helped me escape, back at The Dagger. I saw him again. In the gorgon ship." She didn't seem surprised by this at all but merely turned and gazed at me. Her brow was raised.

"He may be hunting you," she said. I swallowed hard. She shrugged. Rather coldly, I thought, but life here was brutal. Mine wasn't the only life on the razor's edge.

"I just wonder why he didn't kill me."

"If he's a bone marrow hunter/dealer who has some common sense, he sees no advantage in killing you. Only addicts in the grip of the urge kill. But I'm guessing. It does seem odd. A dead human body was found last night in one of the underground tunnels. Found de-boned. Everyone knows what that means."

"How many of them here prey on humans for our bone marrow?"

"Not many. I don't have numbers. No one does, but it is worrisome. Such dealers and addicts are killed by the aliens allied with us, but this is a species problem that might grow. I know there aren't very many or there wouldn't be any humans left in this city. I've had to kill more than one hunter thinking he or she would take me out for my bones. I'm very good at protecting myself, which is why I'm still around." She sighed. "I have no idea whether you'll be back, Robert. I hope to see you again. We humans need a much larger presence on Mars."

"Despite the obvious danger to humans, you seem quite comfortable here." She smiled that hard smile again.

"That's relative. I can trust Tulos and Rychik because we have all worked together for so long. I have saved their lives many times and they mine. Besides, I have nothing left. If I die out here, it is where I belong. I'm a sentinel. That is my mode in life now." Her eyes took on a desolate look. I wanted to hold her but remembered I had a wife back home and she didn't strike me as the type of woman that wanted anyone protecting or coddling her anyway. I stifled the urge. Seeming to realize that she was showing vulnerability, a flicker of annoyance flashed across her beautiful face and it was gone.

"We trust each other based on a code of honor. If it were not for them, I would be dead."

"If it were not for you and them, I would be dead."

"There. A bond is forged. I think we are riding a wave of luck. There's got to be a reason why both of us are still alive and why we've met. Let's hope we don't fall off. This is a strange and confusing new world, Robert. Not the bold, bright new worlds of the universe just waiting for us to explore, like we were taught in school."

"Yeah. I know."

"We're going to have to fight for Earth one day. A home we've all taken for granted. Even with all the chaos growing in our little part of the Milky Way, I've got to believe there is a larger reason why we survived. We have to save the world," she said quietly.

"We should start with setting up that communication link between Red Room and Earth," I said. She smiled and nodded.

"I'll get right on it."

"The culprit who orchestrated this mess with the solargate was going to save me for his pet snagars to eat," I said pointedly, nodding at her sandwich. "What's that taste like? And don't tell me it tastes like chicken." She grinned and took a heaving bite out of it.

"Tastes like tongue."

. . .

Genevieve took me in one of her old dune riders toward the place I'd started calling Dorwe-Ayer's Rock. She knew exactly which place I was referring to. I was actually excited to see Sworda again, who had gone with me to find Abor. Whether Abor was dead or not I didn't know. He was a loose string still swinging around out there. Would he come back to kill me? Who knows? It wasn't finished.

No, it wasn't finished. I couldn't help but think that somehow a copy of those plans was still floating around out there in the wrong hands. Suddenly, a morbid fear gripped me. But then I looked up toward the horizon to catch sight of the hilly ledge and the fist of rock of Dorwe, where the separatists lived. I saw my friend. His arms were outstretched in a greeting, hailing us from far off. How he knew we were coming I had no idea, but it settled my heart and mind. That we had a fighting chance seemed possible. Saying goodbye to Genevieve, a new friend now as well, I jumped out and greeted him. In a few minutes, I saw the tiny figure of Genevieve's vehicles kicking up dust as she made her way back to Syzygy. He took me through the biosphere into the village and inside his tent and gave me water to drink.

"I had thought you lost, dead or worse my friend!" He said.

"How did you know I was coming?"

"I didn't. Every morning I come out to survey the area toward Syzygy. I asked around for you for days. Finally, I'd heard that you were seen with a human woman and two Erautians. I thought that eventually you would make your way back here."

"You know, Sworda, fortune has smiled on me ever since I left the moon."

"It has, it has. Perhaps since you left Earth." He poured himself a cold cup of water and sat down.

"So, the question. What happened in there?" He asked, casting me an expectant look. I gathered my thoughts and sighed.

"Well, in the ship I didn't find the original plans. But there was a docking tube that led straight into the complex. So I went through that tube and into the kregei. On the bottom floor, or what was a subterranean layer, there was a series of connecting chambers. In one of the largest ones, I found a group of co-conspirators, Abor among them. They were huddled around a platform with holographic images moving above it."

"The maps."

"Yes. They were examining a 3-D schematic of the solargate. That was it, the original. Had to be. It was massive."

"I just think of how frightening things will get if they ever build it. What happened next?"

"Someone saw me skulking around and I was arrested and thrown in some hole. I met the man I had chased all across the solar system. Abor. I think he was shocked to see me there."

"And they didn't kill you on the spot?"

"Oh, some of them wanted to. But he wanted to see me die a horrible death. So he stayed the executioner's hand only for his own hope to make me suffer even worse torment and pain later. He was planning to bring his pet snagars in to eat me alive. It was afterward that one of them there helped me escape. I think he was a spy. But not before I allowed him to. . .take a sample of my bone marrow." My friend then gave me a surprised look, his eyes becoming wide. I showed him the healed wound on my arm where he took the marrow.

"A bargain with, how do you say? The devil. But you had no choice. That is what you would say, is it not?"

"A bargain with the devil? Yes." I asked.

"There are those that trade in such things. A drug to them. It is a. . .subculture here, and it may grow. It makes for uneasy alliances. Something that will become frayed in the future. I do not know where this will lead, but I know it will not be good for your people. Nor will it be good for those of us who abhor such practices, like us separatists." He paused for some time, frowning and gazing at my arm. "It worries me greatly, Robert. Before, though I knew some humans and thought some of them decent creatures, I never thought much on the issue. I did not like the practice, but I was not close to any to care enough. Now I have a friend who is human. It worries me what may be in our future. All of us."

"Me too. This place. It's the last battleground." I said.

"Yes."

"So, Sworda, tell me of what happened to the mech. I heard you shoot it."

"Ah!" He clapped his long, thin hands together in exclamation. He got up and went behind a flap of fabric that separated the main room from the inner rooms and dragged out a mech in pieces. "Here it is!A great find! Who knows what information I may find on its logs if they haven't been completely destroyed? I had thought the thing was going to go the other way and not notice me. But I heard it coming round and soon enough I knew it would sound an alarm. It nearly did once it rounded the corner where I was hiding near the ship. I shot it immediately and ran to hide, thinking that I had put you in terrible danger. Now, its treasures are mine." His eyes brightened. "After all the commotion with the gorgon ship attacking the city, I figured I was too late to find anything of real value. I am sure it is stripped bare by now." Oh, there are things still there to find, my friend. I thought.

"I carried the mech back here and I found gold in its circuits and memory chips!" He was clearly excited. "I am not finished examining it. But before you go, I may be able to give you something to use. First, this piece here. Take it. This is gold, remember. Something precious on your world? It is like that. I should not give it to you at all and if my folk saw me hand this to you they would become enraged. But I think you should have it." He handed me a small, clear tube. In it was what looked like a thin piece of red wire about a hair's breadth and about an inch long. I was hard pressed to understand what it was but gathered there must have been some type of information within it.

"Is it like a chip or a piece of code?" I asked, handling it with utmost care. He grunted the affirmative.

"It is hive-wire. A piece of. . .how do you say. . programming? Programming that is put into certain kinds of mechs. Those with specific functions to perform. This is why it is such an important find. Not all Erautian-built mechs will have this. This wire connects these mechs to a network. We believe that there are a few high-level mechs that are either rooted in secret bases here on this planet or somewhere else nearby that direct and communicate with these lower-tiered mechs. It is hard to get a hold of Realm mechs because they self-destruct if they have this hive wire piece within them. We can build raga-tag mechs, but those are slapped together and not very intelligent. These are something of a different order. It is mine and my brother's hope one day to be able to access these first order mechs, the ones you do not see. If only we could get to them. . ." He sighed. I put it away carefully in a small satchel in my travel pack. A precious little piece of victory.

"I think I have a friend who can tackle this. Thanks, Sworda. It may be more valuable than both of us realize. Oh, I almost forgot. When I went to Syzygy after first leaving here, I encountered a scary looking beast. I think it was a snagar. It tried to kill me. It would have if my atomic rifle hadn't gone off. The odd thing was, this animal could breathe the Martian air and withstand the sub-zero cold." Sworda frowned for a while before speaking and he seemed very surprised.

"They must be coming back." He murmured.

"What do you mean? Where do those things come from? How do they survive?"

"They are actually called Har-beasts. Snagars are related to them genetically but look like natural animals. These things are put together from the genetic strains of different ancient predators from Eraut. They were meant to be a kind of super-beast. They were engineered on the hive ship and made to survive out here. There was no where to put them after the rebellion on the hive ship so they were allowed to roam free once we arrived here. The early ones were engineered to be more powerful and hardy than our native snagars from Eraut. They were huge."

"Well, I don't know what huge means to you, but this one, though intimidating enough, was about as large as a large dog. About this high." He shook his head.

"No. The earliest ones were much bigger than that. They had become a terrible problem some years back and groups of us had to form hunting parties and hunt them down. We'd thought them hunted to extinction. Perhaps there are still a few out there and their numbers are coming back."

"Or perhaps someone is engineering them again and releasing them out in the wild," I said worriedly.

"Could be. I tend to think that they are breeding. On the hive ship, I noticed that when these experimental breeds mated, their young came out smaller and when their offspring matured and mated, their offspring were small as well. And the third generation Har-beasts were usually sterile. I will bring it up in the next council. That is a problem. I am happy that you were able to kill it and escape unscathed."

"Me too. I hope their numbers aren't growing very fast. They are ferocious."

So, we had the Realm, loyalists, the Black Fleet, drug-addled aliens getting high off human body parts and now genetically engineered chimeras from space. Check! A few more things on the pile. I thanked him, he clasped my hands in his and we each bowed to each other.

"Thank you so much, Sworda. I will never forget your kindness and generosity." And really, I wouldn't. My path here had been truly miraculous. I was leaving now and I had so much to tell, so much on my mind. And just how would I be able to relate what I'd found to anyone back home? I had no idea, but I had nearly a month to figure it out. Then I remembered something very important. It came to me in a strange way because it was not only my friend Chip who had mentioned it, but Genevieve had also ascertained it.

I had a powerful, hidden ally back home. But who was it?

16

Sworda and I sped along in his rover. His brother had put it together only a few days ago and got it working reliably. The second storm wave was looming.

"This one will be an even bigger one! Biggest for the year! It will last for the next three weeks," he shouted over the obnoxious growl of the engine. He took a deep breath from his breathing tanks and exhaled. His tanks' air supply changed colors with the rhythm of his breath.

"I've read some of these storms can last months!" I shouted back.

"Yes! On some years that is so! I am glad it is not this year or everyone will have to go underground again! Whenever that happens the death toll goes up!"

"Well, I hope you don't have to either!"

We arrived at my ship, still stationed on the small hill. I wanted to shout with joy. It seemed I'd landed it in a place obscure and lonely enough that no one had crossed its path since I had left it. Or because I had only been here for a few days.

"Thank you!" I said again. I got out and went to my ship. It was covered in dust. Sworda turned and sped off. I wiped a layer of dust and dirt from underneath the ship and found the code box. It came to life and glowed to indicate by my touch that it was in working order. With a gloved hand, I lightly dialed the code numbers into the screen and the ramp opened and lowered for me. I climbed up the ramp and went inside, listening for the close of the ramp and the sound of the seal of air and the ramp closing before taking off my helmet and suit. All systems came alive inside; the pressurized atmosphere, lights, computers, everything. Through a small, thick viewport I saw his rover racing away across the desert, deftly skirting around and the rocks and sinks. A flickering worry of one of those fierce beasts leaping after him in his open rover crept up but I knew better. Sworda was armed to the teeth under his great hooded cloak. As I watched him recede into the distance I thought about resting first as I was very tired. But the storm was on its way and if I didn't lift off now, it would be impossible to leave later. Nor did I have enough food to wait it out for three weeks. I decided to prepare for take off. I stored my rifle away and put away the environmental suit and my air tanks and put on a flight suit. Then I readied the ship for take off. For the first time in days, I finally felt the aches from my injuries surfacing again. This time I took a bit of time to mentally decompress and just drift silently in my body's pains, aches and sensations that had been pushed beneath the surface of my attentions. I wasn't completely out of shape, but I could feel where I needed to get to work on healing myself and getting strong. I was never really the sort to pay deep attention to my body before. That would have to change.

I felt a slight tremor from the ship preparing for lift off, and from the storm winds. Like a great consuming wall, it was dark and vast. I could feel the engines change their sound and timbre as the little Phoenix lifted. I strapped myself into my harness and hoped beyond all hope that I hadn't waited too late. Too many dust particles, rocks or any debris flying at the ship might turn out to be disastrous and I would never make it off the planet's surface. Below me far way I could see the webs, striations and columns of the city lights from Syzygy growing dimmer. The ship shuttered through the turbulence as the auto-pilot did its best to guide it through the approaching storm. One gale force nearly made the ship flip to its side. My heart pounded itself into twists as I hoped that the auto-pilot would guide me away in one piece as it had guided me here in one piece. I'd wished sorely that I could speak to Will. But he was offline, indefinitely. I saw the vast fists of cresting cloud and the brute force of the dust winds expanding as the storm boiled in upon the area and the ship was buoyed right above it, giving it extra impetus as it climbed high into the stratosphere. The storm had finally descended, making the Phoenix spin nearly off course. I could do nothing but watch helplessly, hoping that I had left early enough. As the ship left the planet's atmosphere I could see the fat, red rust slice of Mars against the black of space. And the ship, now out of turbulence, settled into a smoother course. I checked all systems and the course chart. I was on the path back to Langrenus. I had thought of going straight to Earth, but I had no idea where I would or could land this thing without being shot down. I was already in trouble. But that was nearly twenty days away. All systems were operational and I was headed back. I felt a weight lifted from me. My whole body and soul shuddered and I began to weep. My mind was shaken from despair to hope and back again. I wept for myself, my way of life and my family and friends, my entire world. I had no idea what would happen next and whether we would survive. The future, which had always seemed auspicious and full of sunlight was now a black maw ready to engulf everything I knew. Beyond that hole were horrors I could not see or imagine. There might not be a sun-soaked, ever brightening adventure awaiting us anymore. It looked like a bleak, unknown thing. It looked like annihilation.

As I prepared myself for bed I absently took up my sack, meaning to put it under the pull-out bed when something fell out. It was the little bean bag bear, Reese. My daughter Mary had squirreled it inside the bag, to protect me from danger. A reminder and just at the moment I needed it, a hope. I kissed it as tears came to my eyes. Sticking it back in the bag and putting the bag away under my pillow, I lay down and finally went to sleep as the Phoenix proceeded toward the moon city and I slept, dreaming of massive flagships full of the mysterious peoples of the Realm, encroaching upon Earth's air space like victorious mountains of metal, ready to plunder the little blue planet.

. . .

As I approached Langrenus, after weeks of travel, at first I got the impression that no one had missed my coming or going.

A few minutes later I was disabused of this notion. Upon entering moon space I saw a red light on the ship's console. I was being hailed. I tapped the hailing channel of the Phoenix.

"Unknown ship in U.S. moon space, identify yourself." Said a voice on the intercom. I had no idea what to say. Gasping like a fish and struggling for words, if I weren't so aware of the scope of my troubles the situation would have been comical. Again, the voice came in. If voices could get icier it would have been colder than winter on Pluto. I didn't have much time before they would fire on me. I saw even from far off massive laser guns stationed on gunwales on the Washington space station, just above the city in moon space, trained on me and turning from blue to red, ready to fire. Fighter craft would be descending on me any second. Here goes.

"Please don't shoot! My name is Robert Astor. I'm one of the delegates that arrived at Langrenus from Vartan Industries. Please don't shoot! I am not your enemy!"

"You are in unauthorized moon space!" Said the voice, a little less harshly.

"It's a long story, but a man, Taylor Richmond was murdered in the city and I believe the murderer got away with some valuable information. I tried to retrieve it. I followed the culprit, tried to catch him before he could get away with the information." It sounded to me like a rambling, nonsensical response. I waited, nearly holding my breath as there was a long pause. Then there was a different voice on the other end.

"Do you know what ship you're flying?"

"The Little Phoenix. That's what it says on the side, anyway. Oh, and by the way, this ship is on auto-pilot. I don't really know how to fly a ship." Another pause. Then:

"Standby for escort." Said the second voice. Two sleek, black-wings soon approached, changed course, circled around my ship, one banking to my right and one to my left and paralleled with my ship. I felt a tracking line attaching to my ship as they escorted me back to the small port on Langrenus. I was both relieved that it was over and afraid of what was going to happen next. And I had cause for the latter. As soon as we'd landed I saw a large crowd right there at the port, made up of military police and city security. I was dog-tired from my journey and now this. I had some idea how to approach the situation but I had no idea whether it would work.

Once grounded, I heard a voice on a loudspeaker.

"Please step out of the ship with your hands up." Praying as well as coming down the ship's ramp with my hands high up in the air with my bag on my back, I was escorted by armed guard into the city but this time to a security complex. I glimpsed the tall skyscrapers being built above the complex, the little lights of green, red, white and blue of the builder mechs against the blackness of space. And welders balanced on tiny hover crafts working like ants on the giant structures. It might be the last time I saw anything but four gray walls. But I didn't have time to ponder how fast they could build military bases to protect Earth. And these people had no idea what was coming.

As I was marched into a cell and all my things taken from me, and my finger prints taken, I realized that they would see me as the prime suspect until I could give them a credible reason why I did what I did. And I had no evidence anyone would believe.

I was left in the cell, a dimly lit, tiny room with a bench, a toilet and a small water fountain. I was there for what seemed many hours, I had no idea. Just as I was ready to doze off to sleep the doors suddenly opened. Three officers retrieved me from the room and took me down the hall toward an interrogation room. I did my best to remain calm. One had a data pad that she was busy scrolling through.

"Do I have the right to call my wife and kids?" I asked. Once, many years ago, such things were guaranteed. No longer.

No one answered me. I didn't ask again. A force-field was temporarily stayed as we walked in and then activated again. In the middle of the room was a table and two chairs on either side, and the interrogator. He motioned for me to sit down, which I did. Two of the officers took residence on either side of the doorway while the third handed him the data tablet and left the room. The interrogator glared at me and then, busy with the tablet console, said into it: "Recording beginning". Then he looked up at me again. A tiny recording mech bobbed quietly beside him.

"So. Robert Astor. We have a problem here. A body was found, the body of Taylor Richmond, one of your fellow delegates. You stated that you found him dead in his room. Then you went through the room and took something out of it. What we're trying to work out is why you felt it was not important to alert the police?"

"Because of the message he sent me."

"What message?"

"I assume all of the things I brought with me on the ship have been scanned and examined. Taylor sent me a drive and a recorded message on it. He said himself that he thought that he was gong to be killed and that whoever was after him wanted the files he had, files for something called a solargate." The interrogator looked at me, his large, gray eyes narrowed slowly. Cold silence. I could only hear my own breathing.

"We never found any such things within your belongings," he finally said. Liar!

"They should be there. The recording and everything!" I said. He shook his head slowly.

"I will ask you again, Mr Astor. When you found the body, why did you not inform the police?" I gritted my teeth.

"I didn't inform the police right away because of the message he'd sent me before his death," I repeated. He looked at me with disbelief, iron edging his voice.

"What did this message say?"

"He said that attempts had been made on his life. That someone wanted to kill him. He wanted someone that he could trust to get the files so that the people after him couldn't get them."

"And he trusted you?"

"Well, I was the only person who seemed to take an interest in him. So, yeah."

"I find that interesting. Perhaps the one after him was you all along."

"No! I didn't kill him!"

"Let's say this story is true. Why you?"

"I don't know. He was. . isolated and stayed to himself during the visit. No one spoke to him. Except once, I did."

"And where was this?"

"In the bar on board the Starbird to Langrenus. He seemed nervous and-"

"You expect me to believe that you - a man who found his dead body alone with no one else in the room and no evidence of anyone else being in the room - did not kill him yourself? That you are not the very one he was trying to flee from? You disturbed the crime scene, you took objects from the scene and you did not inform the police at any time during this incident. Mr. Astor, you are the prime suspect, in fact, you are the only suspect in this murder. You fled the scene and went clear to Mars from what we have examined from the logs on your ship," he said, his eyes narrow, his voice all iron and ice.

"If I did it, why would I bother coming back to the place of the murder?" I asked.

"Well, that's a very good question, isn't it? But it isn't unknown for murderers to return to the scene of the crime. Basically, quite a few turn out to be very stupid. You don't strike me as a genius." He said. I could feel my face burn hot.

"I don't understand how it is that you could examine my ship's logs and know that I'd been to Mars, but you examined the contents of my bag and couldn't find the disk with the recording on it."

"I'll ask the questions, Mr. Astor. Be silent until you are asked to speak." My heart fell into my bowels. They had everything. They had to. If they knew I went to Mars, why not look at his recording? I knew my story would sound crazy, but it didn't even seem as if they were even willing to hear what I had to say.

Now, what if I told them about an outpost city on Mars full of human and alien mercenaries?

They grilled me for hours until I thought my brain would melt and then I was left alone in the interrogation room. He'd threatened me and warned that I would never see my family or daylight ever again, convinced that I was lying. Or maybe he was lying, I don't know. When they came back, I was ready to collapse. Suddenly, he got an urgent call from outside. Clearly angry, he turned off the recorder and left with the other two officers. The tiny recording mech bobbed up and down silently, its little green light beeping, indicating it was still recording. I focused on its two eye lenses. They looked like giant owl eyes fixed in its head. It had what looked like unusual serial numbers on its body: E. V. 1. Concentrating on the little things, the external things and surfaces were what kept me from losing it in situations like this.

About an hour later, he came back. I straightened up, a whirl of emotions clouding my mind. I had nothing else left to tell him or anyone else and we had gone over and over the same story numerous times. That didn't happen again, which was a good thing because I had the strength of a wet toothpick, ready to snap in two.

He glared at me with that cold, gaze that made me feel I was being flayed alive and motioned for me to leave with him. The expression reminded me of Grant at Vartan.

"You are being released, Mr. Astor. It would seem you have important friends." His tone was cool and clipped. He said nothing else and I didn't press, silently jumping for joy for the sudden release. I was escorted through the security complex and toward a large private ship. On the side of it was a name that said: Vermillion. Another group of security officers dressed in red, stationed upon the walkway toward the ship greeted me and I was led up the ramp and into the Vermillion. No one had a word to say to me. I was shown to some small quarters in this spacious ship. I was thoroughly shaken by the time I got to the room and finally left alone. My mind felt like wool. I fell onto the small bed and nearly lay down on top of it when I'd noticed it. My pack. I grabbed it and emptied out the contents. Everything was there. As the Vermillion lifted off, I examined the contents. What happened? I wondered. Who intervened for me? Someone that held an incredible amount of power. Judging by the smooth and slow ride, it felt as if the Vermillion were on a leisurely course. It would be another few days before we would be entering Earth space again.

"Thank God," I whispered. I heard a beep at my door.

"Yes?" I called out, feeling slightly alarmed. The doors slid open and a woman walked in. Well, hot damn! Of all people! It was Robin.

"Robin! What happened?"

"That's what everyone who's in the know want to know about you, Bob."

"It must be all over the place back home," I said feeling defeated. She furrowed her brow at first, but I thought I could detect a faint smile at the corner of her lips. I felt myself growing angry, shaking, especially after the hell I'd been through.

"You'd be surprised how some are able to manage the press and other. . .interests. There are a few whispers but mostly, not many are aware of the situation. Your family was told that you were found missing along with the fact that we had a body and a search was being made. They were told that you were a person of interest even though immediately it was thought by the police that you were a suspect. It was strange. They had already judged and tried you before there was any evidence. One person of special interest that was instrumental in forwarding the charge against you after Bradford left, or rather, fled, was Grant. It was strange. He's still at Vartan. Watch out for him. But you have friends, Bob. And some of those friends decided to step in and put a damper on things. One in particular, the owner of this ship. That person made sure that you were known as merely a person of interest. The fact that Teely is no where to be found bolsters the position and power of your benefactor. He is now the prime suspect, after a lot of wrangling behind the scenes on Langrenus."

"As well he should be!" I said indignantly. " So. . .benefactor," I said. "Would this benefactor have anything to do with my not being fired at work?" She nodded.

"There is much I don't have permission to tell you. We, as in the people I truly work for, are uncovering a massive web of deception, secrets and other things that may change our world forever."

"You don't know the half of it, Robin. The things I've seen-"

"On Mars?" I nodded vigorously, then I was taken aback.

"You know about the outpost there?"

"I and others I work for have heard of it, but we haven't seen proof. I'm thinking that you are now our link to what is really going on out there?"

"I'm your man!"

"Then we are your link to what is happening on Earth. We were able to determine after taking over the investigation that you took the Phoenix, at Taylor's behest, and went all the way to Mars and stayed there for quite some time. What in the stars happened out there? That's what we want to know." I swallowed hard.

"How much time do you have?" I said.

"Try me. I know Teely is a spy for someone and he is not what he seems." I stared hard at her for a long time and she returned it.

"I went to Mars. I followed him out there in his ship. I lost him for a while but eventually caught up with him."

"And?" She prodded, seemingly not surprised by this.

"There's a city there. It's translated into Syzygy, in English. There are aliens already here in our solar system, Robin." I watched her expression. The color drained from her face.

"So our fears are confirmed," she said.

"The aliens are from the planet Eraut. And I found out something else." Her eyes were wide now, but she remained silent and attentive.

"Teely is one of them. His real name is Abor. He's a loyalist for his own government. Their government is called the Realm."

"The Realm," she whispered. "I've heard it only once before. In connection with Earth's future. In a conversation."

"They are ruled by nine royal princes. And most of them want to remove all humans from Earth. Their own planet is dying. They are seeking a new planet to live on. And they are desperate. Some of them made the journey to our solar system many years ago on a great hive ship. A ship big enough to carry many other ships. The interesting thing is, there was a rebellion on that hive ship. Not all of them are loyalists. Some of them want to be our allies, Robin. When I was on Mars, if it hadn't been for some of these rebels, I would have died."

"Who are they?"

"They are the separatists and the independents. The loyalists are looking for various ways to bring the rest of their people on Eraut through the long haul of space to this solar system as quickly as they can. The alien spies here-"

"Found the solargate files and stole them," she finished.

"Yes. You knew that?"

"Only recently. It was surmised after watching the video Taylor sent to you."

"When I was there I managed to track the files down and I destroyed them. The problem is that I don't know if there was a copy made while he was there. That is unknown. If they ever get around to building a solargate, we're in big trouble. The rest of their people are coming. They may have the ability to communicate with them, even across these vast distances, if not reach them in other ways. The last thing we need is for them to have the information to build the gate. And another thing. They have figured out a way to build black hole engines, Robin! Engines with vast amounts of energy! The only problem is that their engines are unstable. But that may change in the future, as they continue to improve upon the technology." I stopped, wondering if she was really following what I'd just said.

"I know that some of them now walk among us and have for quite some time." She seemed to be thinking out loud now, almost as if I weren't there. Then: "So. . the Realm has already arrived?" She asked in a low voice. Her expression solemn.

"Not yet and it will be a very long time before they get here, but it is believed by the rebels that the loyalists have a military base near Jupiter. It must be well cloaked to hide its existence from us. I believe Syzygy too, is cloaked."

"Naturally. And there are humans there as well?" She asked.

"Yes, there are."

"You are a special person, Bob. Before you decided to go out there we could only guess at what was going on. And you're right. We had no idea what was going on outside of Earth and Moon. And you don't know the half of it when it comes to those who would obscure this information. Play on human ideas of special privilege or spread the word that those of us who believe the things that are happening are crackpots."

"Of that I have no doubt. I'm curious, though. What happened to the first coordinator? Why was I even chosen to go?"

"There are a lot of things going on behind the scenes that even I don't know about. What I know is this, the person I work for felt the first coordinator would not be cooperative or amenable to our cause. You were chosen, I think, for your courage. Raw courage, as it was told to me. I'm not at liberty to say more about who I work for but let me say that they saw something valuable in your courage, standing up against Bradford Teely." It had been a very long time since I had anyone compliment me on anything. It made me feel hopeful, and a bit warm and fuzzy.

"I'm so glad to hear it. Thank you. I want to help anywhere I can, Robin. But I want to know something. Why didn't you help Taylor? He needed aid in his darkest hour. Why couldn't anyone help him?"

"We wanted to Bob, but Taylor had made a number of very bad decisions, dangerous decisions that harmed us. He got some of our allies killed because he was reckless. I didn't want those after him to come after me or anyone else and our recent benefactor was not yet in a position to pull the needed strings to help him. He'd been warned about his behavior Robert, but Taylor had always been something of a cowboy. He didn't listen or work with others well. It cost him his life." I swallowed hard, listening to her. Some of that sounded like me.

"Anyway, he put himself in a bad position and finally, after burning his bridges, there was no one to help him. I feel bad. I really do, because he was one of the good guys from what I knew of him."

"Well, hopefully, he didn't die in vain." I think now I understood her odd and skittish behavior on the Starbird.

"If we work together, his death won't be in vain. How many of them do you think there are? The loyalists?"

"I have no idea. Most of those I saw on Syzygy, I think were rebels. But in outpost cities, people disguise themselves and their pasts."

"That complicates things."

"Which is why we need a tight network of people working on this. I have connections on Mars, Robin. Alien rebels and humans who are working against the loyalists. But we need to establish regular communication and share information. We're too scattered and separated from each other."

"You're absolutely right. I can start by telling you what I know and then we can start building networks from there. We found something among your things that was of great interest. It was in a tube. A red wire," she said. I became excited just thinking about that particular find, amongst others.

"I think our benefactor, whoever they are, will find that piece of tech very interesting. From what I was told, it's from an android or a mech from a special type of alien ship. . ."

17

The journey back was as relaxing and nearly stress-free as my expedition to Mars was stressful. I had no idea who was able to wrangle me and my possessions from the clutches of the police, but this person must be a pretty big deal. I was beginning to feel that I could make a difference. I had related all that I could remember, or nearly all of it, to Robin and she told me as much as she knew on the ground. Such as there was a secret watch just put in place on people like Grant, and a few others they were watching at the company. These were lackeys of Teely and we both wondered if they were alien spies. Robin, as it turned out, seemed to have some sort of business relationship to someone powerful at Vartan. I wondered if the ousting of Mr. Vartan was a smokescreen. He was the only person I knew who could pull strings and get things done in this manner. This person at Vartan, who so far remained nameless, had a few ties in the government, the same person that was able to keep me out of the boiling pot of public opinion and eventually saved me from the relentless enemy fire at work. Robin assured me that my family and I would receive protection in case someone decided to come after me. So far, they'd done a good job keeping my exploits out of the news.

Robin wouldn't tell me who this person was, only to say that I may be of great use to them and they to me in the future. Rather cryptic, but that was how things were now. Nothing was entirely straight forward as I would like and there was no help for it. But I thought I had a pretty good idea who this mysterious person might be.

"Is this person Mr. Vartan himself?" I ventured. She didn't answer. There was a warning look in her eyes. I didn't press further.

Robin informed me of what would happen now; I would get my old job back and my family was safe for now, as was I, but that I would be under surveillance from security for our own protection. I would be called in the future to help with secret missions for this mysterious person at Vartan Industries who was acting as my ally and protector. Which meant that there would be times I would be going into special training on how to fly a small ship. On my own, I opted for a weapons training class too. My painful memories of the operation of the atomic rifle cemented that decision.

There were other things that had changed that I had no closure for. Abor was still out there and I still had no idea if I had truly destroyed the files. And how long before they would figure out how to make a gate of their own? How long before their black hole engines were fully stable and operational? What about the Black Fleet? It was only a matter of time.

There were things I held back. I didn't say anything about the aliens that traded and used human bone marrow. I recalled the pain from my incident from my so-called "rescuer". He was out there also, and though he saved my life a threat had been established between us that did not end until I left Mars. The universe had now become a far more threatening place. I still walked as if in a dream, not knowing exactly how to feel about it all. It was still beautiful and awe-inspiring, but it was a dark beauty, marred by fear.

One thing though, when I looked at photos of my wife and kids I felt a sense of stability, and courage bolstered me. Pam may not have married a genius, but she hadn't married a coward either.

Pam herself, though she was not privy to all the craziness that ensued when I'd left, seemed to discern that I had knowledge of information that I could not divulge to her. Perhaps someone had spoken to her. She was angry and then elated when she first saw me walk off the ship at the spaceport in Seattle.

"How. Dare. You! You left us and we had no idea what happened to you! Certain people at your work were even saying you were the main suspect!" She was shaking.

"I'm innocent-"

"Of course, it was a lie! I know that!" She snapped. Her eyes were rimmed with red and her face was red, swollen and damp. "You think I don't know my own husband? We only received a few cryptic messages from you, Bob! How could you? The kids were frantic!" She raged at me when we got into the taxi. And then she broke down and cried.

"It was a long, sordid and insane story, Pam. I'll tell you what happened when we get home. I promise, it wasn't my fault-"

"That, I don't believe for a second, Bob! You are always sticking your neck out for other people and they leave you to clean up the mess when it gets chopped!"

"I know, I know," I said, chastened by her tears. I felt tears welling up in my eyes as well. But I was finally home. After she finished raging at me (and she had a few choice words for me that made the cabbie glance at us through his rear-view mirror in amused surprise) we held on to each other all the way on the trip back home.

. . .

At work, I found that I was no longer isolated like I had been when the CFO had begun his campaign against me. He had been replaced by a new CFO and the CEO had also been replaced.

My work days were still shortened as well as my work week and I still made the same pay. But now I was acting in a different capacity. I was more than a Quality Assurance agent, although no one else knew this. Sitting at my desk overlooking the assembly line below I looked through the screen that checked and examined all the pre-fab components being put together and run through the conveyor belts. Production had increased threefold and quality had gone up. Not nearly as many pieces were going to Recycling. A new project was starting tomorrow. We would be working on a contract for making engine components for the first fleet of passenger class ships that would carry civilians to Mars. That was a five year project into the future and this on top of the new joint contract with Sunsee to produce solar cells. I marveled at the breezy, happy presumption everyone around me had about their place in the universe and in the solar system, which they still believed was solely theirs. It still was, but we had visitors now. Some of those visitors wanted to push us out and they weren't going anywhere anytime soon. Mars was not untapped territory anymore. It was the new Wild West and aliens and humans were battling for life and death. How would this be explained to naive civilians? Or would the government pretend it wasn't happening like they always do when they encountered things they couldn't control? I knew the answer to that one.

But one day the truth was going to come out. And then what? Where would be our bright future that went on ever brighter? I guess I couldn't really be too annoyed at the naiveté of my co-workers. After all, before reality put its foot up my backside, I used to be just like them.

. . .

"Dad?" A voice woke me from my thoughts as I sat in front of the computer screen. I looked over and there was my son, standing in the doorway of the study, looking at me in wonder.

"Come son. What's the matter?" He came and stood next to my chair, his eyes wide and searching.

"What happened to you? No one would tell us anything. Where did you go?"

"What did they tell you?"

"Well. . .Jerome and Fred said that you were detained for some reason and that you would be on the moon longer than everyone thought. But they seemed like they weren't really sure. They wouldn't say anything else with me and my sister around, but once I saw Jerome come to the house one night. It was really late. I couldn't hear everything and I'd guessed he wasn't supposed to be here. But he told mom that there was a murder at Langrenus and that people thought you did it. But that someone at work, he wouldn't say who, said that they were going to make sure that you weren't accused of it. You didn't do it, did you?" I stared at him, dumbfounded.

"No," I said resolutely. "No. I did not. I never hurt anyone, Jonah. Look, I'm not allowed to tell you everything that happened, but I will tell you this. Someone out there reached out to me for help because he had no one else to help him. He was alone and afraid because there were people who wanted to hurt him. I wasn't able to save him from them, but I was able to save others from being hurt." My son's eyes lit up.

"Did you find the bad guys who did this, dad?"

"To that, I can say, yes, I did. I wasn't able to bring them to justice, but I know who did it. They stole something from this man and I took it away from them. I can't say more."

"Why can't you say more?"

"It's ah. . .classified. Sort of. I've been told by other important people not to say much until we have more facts." He frowned but seemed to accept this for the time being.

"Were you abducted by aliens?" His eyes flashed with mischief at this question.

"Ah. . .well, what a question, Jonah! No, I wasn't abducted by aliens." My son studied me for a while then he nodded his head, seemingly satisfied with my answer.

"Good."

"Bad guys have to be brought to justice. If you see something that is wrong, it is not a good idea to ignore it. I didn't ignore it." I said, wondering if that came out right. Jonah smiled, all confidence in his dad. And that was all the answer I needed to end my brooding.

"I'm glad you caught him, dad," he said and he bounded off to his room to get ready for bed. For now, that was all the answer he required.

My children were the future. Darkness was out there, but they depended on me and other adults to deal with it. And deal with it, I would. I had no training, I certainly wasn't special, but I was going to do something. With my new secret ally and the capacity I would serve going forward, something was just what I was going to do. My son's need for reassurance that his world was not falling apart and that his dad was out there getting the bad guys was what I needed.

Sometimes that was really the whole obligation of a person; to do what was right, regardless of whether things looked rosy or not.

The next day after work I stopped over with Chip at his garage lab once again. We had a lot to discuss. My side of the story was rather a story full of holes. Chip seemed to understand my dilemma and didn't press me too far. He understood enough to know that I'd seen things that no one else was supposed to see or know about. But I had some surprises in store for Chip that would clue him in on the network I was building.

"Will stopped working on me after a few days at Langrenus. Worked like a charm until then. He also worked haphazardly farther out. Can't say much more about that."

"How much farther out?" Chip prodded. He was looking for information in a roundabout way. I obliged as best I could.

"Oh, I don't know. . .maybe about thirty-nine million miles out. Give or take a few million," his face dropped and he fixed me with a look of disbelief.

"Ooookaaay. How useful was he?"

"You'd be surprised what I picked up. The things I'd found is what led to my. . .disappearance. . . for a while. I guess you could say I went on a wild, fact-finding mission. I'll leave it at that."

"You know Bob, while you were gone, doing whatever it was you were doing out there, and I mean everyone around here that would know something is staying quiet about it, even Fred can't get any information out. But anyway, while you were gone, I managed to nearly finish the prototype I've been working on." He gave me a meaningful look.

"Really?" I asked. Delight rose in me. "How far along are you in this project?"

"Far enough that in about a month of building, welding and soldering I may have a solidly built cybernetic body to show you. Something in which to place our hapless friend inside, once again." He smiled, clearly excited and pleased with himself. I was growing equally excited. Will had become like a lost friend to some of us.

"Come. Let me show you what I have so far." He led me to a tiny room off to the side of the lab. Lying upon a long table was the beginning of what looked like a cybernetic body of plasti-flesh, wires, tubes and metal, pieced together. Body parts of what looked like a leg, an arm, and the head were still in pieces, some of these set upon shelves, others in a holding tank filled with a preservation liquid. A row of bio-fluids engineered specifically for androids sat below it.

"Hmm. Interesting." I murmured, wrinkling my nose and flicking my gaze over the pseudo-macabre scene.

"Still organizing and cleaning," he said apologetically. "Look, I'm not working with state of the art stuff here."

"I know." I didn't understand it, but I had great respect for his knowledge and skill in engineering and building intricate machines. I nodded, looking around. It was a highly ordered room, filled to the ceiling with found objects, old and new tech and pieces he'd worked on, gave up on or planned on re-purposing. Every object was cataloged and in its place unless he was currently using it in a project. A far cry from the Odd Parts Lab at work, which was still in existence. His was a brilliant mind I could not begin to comprehend. It was like a wall of shade and curtain to me, the workings of his mind and his ideas. How he came to them was a foreign process but marvelous in what it produced. I would definitely need him as one of the main guys in my network and wondered how he and Genevieve would get on if they ever met. I gave him back the eavesdropper, along with the disks I'd garnered from the gorgon ship.

"I'll re-examine it, and. . .what's this?" He picked up the cube disk, examining it carefully. He looked up at me slyly.

"All I can say is that if you want some idea about what's going on, out there, more about what happened to me, you'll find some answers on these disks. That one especially is unique. I have no idea what's on it." I said, matching his expression. He said nothing but his eyes were lit with a fire.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because that," I said, pointing to the disk, "is not normal technology. Nothing I saw out there was normal, Chip. Nothing. We are living in a brand new universe." I could see his mind working something out.

"Well, it looks normal. Sort of."

"But it isn't. Trust me." Then he had the giddy expression on his face he always did when he discovered or created something new.

"All right. I'll see what I can see," he said.

I went home, finally having settled into normal life or something like it.

For the next few weeks, I worked hard, for we were busy. We were now working on the tail end of a massive project, building housing units for Langrenus and for a new city project that was finally being discussed. Our previous contract to build civilian spaceships was about to be renewed. We had all these, besides the new contracts for the solar cells and the engine parts. I was hearing rumors that a new city would eventually be built on Mars. If only they knew.

The excitement was infectious. I was enveloped with the old team spirit, always floating around at work, which reached a crescendo when projects like this were coming to a close. Mine was tempered with a bit of reality and trepidation. Now that I was back home and building a base of knowledge and help, I saw cause for good things to come but not without a huge fight. Things didn't seem as bleak to me now. But whatever happened, it would be part of an undetermined future.
Epilogue

July 31, 2150.

I was on my way for a beer at one of the company's many bar lounges (called Ninkasi) when I got a message on my data tablet from Chip. Several, in fact. All of them were marked: Urgent!

"Hmm." I frowned. He's found something? I hadn't heard much from him since a few weeks ago when I gave the disks over to him. I texted back: b there soon. wnt 2 have beer with guys @ wrk.

Afterward, I took an air taxi to Chip's place. As soon as I got to the doorstep the door swung open. It was Chip. He was wired.

"What is it?"

"Just come!" I followed him down to the lab. He suddenly whirled around as soon as I entered the lab.

"Those disks you gave me! Bob! I can't believe what's on them!"

"What's on them?" I asked, my own excitement growing. He dumped himself in one of the steel fold chairs by his desk.

"At first I didn't know how to get the information off of them. We still haven't gotten the information off of the cube disk, but I've got people working on it. So, I got a friend to help me with one of the disks. That, in and of itself was a trial but never mind that! Once we were able to get to the information and study it, it looked like gibberish. So we had friends in the network to help us take a look at it. It's creating a firestorm in the Dappa community, Bob!" I didn't need to ask.

"First, it seems the information is incomplete but what we already have could change the nature of how we build things, of technology, science everything!"

"What is it?"

"It looks like schematics or information on how one would build a black hole engine - that actually works!"

"How were you able to guess this from the information?"

"Well, where did you get this disk, Bob?" I hesitated and then he put his hands up.

"I understand-" He began, but I interrupted him.

"No, no! You need to know something. Please don't tell anyone else." I didn't think that was necessary considering what was now released and out in the wild among the Dappa community.

"Okay. . ."

"When I was out there Chip, I. . ." I sighed and scratched my head. "I ended up on Mars. I followed someone out there, someone who had committed a violent crime. While there, I found out that we are not the only ones inhabiting this solar system." Chip's eyes widened like moons. His face turned white as alabaster.

"More are coming. In fact, the person I followed out there is one of them. A spy."

"One of. . ."

"Aliens are here. A first line of colonists have already come to the solar system and made it their home. And they've been here for a long time. Their ships can travel unimaginably long distances, but they are trying to find a way to shorten those distances to get to Earth. I got that disk from an alien ship and the information on it is about how to create their engines. A black hole engine. The problem is, their engines are not entirely stable." I warned. He sat silently for a long time, just staring at me. I went on. "I'm not supposed to be telling you this, but you need to know. And I need your help."

"But surely, with the knowledge already on that disk, someone here can improve upon it! Somehow. I'm sure of it. It still boggles the mind that they have one that works, regardless of stability issues. If a thing can be built-"

"-it can be fixed." I finished. He nodded excitedly.

"You say that there are alien colonists already here? And on Mars?" He countered. I nodded.

"So, where are the others?"

"They are coming. It took the first wave of colonists a hundred years to travel from their home planet twenty-two light-years away from our system. A man named Taylor Richmond was on the delegation with me, Chip. He had schematics to build a solargate, technology to make it possible to jump from one star system or even one galaxy to the next in nearly an instant. This man was killed and the information he had, stolen. I found the culprit and followed him to a secret base on Mars."

"Teely?" He whispered, incredulous. I nodded slowly. I hoped this wouldn't mean trouble for Chip. I was getting nervous.

"Teely was never one of us, Chip. And most of them are looking for a way to get in." Well, the cat's out of the bag now.

"Why?"

"Their planet is dying. So they want ours. Earth is the only planet that is very much like theirs. It can support a wide variety of life, it has water and the right mixture of gases in the air for them to breathe. There! I told you things I wasn't supposed to, but there it is, Chip." Chip was making gasping, surprised noises as he took this all in.

"So, my suspicions were right. Something really is wrong."

"Something is wrong everywhere," I said. It took him a long time to digest this new information.

"Uh. . .well," he finally said, trying to recover, "there's one more thing, Bob."

"What's that?" I asked, sitting down by a small tank full of fluid. A bionic hand trembled and twitched in the liquid like a newly dismembered limb.

"The eaves-dropper, a.k.a, Will. I've been able to fix the chip brain again and examine it further. It seems that Will picked up quite a lot of information on this new language. This I worked on myself. But there were a few things I'd noticed that had similarities with the information on the other disk you gave me. Even while he was not communicating with you during that large time lapse, he was recording, sifting and storing vast amounts of information on this foreign language. We, as in myself and some friends of mine who work in linguistics and philology have been trying to understand this language. They've found some patterns in the speech. The problem is that they still haven't been able to interpret it. However, they have found certain interesting patterns that they grouped together that may bring us closer to understanding it. What one of them found that was very interesting is that it seems rather similar to whale song. Not exactly, but some similar patterns are shared."

"Whale song," I said. Something about that made sense. Teely's true form possessed tentacles. Not all of these aliens from this planet had them, but many of them did. In fact, when I thought on it, it seemed that the largest population of colonists on Mars were Miku. Perhaps the most powerful people of Eraut descended from water cultures, from civilizations that lived underwater. Perhaps water signaled a certain strength, wealth or class. It left me thinking how precious our planet really was.

"Another thing," he said, bringing me out of my thoughts. Now he took on a cheeky expression.

"What?"

"I have recreated Will in human form, once again. I've installed the chip, his brain, with this new information of the alien language, Bob." He grinned widely, looking nearly as euphoric as I felt. Then he widened his eyes in a mock, mad scientist's triumphant gaze. "It's alive!"
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The Prototype

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in the Mission space opera series Fall, 2014:

 The Lights of Langrenus

Mission: Flight To Mars

By V. A. Jeffrey

Artwork by

Streetlight Graphics

An Epistle Publishing book

Copyright © 2014

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Also by V. A. Jeffrey:

The Red World series:

Edge of Darkness

Schisms

Cryptic Tongues

Rise of the Red King

Secret Doorway Tales series:

The Green Door

The Pumpkin Princess

The Winter Wolves

The Lady Moons

The Mountain King

The Battle of Dusk and Dawn

Short stories:

The Prototype

Keeping Strange Time (collection)

Rainfall

Dust and Bones

The Candy Shop

Edge of Darkness

3 Fables

Fairy Tales and Fables

Memory Lane

Poetry:

When The Sky Is Gray

Half Light

City Life

October Fog

