by David Buck
Lieutenant Garendestat walked over and made his report.
‘Sir, one of the bodies is definitely that of the first lieutenant. The ring on one of his right fingers is quite distinctive as is his glimmer tattoo on his left shoulder.’
The captain felt a real sense of sadness, as his first lieutenant had served with him for decades. Even when a ship of his own had been offered, first lieutenant Kureldestat had stayed with the ship. The first lieutenant’s daughter, Emeria, was the medical officer and a good friend of his son. Narindestat gripped his son’s sturdy shoulder, partly in support, and softly spoke for his son’s benefit.
‘Son, you are now acting first lieutenant. We will take our personal condolences to Emeria as soon as we finish here.’
The captain then straightened, again all formal, and listened as Lieutenant Garendestat continued on with what he had discovered.
***
Gindane reviewed the inventory from the latest dig on one of the former Dradfer colonies. She had taken her research ship down to the planet’s surface and they had landed on a cleared field not far from the researcher’s camp. The crew had ensured that the researchers were all healthy before they had lowered the rear ramp to begin the provisioning in the camp.
The waldo units, usually used for archaeological digging, clumped noisily into the research ship to unload the cargo and prepare room for discoveries being taken off world for further research. Satisfied that the unloading was going according to schedule, Gindane took a ten minute walk over to a separate area of the field. She noted the presence of semi valuable items or large items too big to take off the planet that were being stored for ongoing study.
Professor Elysius had asked her to meet him on this world, after yet another supply mission had been completed. Gindane could hear the hushed tones of two of his research assistants as they took down field notes. This was a role she herself had done often before going back to the Barus science institute thirty years ago for a further ten years of study. The professor saw her stride over to the area, and he politely sent his assistants off to check an artefact that he needed catalogued, as he wanted to later send the object back to the Barus institute.
‘Gindane, good to see you on this dig and welcome to the former Dradfer 12 colony. We call it that because we are still not sure of the actual name of the former colony after all this time.’
Gindane gave the professor a respectful bow and formally thanked him for his invitation to the research camp. Satisfied with the respect he was receiving, the professor continued.
‘I would like you to take a look a large wall carving we discovered a few weeks ago. I have kept it under cover, and we have not made any formal notes on even the existence of the carving.’
Gindane wisely kept silent as the professor continued on about the basic details of the wall carving. The professor’s caution was understandable considered Gindane bleakly to herself. The over-riding concerns of galactic relations between vassal races could have unforseen consequences for anyone caught on the wrong side of an argument. The institute usually recommended off the record that any contentious data or strange objects be discretely appraised only by leading researchers.
The research mission also ensured all their team members were strictly bonded to not make any public disclosures at all. Also only a handful of senior researchers such as Gindane could forward final reports to the institute. She knew that any reports would be quarantined, amended, and debated back and forth, being amended again and again, for many years before being published.
Professor Elysius led Gindane into a large sealed hut after unlocking the door and turning on the lights. Gindane looked nervously around the hut as the professor sealed the hut door behind them. The professor silently pulled back the dark curtain that had been placed to cover the wall carving that had been placed by the waldo units inside the secure hut. The carving was large, four metres high and nearly ten metre long. Both researchers studied the figures depicted on the carving in silence.
‘Gindane we can readily surmise what happened to the Dradfer colonies. It appears that forty thousand years ago they were destroyed by the Tilmud. But we do not know much beyond that. The Tilmud of course are not forthcoming and never will be, apart from stating their view that the Dradfer colonies, and surrounding star systems should remain off limits for at least another forty thousand years.’
Gindane gave a series of starts as she first recognised the distinctive hull shape of a Trader flying wing to one side, then in base relief the unmistakeable outlines of each of the galactic vassal races. The ornate carving had a strange flowing script both along the bottom and down the sides of the long object. Gindane turned from the carving after a moment to regard her mentor and spoke emphatically.
‘Professor, we need to speak openly of this matter, and other matters relating to the recent trial. Everything should be discretely covered as you order, but we must establish a chain of events for what happened back on Earth. Possibly what happened so long ago to the Dradfer is of relevance, as I think we are missing vital pieces of information.’
Well satisfied with her response, the professor passed across a camp chair and seated himself in another chair. The light flickered wildly on the figures carved in the ancient wall carving, and the two scientists would glance over at the images depicted, as they reviewed what each had learned over the last several months.
***
Omerio quickly silenced the strident cockpit alarm and viewed the star map on his console. The apparently average and out of the way star system teemed with Tilmud ships that even now had altered course to intercept his ship. The Barus pilot calmly angled his ship out of the fourth system he has checked since picking up the trace of that mysterious ship. Fortunately he had come out of hyperspace well into the outer reaches of the system, and the nearest ships were hours away even if his ship did not increase speed.
Omerio checked the star map and considered the closing speeds of the Tilmud frigates, and he calmly doubled the speed of his ship as it tore away from the new star system. He was concerned not go too fast as the speed of his ship could be used against him at some stage, and the Tilmud were well outside their best scanning range, so they would not be able to identify him before he left. As he left the Tilmud frigates behind in the system, Omerio pondered the advanced trace his ship had saved of the star system.
The trace revealed that the mystery ship was probably still in this system given the velocity information in the trace. However if it was still here then it was right in the middle of all those Tilmud ships. Omerio briefly thought of stopping just to pass his information over to the Tilmud. But he knew that there was nothing to stop them blowing his space ship down to atomic level and then decrying all knowledge of his existence.
‘Let the Tilmud deal with that ship.’
Omerio thought to himself, but then he then remembered the insistent glare from the Vorinne second envoy back on Cephrit Star Base 31. He knew that the envoy had been precise when he was asked to supply information about the strange ship.
Omerio now calculated the first of a series of hyper drive jumps to take his ship around this star system. He would pick up the trail of this fortunately slower ship in a star system further along the track of the other ship. The Tilmud frigates accelerated out of the star system on an intercept course towards Omerio’s ship. But well before they could even properly identify the ship, the Barus trading ship gave a brief pulse of light from the ship’s engines and vanished into hyper space. Omerio sat at his pilot console and considered the surprising possibilities of the information he had just uncovered.
***
Steve finished his mobile phone call to the navy and lugged the box from the boot of his late father’s electric car into the house. It was a humid afternoon and he had been on the go since breakfast. He carried the box filled with assorted hardware; paint, sandpaper, brushes, drop sheets and tools over to the kitchen bench and carefully placed it down. Samantha walked in from the back
door dressed for gardening and greeted Steve with a smile and a kiss.
‘Your parents were obviously great gardeners Steve. The garden is a bit weedy, and we need to trim after all this time, but it will be fine after a few more days.’
Steve looked at a wall photo of his late parents briefly and then over to his red faced wife. He glad to see she was at least wearing the large straw hat he had bought her two days ago. Samantha did not easily burn, unlike Steve, but that did not mean that she could be careless in the Australia sunshine either.
‘Well I got the new locks, the paint, the sandpaper, and the most of the other stuff on the list, so we will be busy for the next few days. At least the previous tenant tried to look after the place.’
Samantha poured each of them a cold drink and handed one of the drinks to Steve.
‘Well maybe not too busy. I heard from Dan this morning, he is coming over shortly with Rebecca. Also we will have to be back in Indonesia at the end of the month.’
Steve looked quizzically at his wife as his mobile phone rang yet again. It was John Robertson giving an update on the progress of work on the Lotus Marai at the refitting wharf. Steve crossed over to the covered lounge suite and took a seat with his cold drink. The repair work was going to take a few days longer apparently, but then the Royal Australian Navy wanted to see Steve again in the meantime.
As Steve was just finishing the call there was a knock at the door and Dan and Rebecca called out. Samantha let the two visitors in, and Dan led Rebecca inside holding her hand with a bottle of wine, both with ready smiles on their faces. Samantha looked questioningly at Steve, as Rebecca and Dan spoke at once.
‘We are engaged.’ ‘I asked the question Sam.’
There were squeals of delight from the two ladies as they hugged, and a big grin from Dan. Steve freed his right hand of his phone and strode over to Dan with a big smile on his face.
‘Congratulations to both of you and well done Dan!’
Steve shook hands with Dan, and then gave Rebecca a peck on the cheek to congratulate her as well. The two couples ambled off to the kitchen to find wine glasses to celebrate the news. When the bottle of wine was all but finished, the discussion in the kitchen moved on the two events that had concerned all four of them lately. Samantha turned to Steve and asked if there was any news while he was out just earlier. Steve placed his glass on the table and looked over at the interested glances of the other three people sitting at the table.
‘Well the navy will want to see us again in three days time for about two days when some American scientists arrive. Apparently the Americans are fuming that the Australian government will not release those panels to their research areas in the states. So they are flying out a team of specialists to Garden Island to talk to us and look at the panels.’
Dan looked at Rebecca for a moment as he replied to Steve.
‘Well they are still being blamed for the pandemic so obviously they have no room to move. It must irritate them to have our government tell them that they cannot have the panels. But I think that if they don’t have the panels, and we prove that they were innocent by investigating those panels then everyone will win.’
Steve nodded agreement with Dan over his reasoning and ventured a supporting view.
‘They have to be seen to be following international law to the letter if they want to regain any pre-eminence in world affairs. Then of course the question arises of whom do those panels actually belong to now?’
All four of them quietly considered that point for a moment and then Samantha asked Steve about the Lotus Marai. He looked around the house and noted the hours of work still needed as he replied.
‘Well we have another three or four days wait, so we will be back at sea again in five days at the earliest. We will have to delay fully setting up the house until later on.’
Rebecca turned to Samantha, who she now worked with in the medical section on the Aurora Discovery.
‘Samantha, we are nearly right for medical supplies for the next aid mission. Would you like me to contact the aid mission to advise them when we will be going?’
As Samantha and Rebecca talked further about what was needed, Dan stood up and walked over to the box on the kitchen counter.
‘Steve, I am reasonable with the handyman stuff, so let us now look at what needs fixing.’
The two men started emptying out the box of hardware of paint, sandpaper and other hardware. Within minutes they had each taken one of the two rooms that had to be repainted. Each of the men had a sanding block wrapped with sanding paper and the house was silent except for the noises of the men sanding the walls. After a few minutes the two ladies left the kitchen. Samantha found a spare hat and gloves for Rebecca, and they moved out to the back garden to weed, and to prune the smaller bushes.
***
The Cephrit Station master paused to yet again consider the report in front of him. He had arrived back at Star Base 31 three days earlier and had immediately resumed his duties. He carefully put together his report to the Vorinne second envoy, now over fifteen thousand light years away towards the centre of the galaxy.
The Cephrit hoped the envoy would be engrossed in other matters, so at least if the report supplied just enough information he would not be found wanting. He knew that the envoy was not in his chain of command, but to defy her and not submit a report could prove very dangerous. His own superiors would not hesitate to bundle him off to the envoy in chains if she requested it of them.
The station master also knew that the envoy had asked Omerio to also report to her, so hopefully Omerio could fill in the missing pieces. Unfortunately he did not think it likely that the Barus knew of what had actually happened with Voorde being found on both the Jerecab and the Trader ships. Also it was unlikely for anyone to know of the present contents of the Trader ship, so he could safely withhold that information. Especially after he had ordered his ship to be serviced, and the computer systems wiped before being upgraded.
The station master also submitted a request for the local Cephrit naval commander to have dinner with him. It was time to place a sanitised copy of what he had learned and part surmised in front of Cephrit military commanders.
***
Gindane evaluated the ramifications of what she had uncovered in several days of studying the artefacts at the former Dradfer colony. The wall carving had provided an entry point for a new line of research that was both highly contentious and confidential. Only the professor and Gindane was involved in the research, and by tacit agreement very little was being recorded onto formal documents.
As far as the rest of the research team was concerned, Gindane the disgraced former researcher was engaged in cataloguing mundane research artefacts in the secured tent. Gindane was now viewing another carving that the professor was not game to leave uncovered, even behind the looked door of the sealed tent. The senior Barus researcher called up her notes on the Dradfer language and peered again at the strange flowing test at the bottom of the ancient carving.
The carving over forty thousand years old, but only appeared slightly scoured and pitted. The work of art was made of a reinforced ceramic that was meant to tell the story for prosperity. Gindane now read two passages of the text slowly.
‘A time of mass death approaches as the beasts again fill the sky.’ ‘Our worlds guard the fountain of life for eternity.’
The researcher shivered as she looked at the carved images again, a legion of armoured Tilmud assaulted what looked like a Dradfer facility. To one side a pair of Vorinne knelt, as in almost cringed, at the feet of a fearsome and massive being that towered over them in rage. Tilmud was something Gindane could understand in this area of space, even Vorinne as the supposedly omnipotent senior vassal race. But what was a Zronte battle lord doing way out here so long ago?
***
Chapter 9
Late January 2051AD.
Captain Narindestat felt worried as he viewed the star map, as he was concerned about being spotted
crossing these star systems. So far they had travelled over seven hundred light years out of the galaxy in three long type two hyper drive jumps. The captain then had ordered his ship to make several smaller jumps to bypass star systems were the Barus scientific fleet were performing studies of the former Dradfer colonies.
Narindestat considered the fate of the Dradfer in stony silence. In ancient Trader history his own species had earlier nearly gone the way of the Dradfer. While these former Dradfer colonies were many hundreds of light years from the Trader’s original worlds, the Dradfer were not unknown to the Traders.
‘It would not do to have a vassal war fleet arrive while the ship is underwater on Earth dealing with the Voorde drones.’ Captain Narindestat considered quietly to himself.
The captain had recently ordered a weapon simulation, as he could not risk placing individual crew in isolated parts of the Illuria to actually crew the weapons. The main guns seemed adequate and his shields, apart from the ever troublesome shield over an aero spike engine, were all working. However he was well aware that the best advantage he had, apart from the long range type two hyper drive, was not to be cornered and so not to be brought to combat. Lieutenant Garendestat sat intently at the navigation console looking over the last passive scans of the star system they were transiting.
‘Captain, the sub-space detector and the passive sweeps look clear, and the system does not appear to have many ship traces at all.’
The captain considered the report from his son, and noted the critical appraisal of the other officers on the bridge as he replied.
‘Lieutenant, that does not exactly fill me with confidence either. But that is the best we can do without actively scanning the whole system and telling everyone for light years we are here.’
