“Access Gasruhni Nikne,” she said to the HDC. When it blinked Authorized Access Only, she waved her hand in front of it and a blank password box appeared.
How in the Guild could my name be the password? Nonetheless, she spoke it out loud. “Crystal McCoy.”
Suddenly, someone touched her on the shoulder, making her leap out of the chair, ready to strike.
“Whoa, Chief!”
“Daf, what are you doing?!”
Daf was standing behind her chair, wearing a surprised look on her face.
“I thought you'd need some company.” Daf grabbed Hank's chair and wheeled it next to Crystal's, then plopped into the seat.
Crystal shot Daf a weary look. “You mean, you needed company, Daf.”
“Yeah, that's about it. I went to your bunk, hoping you were still up, but when you weren't there I went to Wrench, thinking you were building my Mech with him.” She was biting her lip with raised eyebrows, offering a questioning gaze. But, Daf dismissed her ill-fated hope when Crystal didn't give any indication as to whether or not Wrench had started working on Daf's Mech, or even if they would in the future. “When Wrench was no where to be found, I had a crazy feeling that you'd be in here.”
“And, there it is.” Crystal stared at the human genome on the HDC. “That's why I came here tonight, to somehow figure that out.”
“That's neat,” replied a sarcastic Daf, not understanding the significance of what was being displayed. “What are all of those x's on the DNA strand?”
“Dammit!” Crystal slapped her thigh and looked at Daf. “I told Jerrod to work on this with Hank today, but I never got back to him. And he may know what those x's mean by now.”
Daf stared at the vid, narrowing her eyes, as if trying to figure it out. But then her eyes got wide, and then she lunged for Crystal's wrist and squeezed it hard.
“Ow! What?” responded Crystal.
“Look!”
Crystal twisted her hand away from Daf's fingers and looked back at the HDC to see the typed words, Hi Crystal. You're up late.
Surprised, Crystal asked, “Daf? Did you do that?”
“Yeah, Chief, it was me. I did it so fast that you couldn't see me.” She shook her head because of the stupid question.
“Then who—”
I'm happy to finally meet you, typed on the screen.
Crystal scratched her jaw, then shrugged her shoulders. “Uh...HDC, commence dialogue.” She looked at Daf and then at the HDC. “Nice to meet you, too?” The HDC spelled out Crystal's reply.
I'm glad you're here.
“Who are you?” asked Crystal.
You can call me S for now. Or know me as the one who kept you and your friend alive while you were fleeing for your lives in your Mechs. You wouldn't have made it to your starship without the things I did to get you there. But, that's all you need to know of my name for now. If someone is spying on my conversation with you, I would be considered a traitor to my race for helping you and those of your race still surviving on Lumus. I do all of this in secrecy.
“Are you of the race that is trying to kill us?”
Yes, but many of us disagree with that approach. We wish for you to live, to be free.
“Why is my name the password?”
You are of my blood and I am of your blood. I've watched you for many years, and before that I watched your mother and your grandmother, and even your great grandmother. I chose you because you are one of the strongest of our bloodline.
Crystal looked at Daf and shrugged. Daf did the same, mouthing an 'okay, that's good?'. They didn't know if this was a prank or if it was real, and had no idea what bloodline meant.
“How could we be of the same blood if we're of a different species?”
Both of our species are more similar than you may think.
“Then, how could you know my grandmothers? That would make you very, very old and I'm sorry, but thats hard to believe. People just don't live that long.”
That's not entirely true. And right now, you couldn't understand the reasons for our longevity.
“Try me.” She looked at Daf and rolled her eyes. This had to be a joke.
At your personal level of consciousness, you would neither understand or believe me. Your race's thought structure is programmed with the concept that your body must rapidly decline when it passes its prime. Your belief system dictates that you must age. You are drugged and brainwashed into thinking that your cells must die, and that life is a tedious downhill slide to an ultimate death. But, that is not why I have come to speak with you. You must know that your time in physicality, and that of your race, is going to be immediately shorter lived if you don't do exactly as I say.
Crystal tilted her head, “Okay...”
I need you to lead your people to Forever Mountain.
Crystal's heart felt like it had just been thumped. The impossible had just been asked of her. “What? How...but why?”
If you don't, you will die, along with the rest. I can hold them off only for so long. In the next few days, an experimental weapon will be used on your ship. For now, Forever Mountain is the best place for your people to hide.
Daf jabbed Crystal in the shoulder, whispering, “I told you so,” referring back to when they were in their Mechs at the base of Forever Mountain. Daf had asked why they couldn't hide from the attackers in one of the mountain's tunnels.
Crystal shot Daf an angry look, then peered back at her HDC that read, Come back here at the same time tomorrow for more instructions. I must go now.
“Excuse me? How am I supposed to get everyone off the ship?”
When nothing came back in response, Crystal eyed Daf, who wore a blank expression and said, “I don't know, Crystal.”
Crystal considered that if this was real, there was practically no way she could get everyone off the ship and over to the mountain, let alone convince her mom to do so, which would be danged near impossible. She moved out of her chair and walked briskly toward the doors to exit Tech Quarters.
Daf swung around in her chair. “Where are you going now?”
“I'm waking up Wrench. We've just been warned and if it's a real warning, it's time we slapped your Mech together with the new specs. You're going to help me move as many people from Sirona to the warehouse next door so we can secure as many Mechs as we can and bring them over here. Then we can start herding everyone to Forever Mountain.”
“What if the enemy is setting us up, Crystal?”
Crystal paused, thinking for a moment. In her emotional rush to save everyone, that question had completely slipped her mind. If she took this “S” character's words on blind faith, she could be walking her people into a death trap and she'd be known as the idiot who killed her people—if anyone survived. She had to re-think this. “Well, I'll know more at this time tomorrow when I talk to S again. Until then, let's get Wrench out of his barracks and working on our Mechs. We can at least get as many of them over here as we can, just in case. Plus, we can gear them up and use them as infantry, like I wanted to do in the beginning.”
Daf smiled. Finally, something to do on this ship other than sitting around and getting shot at and pounded on by the enemy. Worst of all, she felt like she was inside a prison cell here on Sirona. Yep, she thought. It’s time to get our freedom back.
Look For:
Star Guild
Episodes 7 - 9
Coming Soon!
Author’s Note and Post a Review!
Thank you for reading Star Guild. If you’re interested in the next saga of episodes in the series and would like to know release dates, author and episode updates, and other important information, then please sign up for my newsletter. The episodes come quickly and often. Click on the link below to sign up: www.brandonellis.com
Also, if you enjoyed Star Guild, then please leave a kind review. It’s my absolute joy to know if I’ve brought a little entertainment into your life. Click below:
http://goo.gl/nM5hev
Visit my
facebook page at:
www.facebook.com/brandonellis1212
About the Author
Brandon Ellis grew up on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon in a small community known as Gladstone, where he graduated from high school and moved on to college.
After being declared an All State Baseball and All League Basketball player, he obtained his state and federal Therapeutic Massage License, and is a successful Sports Massage Therapist & Instructor. Father of three, he is also a successful author.
After his family, Brandon has three great loves in his life - writing, teaching, and sports.
Star Guild: Episodes 4, 5 & 6 (Star Guild Saga) Page 12
