"You've inspired an old man," Hawthorne smiled. "I cannot give my allegiance to the Dominion or its Emperor, but I will offer my services to you in your fight against the Legion for as long as you would have me. As long as you do not stand against Queen Constance, I can stand with you. If you turn against her, we will be enemies."
"The Commonwealth needs the Queen back on the throne," she told him. "The Protectorate needs to be rid of Gaelon, and all three nations need to find a peaceful way to co-exist. That won't happen until the Legion is destroyed. You will be a valuable ally in our fight against them. I'll tell K'oron and Br'dar that you are going to help us. I'll let you talk to your people, and explain the situation to them. Any of them that wish to join us are welcome to. Any that wish to leave, may do so."
Hawthorne and Danielle stood up from the table and shook hands. "I will take your offer to crews of my ships. Thank you, Lieutenant."
Danielle laughed. "Actually, here I'm a Major. I hold the rank of Major in the V'drellz Stragizi now. It's about the same as a Commander in the Commonwealth."
He looked at her in amazement. "So you're a 'black cape' now? How does a Terran become a ranked officer in that group?"
"That, my dear Admiral," she smiled, "is another story for another time."
***
"I can't find anything new in these images," Detective Chen said sipping on his third cup of coffee. They had been staring at the crime scene photos from both Baxby's and Philmore's murders laid out on a table and had yet to learn anything that they didn't already know. Peterson liked to print out the images and spread them out. She had told him once that it made a case 'more real' to her. He would have preferred to simply use a console tablet, but he humored her quirks. "We've been at this for hours now, and I only got a few hours sleep last night. Are you seeing anything?"
Peterson shook her head. "Nope, but I know that there has to be something. Someone wouldn't go to all the trouble to get through security here to kill Bobby and steal the chip that we found on Baxby's body unless it was pretty important. We have to be missing something. Some clue that someone out there doesn't want us to uncover. If only we knew more about what Bobby found before he was murdered. Too bad they haven't invented a data recovery device for dead brains like we have for dead computers."
"Yeah," Chen offered a weak smile at her attempt at humor. That would be nice. If there was a way to simply retrieve the last memories of a person like we can from the drives and chips in computers. Kind of like reading the last flash to a quantum memory core. Suddenly his eyes lit up, and he tapped the comms device in his ear. "This is Chen. Put me through to Owen Cordell in CTD now!" Peterson was about to ask him what he was doing, but he raised a hand to silence her after only the first sound escaped her lips. Instead of Cordell, one of the CTD team members answered the line and informed Chen that Cordell was out for the morning.
"This is Darren Chen over in homicide," the detective introduced himself. "Have any of your techs examined Philmore's workstation console core yet?" He waited while the man at the other end of the call answered. "Oh, so you pulled the data core out. What about the memory core?" Chen smiled at Peterson and gave her a thumbs up. "Can you dump the memory core without powering his station back on? I'm hoping that a snapshot of the data chip he was working on is still on the core, but it the console boots up normally it will flush the memory core." He grinned again. "Thanks, man! We owe you one!" He tapped the comms device to end the call.
"What was that all about?" Peterson asked. "I get lost in the geek speak, but it sounded like you think you can get a copy of the chip from Philmore's console?"
"That was Reggie Schultz. Owen is out this morning, but Reggie said he would try to get a dump of the memory core and pull all the files out if possible," Chen was still smiling. "If there is still a snapshot of the chip reader in memory, we may be able to get some of the data that Bobby found on the chip. It's a long shot, but it's more than we have now."
"I'll take anything at this point," Peterson agreed. "How long will it take them to pull the data?"
"Reggie said he it wouldn't take long if the memory core file structure was still intact. So, it should be only a matter of..." Chen's tablet console in his pocket buzzed. He pulled it out and read the message he had just received. "They got it!" Chen jumped up from the chair he had been sitting in at the table. He sprinted back to his desk with Peterson only a step behind him. He logged into his console and opened a file that had been sent to him from CTD. He read the contents of the file with almost the same excitement that a child would have on Christmas morning opening gifts.
His partner was leaning over his shoulder reading the file. "They think they can get the Interlink address of the console that created those files?"
"Yeah," Chen still had a smile on his face. "They are working on it now. Here's something even better. One of the CTD guys is ex-fleet and recognized the code. It is for the sensor array on a military drone. More specifically, it can re-program the sensors to broadcast a sensor image instead of picking one up. Now, this type of drone is only used on one class of ship. Care to take a guess as to which?"
Peterson's eyes had lit up. "I'm betting a Dreadnaught. Which coincidentally lines up with that that military lawyer, Bridger, told us."
Chen's comms devices buzzed, and he tapped his ear. "Chen speaking." He listened to the line for a few moments, then tapped his ear again. "Grab your coat. We're going to Olympus Mons. CTD tracked the Interlink address. They think our suspect is at one of the ski lodges up there. They want to pursue this with us as a joint investigation. They will handle any terrorism aspects, and we handle all the murder charges."
She grabbed her gun and badge from her desk drawer and yanked her coat off one of the hooks by the door. "Let's go get this piece of dirt."
***
Lakeisha felt a sense of awe as she walked through the ruins on Morgal. She was being escorted by the expedition leader, an older Polywan named Bwark. The plump little fellow was hopping along beside her on his large webbed feet. He was talking about the history of Morgal, and how the planet had been destroyed centuries before by the Xarthan Federation which then became the Rylan Protectorate after absorbing the defeated Morgalan Empire. She could hear the man speaking, but she wasn't listening to him. Her mind was racing in too many directions. So this is the land of my ancestors. The homeworld of the Morgalan race. The homeworld of Kamseth. Have we actually found him? Can we learn the secrets of his ability to control people, and bend them to his will?
"Ms. Johnson?" Bwark was looking at her as though he was waiting for something. "Don't you agree?"
"Hmm?" She was snapped back from her thoughts. She could see that Bwark realized that she had not been listening. His face showed his frustration.
"I'm so sorry," she attempted to win back his favor. "I was just overwhelmed by the history of this world." He seemed to be satisfied with her apology.
"I was saying that I have been amazed by how intact this ruin is," Bwark repeated his earlier statement, "considering the fact that the entire planet's surface was bombed to the point of annihilating every living thing on it. It is a testimony to ancient Morgalan craftsmanship." He gave the woman walking beside him a thoughtful look. "I must admit, I was surprised that the Prime Minister sent a Terran to oversee the opening of this recently discovered section of the ruins."
"I'm only half Terran," Lakeisha corrected him. "My father was Morgalan. This is my history. I was honored to be asked by the Prime Minister to be here."
"Well, this is it," the Polywan stopped and pointed at a large indentation in the floor. "This glyph is the mark that was used by Kamseth," he said pointing at the center of indentation. He then pointed at a ring of glyphs around the perimeter of the indentation. "These glyphs indicate that this is a tomb. Translated it says: 'May the one sealed below never be disturbed'. So, if our translations are correct, which I believe that are, this is the tomb of Kamseth himself." The little man grinned. "This is so exciting!
The chamber below us hasn't been accessed in over thirty centuries."
"So how do we open it?" Lakeisha inquired. "Is there a button to push, or is there a key we need?"
"No," Bwark shook his head. "Unfortunately, we will have to remove the stones to gain access. My hope is that none of the stones fall and damage anything in the chamber below. We have our equipment in place to remove the stones, we were only waiting for your arrival."
"Let's get started then," Lakeisha replied.
Bwark looked over at his crew leader and nodded. The crew began attaching cables to stones in the indentation. After each stone had a cable attached, they connected a hoist line to the center stone. They looked to Bwark for the final approval.
"Ready to go back in time?" Bwark asked with a smile.
Lakeisha nodded. Her stomach was in knots. Are we about to actually find Kamseth?
The hoist line became taut, and the stone groaned as it was slowly lifted from its ancient resting place. Finally, the stone cleared the floor, and it was swinging on the hoist line alone. The hoist operator pivoted the hoist and lowered the stone to the floor away from the newly formed opening. Both Lakeisha and Bwark leaned forward in a feeble attempt to see into the blackness below.
"This is truly a historic occasion," the toadish man told the Terran woman beside him. "Who knows what kinds of amazing artifacts we may find."
"I'm very happy for you, Bwark," Lakeisha congratulated. "I was told that you have been studying the ruins of this planet for years now. I'm glad that all of your hard work has paid off in a truly remarkable discovery. However..."
"Yes, I know," the Polywan interrupted her. "The Prime Minister was quite clear. If Kamseth's sarcophagus is still intact, it is to be turned over to you so that it can be taken to a secure location for testing. Although I do not know what the Prime Minister and his science advisors think could possibly contaminate the body, but not the rest of the artifacts. He didn't seem too interested in answering me when I asked him either."
"That is something that I cannot comment on," Lakeisha replied. She wasn't exactly sure what lie Gaelon might have told the little man, and she didn't want to do anything that would compromise her mission, so she opted to act as if that information was classified. "If the Prime Minister decides you should know, I'm certain he will tell you."
"Perhaps," he gave her a somewhat distrusting look. "For the current time, it is here, and we are here, so we shall be the first to lay eyes on it."
"After you," Lakeisha gestured towards the hole. "This is your find, so it's only proper that you get to view whatever might be inside first."
The little man hopped over to where some supplies had been stacked. He came back wearing a climbing harness and provided one for Lakeisha. One of the expedition members brought the hoist line over to Bwark and attached it to his harness, then checked to make sure that everything was secure.
"Lower me down slowly," Bwark instructed the hoist operator. "I will tell you when I am on the floor of the chamber." The man operating the hoist nodded, and pulled a lever. Bwark was lifted off the ground and positioned over the opening. The operator then shifted the lever and began to slowly lower his boss into the hole. After a few moments, they heard Bwark shout that he was safe on the floor of the chamber below. He had disconnected the line from his harness, and the hoist operator brought it back up. The expedition member that had helped Bwark with his harness was now making sure that Lakeisha was properly cinched in and secured. He gave a nod to the hoist operator who then repeated the same process as before and lowered Lakeisha into the hole.
Upon reaching the floor of the chamber, she unfastened the hoist line and looked around in the room. Bwark had brought some kind of phosphorescent lighting with him and had scattered a few on the floor. They produced just enough light to make out the shapes of objects on the floor and walls. The walls were covered in intricate carvings. Some had been painted, while others had not. Many of the carvings were of a singular figure standing while many other smaller figures bowed down to it. That must be Kamseth being worshipped by his followers. Amazing!
"Ms. Johnson," she heard Bwark's voice coming from a connecting corridor. "I think you should come see this." She followed the corridor from the chamber they initially entered until it opened into an even larger chamber than the first. She saw the older man standing there, his gaze fixed upon the front of a large stone dais that was barely visible at the far end of the room. She walked to where he was standing, but he never broke his gaze. Something had completely consumed the thoughts of the little man. He almost appeared frightened by whatever he was seeing.
"Are you okay, Bwark?" She couldn't see anything in front of them, but the Polywan never took his gaze off the dais.
"I'm not entirely certain," he finally replied, his voice trembling. "I guess that would depend on whether or not that is what I think it is." He pointed toward the dais with a webbed finger.
"I don't see anything but a stone platform," Lakeisha responded.
Bwark broke his gaze away from the dais and looked at her. "My apologies. I forget that Polywans have far superior eyesight in the darkness than most races." He handed her one of the phosphorescent lights. "Take this, and go look at the dais." She started walking toward the platform, the details of the objects on it gradually becoming more visible. The expedition leader was still standing exactly where he had been. He made no effort to follow Lakeisha closer to the stone platform.
She continued approaching the platform and could begin to see the shapes of what looked like some kind of braziers, probably used at some point to light the room when it was in use. Beyond that was a large chair. It was extremely ornate in design. Could this be Kamseth's actual throne? She now understood why the old man was overwhelmed. It was an artifact that any museum would kill for. Gaelon would be very pleased with its recovery.
"Do you think that this is Kamseth's actual throne?" Lakeisha asked the expedition leader.
"Forget the throne!" He shouted at her. "Look at what is against the far wall!"
She continued walking closer. She reached the steps at the bottom and could see the outline of a large cylindrical object against the back. She crept up the steps drawing closer to the object. She could now make out what it was and she understood why Bwark had frozen. This is far beyond anything we hoped to find!
***
The room was quiet as Hawthrone prepared to address the officers of the Poseidon, Athena, and Apollo. He was staring at the faces of the one hundred seventy-eight men and women that kept things moving on those ships. He had originally wanted to address the entire crews of the ships all at once, but there was no space available large enough to accommodate the eighteen hundred members of the three crews. So, he decided that he would address the officers from the main dining area of the Poseidon, and let them go back and share the information with their respective people.
He cleared his throat and looked out on the crowd. "Thank you for coming. I know that the events of the past few hours have been difficult for all of you and your departments. I have been in contact with the leaders of the V'drellian ships and they have shared some information with me that we were not aware of. Some of it will sound too impossible to believe, but after considering what you are about to hear, and the facts as you know them, I feel that many of you might agree with me that these things might not only be possible, but probable. Before I get into those details, I need to assure you that I have been promised that we will not be held as captives or prisoners of war. We are free to leave as soon as we can make repairs to our ships." The room took on a low rumble as those in his audience began conversing with each other.
"Please," Hawthorne tried to quieten them, "let me finish. The Apollo sustained major damage and would require a shipyard to repair. As such, it will be abandoned, and its crew transferred to the Athena or Poseidon. I want to say that I am proud of the way that each and every one of you handled yourselves today. The Commonwealth has not been involved in a military action
in many years, but you remembered your training, followed orders, and survived the day. We might not have won today, but the fight is far from over. The fight isn't with the Dominion though, it's with the shadow group that has infiltrated the Commonwealth, the Protectorate, and the Dominion called the Legion. I know that may seem absurd, but I assure you that it is true. Members of this group have been manipulating events in all three nations, trying to draw everyone into a war. A war that has the sole purpose of weakening all our peoples by having us fight amongst each other."
He continued. "Members of the Dominion military have uncovered the identities of several of these conspirators. You all know that a V'drellian was killed in the capital city immediately following the assassination of Rylan Prime Minister Hobarth. What you didn't know was that he was a high ranking official in both the Dominion government and the Legion. That assassination was also meant for our Queen. She survived only because a V'drellian shielded her from the blast intended for her. Yes, the rumors of a V'drellian man on the dais that day are true, and that man did the Commonwealth a great service. That assassination allowed for two of the Legion's highest operatives to slide into positions of great power. Gaelon, the current Prime Minister of the Rylan Protectorate, and Zhang Zhi the current Regent of the Commonwealth. The Legion even caused the destruction of the Rylan Starburst passenger transport just to stoke the fires of hate between our worlds."
He paused to let that thought sink in. "Knowing this, I can no longer support the regime of a man that stole the throne from our Queen. I choose to stay here and fight to put her back on the throne that is her by right. Anyone that wishes the same is welcome. If you chose to stay, you will be declared traitors to the Commonwealth by Zhi and his loyalists. If we cannot defeat them, we will never be able to return home. I know that many of you have family and friends, and are not willing to risk never seeing them again. I understand, and I don't hold that against you. As I said earlier, if you desire to return to the Commonwealth you will be allowed to do so unhindered. I ask that you follow your heart, and do what you know to be right. For me, that is to fight for my Queen."
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