NEBULAR Collection 3 - Morgotradon: Episodes 12 - 16

by Thomas Rabenstein

  Fosset pressed his lips together and slowly slumped into a seat. He buried his face in his hands and began weeping.

  »Careful with your mask,« Vasina reminded him softly. She seemed to understand what Fosset was going through.

  Fosset calmed down and sighed deeply. With his eyes tearing, he told them, »You know … McCord and I were partners since university. We were friends! We were from opposite sides of the social spectrum, with different ideas, but we always stuck together and battled out our differences. I was the businessman and he covered my back. He supported even my craziest ideas, always standing by my side. I trusted him completely and I relied on his loyalty no matter what. It hurts to know that he’s … no longer, but that his body goes on in some mysterious way.«

  »I know, Hugh,« Arkroid said glumly. »It’s hard for me too. I still have problems understanding it all. I see the dangers ahead of us, dangers we can hardly comprehend. Tell me something, Hugh, how did you learn about the object in Neptune’s atmosphere?«

  Vasina straightened and looked at Arkroid.

  »It doesn’t matter anymore,« Fosset sighed.

  »Well … that’s how it began, right?« Arkroid tried to build a bridge. »The information was leaked and you couldn’t resist it, could you? You were lured to Neptune to die on the portal planet, while McCord was sent back in his present form.«

  Fosset seemed to be thinking hard.

  »I received the Neptune info on a data-chip from an unknown sender! Once we’d copied the data, the original chip self-destructed. Everything was very mysterious and exciting; I had to go to Neptune to check it out. The original data mentioned that the object in Neptune’s atmosphere was the Atlantika, Vasina’s flagship. I wanted to salvage that ship for Humanity.«

  Vasina seemed flustered.

  »How many people know this?« she demanded to know.

  Arkroid raised his brows.

  »What do you mean?« he asked.

  »Who had access to the reports and my personal history as well as the times when my people were deported? Who else knows about the Atlantika?«

  Arkroid got the drift.

  »Well … all members of the Union Parliament have the clearance to access those files. The circle is too large to single out an individual person for the leak.«

  »If my journey to Neptune was part of a scheme, then why make it so complicated?« Fosset inquired uncertainly. »I take it that you mean my actions were controlled, or at least manipulated, by an agitator?«

  »The agitator was already active before he or she leaked the info to you,« Arkroid explained. »How this person was conditioned, I can’t explain. My guess is that Morgotradon flew unnoticed with his spaceship through the Tachyon Portal into our solar system … maybe alerted by the Stinger or the death of the Soulwalker. He must have selected a person on Earth then. When I saw all those prisoners on the portal planet, I knew that he used the portal network to infiltrate other galactic nations with his agents. He probably did so several hundred times – and each time a civilization became enslaved.«

  Fosset was irritated and confused.

  »Why was he using me to get to McCord, including the jump through the portal on Neptune?«

  Arkroid took a deep breath.

  »I asked myself the same question, Hugh,« he replied calmly. »Morgotradon’s plan has many layers in which the agitator plays several important roles. Probably, in the beginning, McCord wasn’t even part of the plan, but as your partner, and heir to your empire, McCord became more and more useful as a pawn. Hugh Fosset became a sideshow, so-to-speak. He changed his plans on the fly as soon as he realized what a treasure McCord was. Nok Daralamai’s right in her assertion that McCord was to stand in the spotlight to cover for the agitator. I’m afraid that McCord has more trumps up his sleeve than we can imagine.«

  »You mentioned something like this before, Toiber. How did you decide that?« Vasina inquired fascinated.

  Arkroid paced over beside Vasina and looked out of the window as he explained his theory.

  »The agitator has to be in the higher Union echelons, obviously. Morgotradon couldn’t just kidnap such a person and then return him after a long unexplained period. Would’ve caused some raised eyebrows. He conditioned the agitator on Earth, Mars or elsewhere. In McCord’s case he took extra time, which worries me, though.«

  Suddenly, the hotel suite communication system announced a visitor.

  Vasina, Fosset and Arkroid looked at each other.

  »Who could that be?« Fosset asked.

  »We’ll know in a moment,« Arkroid replied and opened the door.

  Naomi Borga stood there. They all stared in surprise.

  She looked at Arkroid and then at Fosset.

  »Hello, Naomi, I’m glad to see you …,« Arkroid started to greet her, but she just walked by him and went directly toward Fosset. Her breathing was fast; they couldn’t help noticing her anger. Her eyes spewed fire!

  »Hugh Fosset!« she proclaimed. »Why’d you let everybody think you’re dead? What are you doing on Mars in disguise?«

  Fosset’s mouth worked.

  »I am … what the …«

  Naomi looked cautiously around the room. She kept her left hand in her pocket.

  »What’s that?« Arkroid demanded. »A weapon? We’re harmless, please, stay calm.«

  »Wrong,« she rebutted in a dangerous, hissing tone. »It’s a personal monitor and pager. Don’t make me use it or this room will be swarming with security people. They’ll hermetically sealed the hotel … no chance for you to get out of here!«

  »In other words, you didn’t sound the alert yet,« Fosset assumed calmly. »Why not?«

  Naomi looked briefly to the floor.

  »I compared your voice recording from the hotel entrance to the company’s vault voice access sequences. You are Hugh Fosset! I re-ran the recordings through our neuronal computer here on Mars. There’s no error.«

  Arkroid indicated with a nod in Fosset’s direction for the magnate to reveal himself. There was no denying that Naomi knew the truth.

  »Yes, Naomi; I’m Hugh Fosset and I am alive … as you can see.«

  Fosset removed the mask from his face and looked amiably into Naomi’s eyes.

  The next few seconds would show how Naomi would react.

  »It is true,« she realized with a shaken voice. She had to sit down. »Why are you doing this … I don’t understand …«

  Arkroid cleared his throat.

  »Naomi, I can imagine how confused you are, but McCord will arrive soon, and we have very little time for explanations. Please, listen and try to understand what I’m about to tell you. My name is Toiber Arkroid …«

  Not so fast

  The team was deeply shocked over what they saw after they entered the area behind the protection shield. They found several Globusters who were either laying on the floor or standing with grotesque postures on pedestals – motionless! Even in this state of suspension, all Globusters had one thing in common … they were a horrific sight! Petrow acted fast to allay panic in his team members.

  »Pull it together, people. Remember, they can’t do anything to you in this state. It’s absolutely normal to be a bit scared. Just fight it down!«

  »They’re horrible!« Meyer remarked with a trembling voice. He had mixed feelings, seeing the Globusters with their wide open snouts and their sharp pointy teeth. »I had expected … I don’t know … something different! How many are there in the lobby … ten, fifteen?«

  »That’s irrelevant, Meyer,« Petrow replied harshly and demonstratively approached one of the Globusters in front of him. The crystallized eyes of the Globuster reflected the light of his flashlight, as its claws seemed to reach for Petrow.

  »It’s exactly as our scientists predicted. The Globs are inert! They’re lifeless, can’t do us any harm.«

  Nadja Bulkin looked with a disgusted expression at the extraterrestrials, but at the same time she was fascinated. It took her a moment to regain her self-contro
l and then she stepped closer to one of the beings. She noticed immediately the implanted techno-modules under their skins.

  »They’re hybrids – sort of cyborgs – organic beings with implanted technology. Do you think they volunteered?«

  Petrow sighed in relief. He had been worried about Nadja, whether she could bear the stress. She surprised him by adapting quickly to the new situation and shaking off her fears, while Alexander Drustev was still fighting his natural instincts.

  »They’re a lot more different from us than their appearance suggests,« Meyer explained. »Their metabolism is silicon-based. We don’t know yet what role the implants play. So far, we were only able to learn what two of the implants do. Those are directly connected to their nervous system and responsible for their aggressive behavior and personal defense shield. Anyone unlucky enough to encounter an active Globuster will likely be overwhelmed by its bioelectric field.«

  Petrow glanced repeatedly at the other Globusters, making sure that they didn’t move an inch. He didn’t want to turn his back on the beings while he inspected the lobby.

  »Enough!« he announced. »Let’s follow the corridor and check out this section. Record everything!«

  Alexander Drustev awoke from his daze.

  »Recorders and sensors are operational!« he replied and grimaced. »We really should keep going. I don’t want to be around when these beasts awake.«

  All of them agreed. Their backpacks contained the latest compact scanning and recording devices. The compiled data would later help to reveal the purpose of this installation. The room, which at first had appeared to be a lobby, turned out to be a hangar where a spaceship was standing further away from their initial position. It bore no resemblance to the lens spacers the Globusters used. The shape was spherical and highly polished. Small polarized, window-like openings surrounded the slightly bulged outer equatorial sections. Petrow estimated the ship’s height at about fifteen meters. Like the Globuster Tender, this small spaceship was also hovering a couple of meters above the hangar floor. Petrow doubted that the motionless Globusters laying everywhere in the hangar were connected to this ship. The spherical ship’s appearance was powerful, noble, graceful and perfect.

  »The list of discoveries is growing by the minute, it seems,« Petrow whispered, impressed.

  »The presence of this base alone will spin some heads on Earth! Let’s recorded it!« Drustev suggested excited.

  Slowly they moved further into the base, with its inexplicable symbols on the walls, arrays of exotic machinery of unknown purpose, high-energy conduits and strange-looking consoles, a technology the team members couldn’t understand. So far, the expedition had proven itself in new knowledge. The further they penetrated into the base, the darker it became around them.

  »Activate your visuals!« Petrow commanded and cautiously kept walking. Every step was recorded.

  »Log entry …,« Petrow spoke into his helmet headset. »This place is much different than the one on Quaoar and doesn’t appear to reflect any Globuster technology. The Globs inside the base seem to be alien to this environment …«

  »… Petrow!« Drustev called. »Look at this!«

  Petrow stepped beside Drustev, who pointed at the closing mechanism of a machine that protruded from the wall. Drustev’s light shone on the object, which looked, as if it could be opened from the front.

  »What did you find?« Petrow asked with interest. »We can try to analyze it, but I think that even our scientists will need time to sort this out.«

  »It’s not about the machine,« Drustev replied. »Look closer. This clasp-like closure was made for beings with finger movement skills, such as hands. The Globs would never be able to open this machine with their claws. Human hands could do it … look!«

  Drustev touched the opening mechanism with his hand and even with his spacesuit glove was able to show how Human hands could open the machine part.

  »Stop it!« Petrow warned. »We’d rather not touch anything here! Your observation is good, though.«

  As the team progressed through the base, they found more of the motionless Globusters. It was difficult to overcome the panic they felt whenever a Globuster appeared suddenly in the dark.

  »The Globs are all over the base!« Nadja Bulkin remarked hotly, after almost running into one of the beings. It was obvious that she didn’t like to be around them. »There must be hundreds!«

  »We need to keep going!« Petrow decided. »We’ll find our way back, our cameras recorded everything. I’ve also left some reflective markers on the floor.«

  »I’m not worried about our way back. I just don’t want to end up as a Glober’s breakfast!«

  Nobody laughed …

  »I’m wondering what all these Globusters were doing here. There’re way too many of them … and we always thought that they were loners!« Nadja added quietly.

  »It seems they’ve developed some sort of a society on Sedna,« Petrow replied sarcastically. »Now it makes sense that we saw that many lens spacers – one Glob per spacer!«

  »I think they arrived with that tender out there,« Nadja proposed. »I also think that the base already existed when they showed up here.«

  After a couple of minutes the team arrived at a corridor junction which led in three different directions. Petrow considered for a moment splitting the team, but decided against it. Again, signs with strange symbols were mounted on the walls of each corridor entrance.

  Petrow switched to infrared – and was standing in the dark! The signs were only visible under normal light conditions.

  Strange! That means the Globs can’t even see these signs, he thought in surprise.

  Ignoring the left and right corridors they followed the passage straight ahead. It led into a larger room after about twenty meters and ended there.

  »Where are we?« Meyer whispered.

  As far as the team could tell, the room was designed like a planetarium whose zenith was at a height of about ten meters. The ceiling was formed like a dome. A semi-circular console was located on the floor at ground zero. Several comfortable looking seats surrounded the console.

  »Petrow,« Drustev whispered, »this console possesses several different sensor pads. I count twenty seats! They’re a bit too big for Humans, but too small for Globs. Same goes for the sensor pads.«

  Petrow took a deep breath.

  »According to what we know about the Globs, our system guardians are using an entirely different technology here. On Quaoar they used a neuronal interface with their technology. This … nothing like this was present on Quaoar!«

  As the team cautiously approached the console, a bluish light suddenly flooded the room.

  Nadja twitched in shock and moved her special vision equipment to the side so she’d be able to see through her visor without it. She switched the equipment off.

  »That’s remarkable!« she commented aloud.

  Meyer, Drustev and Petrow blinked their eyes and also switched off their visual equipment.

  »Proximity sensors!« Drustev speculated. »This room is still active – it’s switched the lights on for us!«

  »This is strange, because the Globs see in a different light spectrum,« Nadja replied doggedly. »This light wouldn’t help them at all.«

  Petrow stepped up to the console and looked around. Some of the sensor pads were glowing as if in a state of standby. The console and its equipment seemed to be running or at least in the process of warming up.

  »What do you think the purpose of this room is for?« Petrow asked everyone.

  Nadja shrugged.

  »Probably a control center, but I can’t explain its functions.«

  »Document everything and let’s move on,« Petrow commanded.

  As they were about to leave the room on the way they had arrived, they suddenly heard a crackling noise from the direction of the console.

  Crackling? Here? What the …? Petrow checked his wrist instruments for the presence of oxygen. Then, glancing into the corridor toward
the junction, he saw a scintillating yellow energy field glowing where the corridor joined the junction. The room had filled with oxygen – unnoticed!

  »The room is flooded with oxygen, but keep your helmets on, anyway!« Petrow commanded.

  Surprised, the team members looked at their instruments.

  »We could save valuable oxygen,« suggested Meyer.

  »Helmets remain in place! We don’t know when the situation may reverse itself. Better safe than sorry!« Petrow rebutted.

  A three-meter-tall holographic projection established suddenly at the center of the semi-circular console and displayed the head of a remarkable alien being.

  Bulkin, Meyer, Drustev and Petrow didn’t want to believe their eyes.

  The elongated head was humanoid and strange-looking with two pointed, large ears, angled downward. Above the deep black eyes a bone-like bulge protruded, which went around the entire head. The stranger inside the holo had no hair. His skin was smooth with a bluish hue.

  A second holo established, extending across the entire dome’s upper section, displaying a schematic depiction of the great planets and the solar system’s outer ring. Several different coordinates were highlighted in different colors where they orbited the sun on predetermined positions in the dynamic full-dimensional display. To Petrow, it seemed like a scaled down graphic of the Globuster Matrix and its control points.

  »This is …,« Meyer said surprised, but fell silent as another holo activated.

  It showed several asteroids together with unknown symbols and unintelligible diagrams.

  »What is that?« Drustev whispered impressed. »A catalogue of available Kuiper Objects? Is this an automatic presentation?«

  Petrow wasn’t sure.

  »We could have activated the sequences by accident, or maybe the installation was just running in standby mode, waiting for someone to enter the room.«