He briefly pondered then his eyes sparkled.
»We should go the palace and start there, past the palace guards and the shield bearer, because they can’t see us anyway,« he suggested mischievously.
»I was there already,« Herimos replied wryly. »Even though, the Progonauts didn’t pose a danger to me, the automatic security systems are, however, still functional. The comb is not inside the palace. Your ruler, Shanthier the Second must have hidden it somewhere on the planet before the attack on India. We need to find that place.«
»There was no attack on our world!« Ramir rebutted.
»Let’s not talk about it for now and consider it a part of the truth finding,« Herimos suggested.
Ramir nodded sullenly.
»Good then, so be it, but how can we find such a small object on a planet like India? The comb could be anywhere or nowhere.«
»Try to think like your ruler and help me understand his way of thinking,« Herimos demanded. »Shanthier was surprised by the attack on this world; he used his ship to assist the Progonaut Fleet with his units. He didn’t have much time to find a suitable hiding place. The combs, which were entrusted to the five different Progonaut houses, were very valuable to your people. He would’ve never left the comb behind inside his palace while his world was under attack. The palace as well as the capitol city Kalmot were primary targets.«
»The palace is still standing …« Ramir stopped for a second. »Good, the palace would be a primary target of some hypothetical attackers, because not only the ruler and his family resides there but it is also the Progonaut Council’s meeting place. The first bombs would hit the palace first, in case India gets attacked. However, nobody will be able to get past the home fleet.«
Herimos growled in agreement.
»You received a strategic-tactical education?«
»I’ll be commanding a battle ship someday. All chots are officer cadets,« Ramir replied proudly.
Herimos nodded admiringly.
»I’m sure, your knowledge will help us.«
Insecure, Ramir looked at some students who walked past them without noticing the two.
»Why do they ignore us? Are we invisible? How does that work?«
Herimos put the index finger on his lips, a gesture for Ramir to stop asking questions.
»I think we should visit the study hall after all and search through the data banks,« he suggested.
Ramir cleared his throat.
»Maybe there are some hidden remarks in Shanthier’s last minute recordings.«
Herimos looked at him shrewdly.
»Are you okay? I hope my fist didn’t cause any damage.«
»No,« Ramir replied truthfully. »I just don’t trust the recordings of the old data banks. I think they’re fake. What I saw can’t be true. They are supposed to be Shanthier’s last words.«
Herimos looked at him seriously.
»Show me the data! Perhaps we’ll find a hidden clue.«
I hope, I don’t make any mistakes
Without warning signs, Hassan, fell into a dangerous condition. His eyelids flickered nervously while his eyeballs rolled in such a way that the pupils were no longer visible.
Fine nano threads were growing from each and every pore of his skin on his head. They made their way through the hair, jittering in the air. This eerie transformation disfigured Hassan. Hundreds, then thousands of finest sensor wires made him look like a character out of a horror movie.
Nuri stepped back scared. She tried to recall Hassan’s most Human side, however, given this obscure spontaneous mutation, Nuri could not stay calm.
»What’s going on inside the hangar?« Nok Daralamai’s voice sounded through the room. Her voice was probably heard everywhere on the base.
Nuri thought about the hangar chief who had probably told Nok about Hassan. Keeping an eye on Hassan, she went to the comm-terminal. She had to control him, observe his aura to take action if necessary in case the situation escalated.
»Hassan … he is here … with me … left sick bay,« she stuttered into the terminal microphone.
»I know that already. Why didn’t you report it right away?« Nok’s voice sounded hard with an unmistakable reproach.
Nuri swallowed and pondered feverishly. She saw Hassan raise his arms, pointing them into the direction of the Fronites. The nano threads acted like antennae and snaked into the air.
»Hassan is here to help me make a first contact,« Nuri explained. »He’s trying to communicate with the Fronites.«
Huffing could be heard over the intercom. Nok was suppressing her anger.
»I don’t want to know what he’s doing, I want to know if can dominate the strange power inside of him. Is he a danger to the base or not? Can you stop him, if the degenerated technology gets the upper hand? Nuri! Think! Not long ago, he transformed the airlock door, a steal door which was ten centimeter thick, into metallic dust.«
Nuri’s eyes were burning, she hesitated with her answer, which worried Nok even more, leading her to make a direct threat, »If you cannot give me an objective assessment of the situation, I have to resort to harsher measures and take him out! There’re too many things happening at the same time right now. I cannot afford to have a loose cannon in form of a super-being inside the base!«
»Wait, please!« Nuri replied hastily. »Everything is okay, he is no threat. He came here through tachyon space and hurt nobody. He followed the Fronites’ call and wants to explore the nature of these beings.«
»Are you making this statement voluntarily?« Nok wanted to know. The strange tone in her voice sounded alarming. Nuri knew her too well. She had already adopted a plan and taken action, but not yet ordered the execution. She was dead serious.
»The hangar chief reported something about wires growing from Hassan’s hair,« Nok added with a hiss.
»Please, give me some time before you do something that cannot be reversed. Hassan is trying to find out something about these beings,« Nuri begged her.
»You have ten minutes, Nuri. If I don’t hear back from you and Hassan doesn’t tell me in his own words that he has control over the degenerated technology then I will flood the hangar control room with propyl lead-acid.«
Nuri’s eyes widened.
Nok continued, »I have no other choice, because the hangar cannot be entered or stormed from any side, not even from the outside. A strong energy field, produced by Hassan’s mind, prevents that. The Techno-Cleric has assessed the field strength and assures me that the field can’t be penetrated. We can, however, still use our protection systems. This man is dangerous and has sufficient powers to level this base. I won’t take chances!«
Nuri looked over to Hassan before she steadfastly replied, »If he wanted to harm us then he had chances enough already. He means no harm, I trust him.«
»Is that your instinct talking or can you justify this logically?« Nok inquired.
»I can taste his aura,« Nuri lied and disconnected the terminal.
Nuri couldn’t explain why she had reacted this way. Maybe it was the fact that in case of danger, Nok could not guarantee Nuri’s safety. She knew, however, that Nok would stand by her word. She had ten minutes!
Cautiously she approached Hassan and shouted, »Hassan for God’s sake, wake up and talk to me!«
Hassan didn’t react, either he didn’t want to or couldn’t reply. He was somewhere else with his senses, perhaps inside a different dimension. A blue hue surrounded his head. Thousands of nano threads looked like statically charged hair.
»Hassan, please,« she pleaded with a vibrating voice.
Suddenly, a jolt went through his body. His rigid stance softened and the eerie expression disappeared from his eyes. His body was shivering then he looked at Nuri. He seemed confused for a moment, then he understood and smiled. As before, the nano threads disappeared again. Tears came from Nuri’s eyes when she saw him like that.
»I know this doesn’t look very appetizing,« Hassan apologized with a wavering voic
e. He tried to calm her. »I can assure you that I’m not in pain. This short change in me was controlled and wanted. There was never any danger to you.«
»What is that?« Nuri wiped her tears and her forehead.
Hassan chose his words cautiously before he replied, »They are very special sensors and receptors which are controlled with my mind. The nano threads are working like sensible antennas and are directly coupled to my neuronal center. They help me detect very weak impulses and stimulations, which I wouldn’t detect otherwise. I wish, I could show you what my senses can detect. It’s fascinating!«
»Were you able to communicate with the Fronites?« Nuri asked and cleared her throat; her tenseness subsided slowly.
»Unfortunately, there is no base for a dialogue,« Hassan shrugged. »But I was able to listen to their songs without understanding what the tones meant.«
Hassan pondered for a moment. He was looking for a suitable comparison and looked at the Fronites.
»It sounds like shattering or clanging glass. These chants, if you will, are very strange and can only be perceived on a plane that doesn’t belong to our continuum. They are tachyon chants.«
Nuri held her breath.
»Why are they doing that? What’s their objective?« she asked.
Hassan looked past her as he replied, »They sing to obtain a connection to Nebular.«
Nuri looked up.
»There it is again this term. What is Nebular? Is it a being or a god which the Fronites adore? Isn’t it possible that they developed some sort of an abstract myth?« she said.
»You mean like our religions?« Hassan shook his head. »No, I already said that Nebular is not a god.« Hassan focused on Nuri’s eyes as he explained, »Nebular exists and reflects the songs and chants of these beings. This doesn’t only occur through words or messages, but also through pictures which are so abstract that I can’t explain them. I was able to briefly detect grasp it with my senses, as if you see a faint person in the darkness which gets illuminated by a lightning flash for a second.«
»I don’t understand, Hassan.« She looked at him with big eyes. »What did you see?«
Hassan’s voice was almost humble as he explained, »When the Fronite songs encounter Nebular then an echo is created which the extra-terrestrials perceive. Nebular’s presence puts them into a trance, making them euphoric, which affects their rate of reproduction.«
»An energy echo, produced by tachyon chants …,« Nuri whispered perplexed. »Then Nebular, whatever it is or stands for, doesn’t answer directly to the Fronites’ calls. There is no exchange of information?«
»No bi-directional communication,« Hassan acknowledged her train of thoughts. »The certainty that Nebular exists, makes them clearly feel alive.«
»So, they use these chants to learn of their own existence, which they would, otherwise, not be able to do?« Nuri said.
»You got it, Nuri,« Hassan said and winked.
»I think, so I am,« Nuri recited. »In this case it’s something like: I sing, so I am!«
Hassan stepped closer to the bulletproof window, which separated the control room from the hangar.
»These beings are so alien that we’ll never understand them. They reproduce by means of division as soon as they find a habitat with ample oxygen. If you throw them out into space then they won’t die. They cocoon themselves and can survive for millions, perhaps billions of years. You didn’t need to rescue them.«
»Hmm … but what about the spaceship with which they arrived here?« Nuri asked.
Hassan smiled briefly and explained, »It is a biological unit, resembling a bacterium which can adapt to space and is able to travel through higher dimensions.«
»Is that possible?« she doubted.
»Well, we breed bacteria,« Hassan rebutted, »which produce antibiotics. We use them for all kinds of things. Some are programmed to produce medication to heal cancers other just make yoghurt from milk.«
Hassan turned around and looked Nuri deep in the eyes.
»This giant bacterium has developed the ability to survive in outer space, to gather energy and to fly through the tachyon continuum. The Fronites are just passengers so-to-speak. Both life-forms are very strange, nevertheless, they found a niche in this universe and have the right to further exist.«
Nuri pondered over his words.
This man is not dangerous or aggressive. He has a very deep cosmic understanding.
Nuri was impressed and taken aback at the same time.
»Who knows how many other life-forms are out there which are beyond our grasp and understanding,« he added quickly.
A faint hiss filled the room. It came from the ceiling where the air circulation diffusers were located. Something was dispersed into the room.
Nuri twitched and remembered the commander’s words.
»Hassan! The gas! They want to take you out!« she screamed panic struck. »They have no regard for me!«
Hassan listened but smiled in response.
»Do you trust me, Nuri?«
She nodded jerkily.
»Yes! But that won’t help us. The warfare agent will kill us.«
The acid cloud slowly descended on the two; the fine mist made breathing Hell. Their lungs were burning like fire.
Nuri coughed violently and crouched down.
Hassan quickly took her by the hand and a second later, through a whirlwind of lights, weightlessness and a feeling as if she would fall into an abyss, the surrounding changed and a different room appeared before her eyes.
»The command central!« she said, still coughing. She looked around and saw the raised weapons pointed at her and Hassan.
Nok had been waiting for them.
»We didn’t know exactly where you would jump to, but I guessed correctly,« Nok announced.
Hassan seemed reserved.
»It’s really not easy to gain your trust, Nok. You even endangered Nuri’s life just to test me. You knew exactly that I would not let this happen.«
Hassan looked at the hangar chief and said sarcastically, »It’s just too bad that you need to redecorate your control room.«
»Huh, huh … fresh air will suffice. We only used harmless teargas,« Nok replied with a laugh. »At least I know now that you’re still yourself and won’t do anything stupid. You care about Nuri.«
Hassan glanced quickly at the soldiers who noticed that their energy weapons’ charges were depleted. Hassan had, in a mysterious way, rendered their weapons useless. Nok witnessed how one after the other rifle lost energy. This occurred with a second.
»It’s not a good idea when so many unsecured weapons are around in a tense situation like this. Don’t you agree, Nok?«
Nok drew a deep breath and nodded slowly.
»I agree, Hassan.«
With a quick hand movement, she signaled the watch officer to withdraw the troops.
»I hope, I don’t make a mistake when I tell you that my trust in you has been restored. Your dramatic action inside my quarters worried me.«
»I strongly suggest we interrupt the oxygen supply to the hangar or the Fronites will become a major problem,« Hassan said calmly.
Hassan looked at the central holo, closed his eyes and seemed listening. When he opened her eyes, he looked at Nok with a serious, but tense face.
»There’re a lot of problems out there which we need to tackle. I don’t just mean the refugee fleet. You’ll need my abilities to face the things that will happen in a short while.«
»What’s going to happen, Hassan?« Nuri asked worriedly, but he didn’t reply.
This is a nightmare
Concerned, Ramir was sitting silently before the holo display. Several students had entered the study hall also using their holo terminals. None of them paid attention to Ramir and Herimos. The two different men relived the demise of a world, which, according to Ramir’s conviction, hadn’t happened.
Both watched as an unprecedented invasion was initiated. Entire cities and regions fell victim
to the attackers, extinguished and wiped off the map of the planet.
Ramir looked around apprehensively. Although, these pictures were atrocious, nobody else in the hall seemed to be interested.
The recordings show the ruler Shanthier as Ramir remembered him from the present. The ruler commanded from his flagship not to surrender to the ruthless enemy. The reports didn’t say who had attacked India in such a way. It was, however, clear that the deportations had been conducted by Rexas. They were clearly visible on the holo.
Ramir gnawed on his lips until they bled.
»This must be a falsification. These scenarios never happened on my world. We were just outside the library, talking to each other. I’ve lived in this city since my birth. Kalmot is standing! Our capital city wasn’t destroyed. I trust my eyes over these bogus media files.«
Worried Herimos was watching Ramir’s reactions. Feverishly, Ramir, tried to shed light on these contradictions. He was searching for answers, but Herimos wasn’t quite ready yet to deliver them and remained silent.
»Maybe the reports were part of strategy game. The library computer probably accessed some old military data. A simulation!« Ramir speculated.
Ramir had tears in his eyes. Despite his doubts, the pictures looked too real.
»No attacker can break through the phalanx of India’s home fleet and carry out such an extermination of our people! No opponent of the galaxy is capable of this.«
»The home fleet wasn’t there,« Herimos explained calmly. »The Progonauts were deceived, lured into a trap and your worlds were exposed.«
»This is unacceptable!« Ramir replied angrily. »I’m going to demand that these misleading reports are deleted from the memory banks!«
At this moment, a picture sequence appeared on the holo where Shanthier was sitting in his impressive commander’s seat inside the flagship. He was commenting on the current situation. Ramir quickly manipulated the sensor fields of the holo to obtain the date stamp of the recording. The date stamp was: 997.000 years ago.
Ramir massaged his temples. He wasn’t able to explain this contradiction, since Shanthier was still living in his presence.
NEBULAR Collection 6 - The Great Tremor: Episodes 27 - 30 Page 26
