The Syndicate's Journey

by Nicholas Bogucki

  “Sounds good, General Deschner.” Major General Reingle agreed.

  “Remember, though, if you encounter any forms of life, do not be aggressive towards them. They may be hostile, but try not to act with aggression.” General Deschner plainly told them.

  “But General?” Major General Reingle asked.

  “What is it?”

  “How are we not supposed to show aggression when...whatever creatures are living here are not the same as us. They might have different views of what is aggressive towards them and not towards us, so to speak.” He turned to Major General Solbrig for help.

  “I believe what Major General Reingle is trying to say, General is that we do not want to upset the lifeforms here on Snakardekus in any way possible.”

  “Hmm...” General Deschner scratched his bare face as he thought, “You do bring up a valid point, Reingle.”

  Major General Reingle tried to explain his thoughts. “I mean, we’re supposed to investigate, examine, and explore all the creatures, minerals, and materials on this planet. I just don’t want to come off the wrong way in doing so.”

  “Well... what if you two don’t do anything out of the ordinary whenever you encounter these creatures. For instance, if they are transhuman-like, just mirror what they do unless you cannot. If the creatures are smaller or bigger than you, use your best judgment to figure out what to do.”

  “Yes, General. Will do.” Major General Solbrig replied.

  “Good. Any other questions?” asked General Deschner.

  “Hmm. Well, we noticed that the scans could vary in time compared to Nuwurth. Is that something to be concerned about General?” asked Major General Reingle.

  “I mean, that does make sense considering that the main server is here on Nuwurth. How long does it take to upload?”

  “Well, it varies, especially on what we upload and how much we upload, General.”

  “Understandable. Well, continue collecting data and researching. Don’t forget to bring back samples. You should have sample collecting materials in the engine room.”

  “Yes, General Deschner.” Major General Reingle agreed.

  “Oh, we didn’t see them, but we actually already have a sample.” Major General Solbrig reported.

  General Deschner was surprised. “Oh, really? That is wonderful! Continue on with that and bring the samples back here after the mission! Oh, and if you need any supplies, I can send them to you. Just have to give me the coordinates, and I will send a supply drop to your location.”

  “Yes, General Deschner!” replied Major General Reingle.

  “Sounds good, General!”

  “Goodbye, Major Generals be safe and continue to explore!”

  After General Deschner’s image disappeared, these words popped up on the screen:

  CALL ENDED WITH GENERAL DESCHNER

  Major General Reingle turned to look at Major General Solbrig. “What is this about a supply drop?”

  “I’ve never heard of supply drops, before. I mean, we are going to be here for a month, I suppose that does make sense.” Major General Solbrig pondered.

  “Speaking of supplies, it occurred to me we haven’t eaten all day...” Major General Reingle remarked.

  “Oh, you’re absolutely right about that. We should have some food somewhere in here...even if it is space-food.” Major General Solbrig grinned.

  Major General Reingle stood up and walked towards the kitchen. In the kitchen, it had an oversized refrigerator that was roughly eight to nine feet in height and five feet wide that had one button on the side of it, which, when pressed the door would slide into the other side, opening up the refrigerator. Inside of it were vials stacked inside.

  The base of the vials was flat that each vial could support itself on its own. The vials were a tad smaller than the ones that held the Antimatter in. Inside the vials had a soylent material; drinking one vial a day was a sufficient amount of nutrients and calories to sustain the hunger of a transhuman for the whole day.

  The vials were a type of mineral in itself that was made from liquid gelatin, and it was edible. The vials had their own flavor that would complement what soylent was inside of the vials. The soylent tasted different than others, and the vials all had various flavors and colors. Major General Reingle grabbed two vials of soylent, one maroon-colored and another that was a light green. He held the vials in one hand and pressed the button to close the door. He turned around and walked back towards the main room where Major General Solbrig was sitting.

  “Which one do you want, Solbrig?”

  Major General Solbrig turned towards him as he entered the room.

  “I’ll take the green one. Thanks.” He held his hand out and grabbed the vial, and began to drink a little bit of it, then he looked at Major General Reingle and watched him sit down and drink his soylent.

  “What did you get, Solbrig?”

  “I got some sort of salad-base soylent. It’s not bad, it’s not good, either.” Major General Solbrig drank more of the soylent and bit off a piece of the vial. “What about you?”

  “I’m not sure.” Major General Reingle drank out of his vial. “It tastes like cherries and apples. A great mixture that is.”

  Major General Solbrig drank the rest of the soylent and bit more of the vial until there was none left.

  “You know, why don’t we ever eat food?” asked Major General Reingle.

  Major General Solbrig looked at him said plainly. “We are. Right here.”

  “No Solbrig like real food. From trees and plants and bushes.”

  Major General Solbrig looked at him and squinted. “Fine, I’ll play along. I have no clue why we don’t.”

  “Play along? Solbrig, I’m serious.” Major General Reingle placed his half-eaten vial on the desk. “Think about it. I know for a fact in Skeedor has orchards all over. I know Ayewend grows vegetables from the ground, and Weredu grows a lot of potatoes and tomatoes. What happens to all that food? Do you think they use the food from those orchards for the soylent?” asked Major General Reingle.

  Major General Solbrig shook his head. “Reingle, I cannot believe that I am stuck here with you asking questions.”

  “I thought that was a good thing?” asked Major General Reingle as he smirked.

  “It’s good, yes, but remember it can get you into trouble.” He exhaled. “Sorry, I’m just not used to someone asking so many questions.”

  “I understand.” Major General Reingle grabbed his vial and stood up from the chair and walked towards the window. He looked outside of the Drakdel and gazed at the marmalade color of Snakardekus’ landscape while eating the rest of his vial.

  “What do you want to do for the rest of the day?” asked Major General Solbrig as he sat up in his chair, trying to change the topic.

  Major General Reingle uttered no response. He was too busy in his thoughts and used the window as a façade.

  “Reingle...Matzen Reingle...Hello?”

  He was still silent as he stood there. Major General Solbrig stood up and walked towards him as he stood motionless in front of the window. Major General Solbrig put his metal hand on his left shoulder, and he jumped and turned around to face him.

  “You okay, Reingle?” Major General Solbrig was concerned.

  “Uh...yeah. Sorry, I was just...thinking.”

  “I see that you were out of it. Are you alright?” Major General Solbrig asked sincerely. “You know you can tell me if something bothers you.”

  “Thanks...yeah, just you know, lost in thought.”

  Major General Solbrig didn’t believe him but didn’t want to push him to open about what he was thinking and feeling. Major General Reingle couldn’t tell him what exactly was on his mind; he felt as if he was all alone in the universe. He had to figure out the answers on his own.

  “I was thinking...” Major General Solbrig started to speak. “That we should fly to other parts of Snakardekus like you told General Deschner. I don’t know where you came up with that idea, b
ut you’re right. We may have better luck there.”

  “Sure, sounds good. But you realize that we didn’t come up empty-handed, right? Major General Reingle remarked. “We didn’t find any signs of life if that is what you were suggesting.”

  “Well...” Major General Solbrig reassured him. “We have found some useful information just by sitting here, though.” Major General Solbrig was hoping that he could encourage Major General Reingle by showing him that this mission already isn’t a lost cause. “Think about it, Reingle; you’re the first transhuman ever to step foot on Snakardekus. Your name will live on forever just because you walked out of here before I did.”

  Major General Reingle half-smiled at him. “You’re right about that. I guess some things have happened here already.”

  “If we ever wanted to come back here, we could easily. You remember why?” asked Major General Solbrig.

  Major General Reingle scrunched his face and pondered for a moment. He sometimes bit the inside of his mouth when he was in deep thought. “Hmm...is it because of the scans that we took have the coordinates written on them?”

  “Exactly!” Major General Solbrig agreed. “You’re exactly right. We would just have to punch in the coordinates, and then the Drakdel can fly us back here. No problem at all.” He smiled.

  “Good, then let’s go!”

  Then the Major Generals walked to their chairs and sat down. Major General Solbrig sat on the left chair, and Major General Reingle sat on the right one. Major General Solbrig swiped open his INH and looked to his right.

  “Where do you want to go?” he asked

  “Right, like I know where anything is on Snakardekus.”

  Major General Solbrig half-smiled at him. “Only playing with you. Should we just put the Drakdel in auto-pilot mode? We can just look out the window, and if we see something, we can just land there?”

  Major General Reingle nodded his head. “Sure, that sounds good to me.”

  Major General Solbrig swiped with his right arm, and the Drakdel commands appeared on the screen. In the middle of the screen was a big circle that showed the map of Snakardekus. The map showed only places that they had been to, everywhere else was blacked out.

  To the right side of the map were buttons that read: “Fly.” “Auto-Pilot,” “Coordinate Entry.” Above the map was a button that read: “Scan Planet.” Which it could only scan a limited area to upload into their I.N.H’s, but it could prove to be useful.

  The left side of the map showed various levels of pressure, inside and outside temperature, fuel, radiation and oxygen gauges, and the amount of sunlight. There was a gauge that also checked how fast the Drakdel flew and how much Antimatter was stored inside of it.

  Major General Solbrig tapped “Auto-Pilot” and laid back. He moved his feet on the desk and sat back, watching the view. The slope outside moved back inside of the Drakdel, and the three legs that protruded on the rocky Snakardekus terrain went back inside the base of the Drakdel, and then it began to fly north-east.

  “Isn’t this nice, Reingle?”

  He looked over to see his expression, which to his surprise Major General Reingle looked upset over something, and he didn’t know why.

  “You sure you’re okay?”

  “I just wish we would have found something.” He stuttered.

  “You remember that liquid we found that was all over the cave ground?”

  “Yeah. What about it?”

  “Well think man; obviously something had to do that. Even the scans said it was fresh. Those rocks were placed there.” Major General Solbrig tried to persuade him.

  “I knew that, but you’re right. We should stay back there.”

  Major General Solbrig shook his head. “No. We shouldn’t,”

  “And why not?” Asked Major General Reingle.

  “Why?” Major General Solbrig asked as he sat up in his chair to face Major General Reingle. “That could have been left by a creature or alien or whatever you want to call it. These creatures or aliens all have some sort of patterns, whether it be migratory, finding a mate or food; every creature can be read and identified easily. You just have to find the pattern.”

  “Huh...” Major General Reingle rubbed the side of his cheek where he was biting it. “I didn’t think of it like that.”

  “You can thank the years of my service in Syndicate for knowing that little bit of knowledge.” He smiled. “There is always something positive to every situation, remember that.”

  Major General Reingle nodded. “Sure. Thanks, Solbrig.”

  Major General Solbrig leaned over and put his arm on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, you’ll go back there again, I promise.”

  Major General Solbrig removed his hand from his shoulder and sat in his chair as they looked out of the window and watched the Drakdel race across the sandy landscape of Snakardekus. The scene looked quite bland after a while. The color of the desert sand seemed to become a blur while the Drakdel flew by. There wasn’t much to see on Snakardekus.

  “You’d think we would see something new after a while, huh?” Major General Reingle asked. “There’s nothing except sand, rocks, and more sand too.”

  “We’ll find something eventually, Reingle. I’m sure Snakardekus isn’t barren.”

  Major General Reingle looked out into the sand and continued to watch sand dunes appear repeatedly. He was becoming mesmerized, and it put him into a deep-thinking state.

  We better find life on Snakardekus, the files even showed us that life existed, but where...where are the Snargde at?

  “Wait a second!” Major General Reingle blurted out. “Solbrig, you mentioned that the scans we took have the location attached to them, right?”

  “Well, of course, don’t you remember, Reingle?”

  “Yes, I remember!” Major General Reingle’s face slowly started to produce a smile, and his eyes slightly watered due to excitement. “I just wanted to double-check only because I have a feeling where we can find the Snargde.”

  “Oh? What do you mean?”

  Major General Solbrig turned and listened to as he started to speak Major General Reingle. “Okay, so...” he waved his hand and opened his INH and swiped it towards Major General Solbrig so they can both look at it. “Every single thing we scan has a time and a location attached to it, correct?”

  “That’s right.”

  Major General Reingle tapped on “Files,” then on “Snakardekus.”

  “If that is true, then watch this.” He tapped on picture seventy-three. “Remember this picture?”

  Major General Solbrig nodded. “Sure, I do.”

  “Okay, well, when I do this...” He tapped the gear on the bottom right corner and brought up the information. He scrolled down to find what he was looking for. “Right here! Look!” he shouted and pointed at the location the picture was taken at. “It says the Northern-most region.”

  “Wow, good thinking, Reingle! Well, good thing we are headed in that direction, sort of.”

  “Change the course to go there, Solbrig. We have to find the Snargde!”

  “Are you sure about that?” asked Major General Solbrig, “You realize it has been almost two hundred years. I don’t think the Snargde are going to be in the same place as they once were.”

  “You said it yourself, Solbrig, patterns. All creatures have patterns; at least with this, we can scan the location there, and then we can go there and see if anything has been there recently.”

  “I don’t want you to get your hopes up, Reingle. I’m not sure anything will be there.”

  “What else do we have to do, Solbrig?”

  “Touché.”

  Major General Solbrig swiped his INH and tapped on “Auto-Pilot,” and the Drakdel stopped flying and hovered in the air awaiting further instructions.

  “Where does it say that the picture was taken?”

  “Just ‘Northernmost region’ Solbrig.”

  “That’s not much, but okay. Does it show where on the map or somet
hing?”

  “Hmm... what if I did this...”

  Major General Reingle swiped the picture to the left, and it sent to Major General Solbrig’s INH

  “Wonder if this will work.”

  Major General Solbrig tapped on where it said the picture was taken, and then another screen appeared. It showed where the photograph was taken on Snakardekus.

  “Look, Reingle, it looks like we can find out exactly where this was taken at!”