“That was definitely an experience to tell General Deschner, huh?” Major General Solbrig joked.
“An experience that who knows what could’ve happened.” Major General Reingle replied. “I just wonder if we will see them again.”
“I’m sure that is a possibility.”
Major General Reingle swiped his hand and opened his INH. He saw a notification that appeared over the call button. I’ve never seen that before. He tapped on it, and it read “Missed call: General Deschner” Major General Reingle’s eyes widened, and he could hear his heartbeat in his head.
“Uh... Solbrig, General Deschner called.”
“What? When?” he asked. “How come you didn’t answer?”
“Me? You think I ignored him on purpose?”
“Well, I mean, I hope not.” Major General Solbrig replied.
“Check your INH I’m curious to see if he called you.”
“He didn’t call me,” Major General Solbrig retorted. “We would have heard it.”
“Check it.”
“Fine.” Major General Solbrig swiped his hand, and his INH opened. He saw notification over the call button, as well. He tapped on it, and the same thing appeared.
“He called me too...but when?” Major General Solbrig asked.
“I knew it!”
“Why did we not see it?”
“Well, how long were we in the cave?” Major General Reingle asked.
“I have no clue...Wait, actually, I know how to tell. Open your alarm, Reingle.”
He listened and swiped his hand and tapped on “Time” and then “Alarm” His mouth slightly opened.
“What is it?”
“According to this, it says that I turned it off almost two hours ago!”
“How?” Major General Solbrig asked.
“I don’t really know.”
“There’s no way,” Major General Solbrig continued speaking. “I don’t see how; this doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe the cave messed it up somehow?”
“What do you mean?” asked Major General Solbrig.
“Well, I remember hearing a story many years ago from one of the generals when I was serving in SIR. I recall hearing a story that in certain areas on Nuwurth, there are these...what did they call them?” He snapped his fingers on his hand to try and remember. “Oh yeah! There are called Silence Zones.”
“Silence Zones?” Major General Solbrig asked. “What does that mean?”
“Well, if I remember correctly, in some areas, such as the cave I am assuming, nothing works, no radio frequency, transmissions, calls, you name it.”
“Hmm... but Reingle, the alarm went off, remember? That is technology right there.”
“You’re right about that. Could the Snargde be a Silence Zone?” asked Major General Reingle.
“I have no idea. I just learned about this, but that might seem plausible.” Major General Solbrig inquired. “And we don’t know for sure if it was a Snargde.”
“You’re right, but there is a chance that it could have been! But maybe the lizard was a temporary silencing?”
“Maybe you’re right. Who knows, Snakardekus is strange. We should probably call General Deschner and let him know we didn’t die, huh?
“Oh, right, of course. I’ll call General Deschner now.”
Major General Reingle tapped on “Call” and then tapped on “General Deschner, Koba” then, he swiped his hand to project his INH onto the screen in front of them.
CALLING GENERAL DESCHNER
The screen flickered, and General Deschner appeared on the screen in front of them.
“Hello?” General Deschner asked.
“Hey General Deschner.” Major General Reingle spoke.
“Well, look who it is.”
“Hello General Deschner.” Major General Solbrig replied.
“I tried calling both of you, and no answer. What happened?”
“Well...” Major General Reingle spoke nervously. “You see... we landed at a different location. To explore more of Snakardekus…”
“I’m well aware of the plan, Major Generals. Go on, Reingle, continue.”
He nodded. “So, we saw a cave entrance and thought it would be wise to explore it. Well, we put on our OBAs and went exploring… There wasn’t anything special inside of the cave except for one thing.”
“What’s that?” General Deschner inquired.
“We found something... or someone.” Major General Solbrig mentioned.
His head had slightly turned, and he asked. “What do you mean?”
“Well, to put it plainly, it was a giant lizard. We found the Snargde!” Major General Reingle exclaimed.
“A-are you serious?” General Deschner stammered. “You can’t be!”
“We did, General! Or at least we believe so! The Snargde, or whatever it was, was taller than both of us.” Major General Solbrig explained.
“What did you do?” General Deschner asked.
“Well, General we-”
“We ran away from it!” Major General Reingle shouted, interrupting Major General Solbrig as he spoke.
“Ran? Why did you run?” General Deschner asked, “Are you okay?”
“Well, we were trapped. We were deep inside the cave and had nowhere else to go, so we had to get out of there.”
“Really now? What did the Snargde do?”
“Well, we kind of sort of ran at him, and he fell to the side of the cave, which allowed us to leave.”
“That is interesting.” General Deschner answered. “It didn’t harm you two at all? Was it scared?”
“Uh... we think it might have been scared, but we don’t know.”
“Did you happen to scan it?”
Major General Reingle shook his head. “No, it all happened in an instant. We didn’t think about it, to be honest.”
General Deschner shook his head and exhaled. “Don’t worry. I’m sure you will encounter the Snargde again. You know they travel in groups, right?”
The Major Generals looked at one another then back at General Deschner.
“When there’s usually one Snargde, there’s more nearby. Who knows where exactly, but you two are sure lucky that nothing happened.”
“I suppose so, General Deschner.” Major General Solbrig agreed. “You know, that’s why we need weapons, in case-“
“In case nothing, Major General Solbrig! You will not harm the Snargde or any other creature in any way. We do not travel to other planets to wipe out the lifeforms. We are a civilized and peaceful species.” General Deschner cleared his throat. “Well, now that you landed send me your coordinates so I can ship you a supply drop.”
“Sure. I’ll send it after the call ends.” Major General Reingle replied.
“Good to hear.” He nodded. “Well, until next time. Major Generals, Goodbye!”
“Goodbye, General Deschner.”
“Yes, Goodbye, General Deschner.”
CALL ENDED WITH GENERAL DESCHNER
Major General Reingle turned to his left and spoke. “How did General Deschner know about the habits of the Snargde?”
“I have no clue.” He replied and faced Major General Reingle. “He seemed as if he knew what they were exactly and how to deal with them.”
“Yeah, really. I wonder if there is more to the story.” Major General Reingle agreed. “We need to find out what General Deschner is hiding.”
“You’re right, we do. General Deschner has been the General for a while now...I’m sure he knows more than we do.”
“Yeah, good point. I wonder why, though.”
“Why not? I mean, I’m sure if I were the General, I wouldn’t let all the information out either.”
Major General Reingle looked at him intently and wondered. Then he turned around and faced the computer and swiped his hand and opened his INH, and tapped on “Map,” then he held down his finger, and a few items appeared on the drop-down list. He touched “Send Location,” and then he scrolled throu
gh his contacts and tapped on “General Deschner, Koba.”
“Done.” Major General Reingle responded. “I wonder how long it’ll take to receive the supply drop.”
“I’m sure a little while, but until then, I say we rest.”
“Best idea you’ve had all day, Solbrig!” Major General Reingle chuckled.
The Major Generals stood up from their chairs and walked over to the bunk bed. Major General Solbrig laid down on the bottom bunk, and Major General Reingle climbed up to the top bunk.
“If you wake up first, don’t wake me up.” Major General Solbrig stated. “Unless it’s an emergency.” He said then closed his eyes and started to snore.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Major General Brentari turned her body and looked at Major General Lokhorst. “Well, seems to me like we are having worse luck than Solbrig and Reingle, huh?”
“It appears that way. Although Varenok seems more adventurous. I’d probably die of boredom on Snakardekus.” Major General Lokhorst responded.
“No wonder why Solbrig was asleep.” She chuckled.
“Yeah, right?” Major General Lokhorst swiped her hand, and her INH appeared on the screen. She tapped on “Map” and then looked at the map of Varenok. “So... Brentari, maybe we should find a place to land, huh?”
“You’re probably right. We’ve been on auto-pilot for a while.”
“Yeah, let’s hope we almost don’t get eaten again.”
Major General Brentari looked at Major General Lokhorst, and she shook her head. “Can’t wait to see what other creatures might be here.” She said sarcastically.
Major General Lokhorst pressed the “Auto-Pilot” button on her INH to stop, and she slowly decreased the altitude and speed as they saw a snow-covered peninsula nearby. The Drakdel slowed down, and when it was above it, Major General Lokhorst pressed “Land,” and the Drakdel initiated its landing sequence. The Drakdels’ legs protruded out of its body and landed onto the landmass. The Drakdel rocked itself back and forth, positioning itself securely on top of it.
“Well, this seems to be sturdier than the iceberg, huh?”
“You’re telling me.” Major General Brentari agreed. “You ready to go and explore?”
“Sure thing. Wait, should we notify General Deschner and give him our location so he can send us the supply drop?”
“Oh, right. I forgot about that. Sure, I’ll send him the location.”
Major General Brentari swiped her hand, and her INH opened. She tapped on the image of Varenok’s map and held it down. A list of options appeared on the screen. She tapped on “Send Location,” then she tapped on “Contacts” then moved her finger down to “General Deschner, Koba” and tapped “Send.”
“There. I sent General Deschner our coordinates. Do you know how long it will take for us to receive it?”
“No clue. We don’t have to wait for it though, we barely used any supplies. I don’t know what General Deschner would be sending us.” Major General Lokhorst pondered.
“I don’t know either. I would say that it is strange, but maybe General Deschner is just preparing us.”
“Probably so. Maybe he is sending more vials?”
“Maybe. You can never be too prepared, I suppose.” Major General Brentari agreed. “You ready?”
“Yeah, sure. Want me to lead?”
“After what we just encountered, you’re more than welcome to,” Major General Brentari nervously laughed.
The Major Generals placed the OBAs around their necks and inserting the mouthpiece and secured it. “Let’s go.” Major General Lokhorst pressed the button to exit the Drakdel, and the ramp extended onto the peninsula. She stepped out onto the ramp and stood on the ground. “I love that sound.”
“What’s that?”
“When your shoes step on the ground and the snow crunches. That sound is always soothing.”
“Well, at least that is one soothing thing here...should we scan the ground?”
“I don’t see why not?”
Major General Brentari swiped her hand, and her INH opened, and she pressed “Scan” and pointed at the ground.
◆◆◆
SCANNING…………………………ONE MOMENT PLEASE
◆◆◆
The Major Generals looked around them and took in the sights. The wind slightly blew northwest, and the ocean's waves were swaying back and forth.
“You know you’d think there would be more creatures on the land.”
“Yeah, but think about it for a second. Varenok seems to be full of water, so maybe most of the creatures reside in the ocean?”
“Well, I’m not going in there.” Major General Brentari grunted. “Count me out.”
“Awe come on! You never know what’s down there if you don’t explore.” Major General Lokhorst reached out and acted like she was going to push Major General Brentari into the water and laughed.
“Not funny.”
“Just playing with you. Seriously though, it is a peaceful planet that we’re on. I wonder what season it is here. Maybe that is a factor of why there aren’t many creatures around?”
“Hm. I didn’t think about that. If Varenok is like Nuwurth with the idea that animals and creatures hibernate... maybe right now, it is winter?”
“Maybe. Just a thought.” Major General Brentari’s INH scan was done and appeared in front of her eyes.
◆◆◆
SCAN COMPLETE
WATER, ROCK, AND DIRT ABUNDANT
CONTAINS TRACE ELEMENTS OF QUARTZ, FELDSPAR, MICA, POTASSIUM, SODIUM, IRON, AWATAMITE
◆◆◆
Major General Brentari read the scan to Major General Lokhorst and asked. “What is Awatamite?”
“Awatamite? I have no clue…Maybe it shares some properties to something back on Nuwurth? Didn’t General Deschner mention something that our scans would try and compare it to what we have in the database?” Major General Brentari asked.
“You know, that could be it! I wonder what this Awatamite is similar to, though… I wonder if it is a rare thing here since it is sparse?” Major General Brentari asked.
“Well, there’s only one way to find out.” Major General Lokhorst looked further on the peninsula. “Come on, let’s go.”
The Major Generals walked towards the mainland, Major General Brentari asked. “Why didn’t we just land the Drakdel closer?”
“So, we can explore Varenok. It’s not that far from the Drakdel, look.” She turned around and looked at the Drakdel and noticed how far away they were. “Okay, maybe I was wrong, but it will be okay.” They continued walking and suddenly stopped in their tracks when they heard a beeping noise. At first, it was quiet, then it got louder.
“What is that noise?” shouted Major General Lokhorst.
“I-I don’t know!” Major General Brentari shouted back. “Let me see...” She swiped her hand, and her INH’s alarm was beeping. She pressed “Stop,” and the noise was gone. “Well, it was the twenty-four-hour alarm I set.”
“Seriously? It’s been twenty-four hours already? That can explain it.”
“Explain what?” asked Major General Brentari.
“Explain the reason why I’m so tired. We’ve been awake for twenty-four hours already plus spaceflight.”
“Wow, I guess you’re right. I didn’t realize it.” Major General Brentari asked, “Has it been a day already on Varenok?”
“I don’t think so, I mean we haven’t gotten anything back from the Drakdel. Well, as much as we know, is that Varenok is longer than twenty-four hours.” Major General Lokhorst looked up at the sky and noticed the clouds appeared to be the same color as before. “Maybe it doesn’t get dark here?”
“Nah, I’m sure it does, but maybe this is as dark as it gets?” Major General Brentari asked. “Like you said, maybe we’re in winter?”
“Only one way to find out.” Major General Lokhorst agreed.
The air picked up speed, and it became gustier. Their hair moved all around, and it ma
de walking harder than before.
“Lokhorst, if it gets windier, we are going to have to turn around.” Major General Brentari shouted.
The Syndicate's Journey Page 22
