by Bruce Marcom
***
On the bridge, the crew is waiting for the captain before initiating takeoff and conducting last-minute checks at the same time.
“Just daydreaming about being the meat in between two fine-looking twin Snake babes…,” Gartooth says snidely with a grin and chuckle.
Meto interjects, “Thank you for the mental picture. That will take a few weeks of mental therapy to get out of my head.”
“Not even if I was drunk and passed out, Gar,” snaps Helma as she blows on the nail polish she recently applied to her long nails.
Helma’s twin sister Nelma, adds, “I would rather get a root canal than sleep with you, Gartooth. Not to mention all the disinfectant I would need to purify my room after you left.”
They all begin laughing. The twin Snake women are the navigator and helm control for the ship. For both young ladies, this is their first merchant tour.
“Har, har. Don’t knock it till you try it, Sugar Cakes.” Gartooth flails his tongue at the twins.
“That is truly disgusting. No wonder you do not have a girlfriend. I do not even think female Crocodiles would be interested in you,” Helma says with an unpleasant look on her face.
Eve walks onto the bridge and sits in the captain’s chair.
“Captain on deck!” the first officer announces.
“Alright folks, time to go. Helma, contact the tower and let us get out of here.”
Helma presses a button. “Control tower, this is the merchant vessel Evella requesting clearance for takeoff.”
“Evella, proceed to Takeoff Platform Seven and wait for further instructions from the control tower.”
“Affirmative, control tower. In route now.”
“Evella, proceed to ignition; takeoff in 30 seconds.”
“Here we go.... Takeoff in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.... Activating lift-off burners, and here we go…,” Helma continues. “Reaching orbit in 63 seconds.”
“Course set for the neutral zone, Boss,” informs Nelma.
“FTL engines online and ready for jump, Boss,” states Helma.
“Proceed,” Eve commands. The ship zips off into space towards its destination.
“We should reach the Neutral Zone in approximately five days.”
“Thank you, Nelma. Keep me informed of any changes by the head office. Meto, you have the com.” Eve leaves the bridge and walks down the hallway to the lift doors and waits for the turbo lift. After getting to her office, she sits at her desk and brings up her computer screen, saying, “Computer, do a search and display all data on Empress Draca.”
“Query found. Empress Draca is known as Dracabardillous and other names in different parts of the galaxy. This entity is of unknown origin, unknown race, and unknown age, though some speculate that she is thousands or even millions years old. Some believe the entity is an energy being with immense power. The entity is the creator of the machine people and the Consortium Empire. The entity has been described as having godlike telepathic abilities, able to communicate with artificial intelligence (AI) beings or telepaths anywhere in the galaxy at any given time. The entity usually inhabits an Android body that has the shape of a human female. No other androids have bodies that resemble other biological creatures. The entity has been known to inhabit multiple bodies at the same time, and all of them have the similar incarnation of a female human body. The exact size of the Consortium’s Empire is unknown, but it is vast and covers multiple galaxies. The entity’s true goals are unknown, but it does have an interest in telepaths and AI beings. Some scholars suspect this entity created telepaths and spread them across the universe. End query.”
Eve wonders why such a powerful being would contact her and send her a message. It has been bothering her ever since it happened. What does all this mean? It must have something to do with telepaths or telepathy.
