UNEDITED

Gaitune-67, Safe House

“So there we were, having got special permission for a ship with Gate technology. I can probably count on one hand the number of times the General has given me access to such tech… and never before without a special forces Federation escort.”

Arlene bobbed her head as Giles explained the situation. “Just goes to show how much he thinks this talisman might be a threat to the Federation,” she added in.

“Either that,” Sean added, “or an opportunity for us.”

Giles pulled his lips to one side. It wasn’t something he hadn’t considered before, but he liked to think more of Lance. “In any case,” he continued, “there we were, Arlene and I, on our way to the Zhyn Empire.”

Aboard the Scamp Princess, Koin Star System

“Adjusting course for Kurilia,” Scamp announced.

Arlene looked up at Giles from her console. “Kurilia?” she queried.

Giles’s attention was elsewhere. “Huh?” he grunted absently.

“We’re going to Kurilia?” Arlene clarified.

“Yeah,” Giles responded, pressing buttons on his console and cross-checking the reference coordinates he had been working on. “We’re going to ask someone for permission.”

“Permission? For what?” Arlene’s blue complexion glinted in the dim light of the cockpit, accentuating her expression of confusion.

Giles still didn’t look round. “For visiting the Moons of Orn on our quest,” he told her.

Arlene frowned, turning in her antigrav chair to face Giles, who had his back to her sitting at his console at the front of the ship’s cockpit.

“Bit old-fashioned,” she commented.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “But it’s all about honor and respect with these guys,” he explained, still engrossed in what he was doing.

“Hmm,” she grumped. “More like it’s all about covering your ass,” she muttered under her breath.

“That too,” he confessed. “ADAM, set up a meeting for us on the down low… we’re meeting with the Justicar himself.”

Arlene was intrigued. She got up out of her chair and ambled over to where Giles was working, perching on the console next to him to see his face as he spoke. “Why him specifically?” she asked.

Giles looked up at her, his hand mid-way to another button in the holo-display he was working on. “Well, the Emperor himself doesn’t handle these kind of trivial matters. It normally falls to some random official in his court, but given Molly’s diplomatic relations had gone so well in the past with him and the Justicar, ADAM reached out to them directly. Turns out the Emperor and Justicar had rather warmed to her… and by extension, humans in general.”

Arlene squinted one eye suspiciously. “And what about Estarians?”

Giles chortled quietly, his attention mostly back on his work.

“What?” Arlene pressed.

He smiled up at her briefly before turning back to the holo-console. “I don’t think they have any bad feelings towards you,” he said slowly.

“But?”

“But…” he continued, “I think they just have you down as a rather ugly version of themselves.”

Arlene looked horrified as she swiped at his nearest arm. Giles managed to lean back and dodge, still chuckling. “Don’t worry Arlene, I still think you’re cute!”

“Humpft,” she retorted, turning her attention back to her console and nursing her ego. “Ugly version… we’ll see about that!”

She stomped back to her console to continue her analysis of the constellations she had been working through.

It took a little time before they were finally within striking distance of Kurilia. Scamp piped up over the cockpit intercom. “Giles, Arlene, will you be wanting to land, or would you like to take the skylift down to the surface?”

Giles had just come back into the cockpit. “I’m not sure,” he said contemplating the two options. “Which is easiest?”

Scamp chuckled over the audio. “For who?” he asked cheekily.

Giles suddenly remembered why he had always had interesting relationship with AIs. “Let’s say for us,” he suggested.

Scamp’s chuckling subsided. “I’d say the skylift is the better option. You’d still need to meet with your official liaisons, but landing will take more time and lots more walking by my calculations.”

Giles smiled. “Ok. Skylift it is then,” he responded.

Scamp seemed to compute something else. “There is an additional variable to consider,” he added.

“What’s that then?” Giles asked.

“Well,” Scamp explained, “I understand from data shared by Emma that Molly and her crew would jump down onto the skylift platform as the ship passed by it in an off-kilter kind of geo-orbit.”

Arlene frowned. “Hang on, who is Emma?”

“The EI that runs Molly’s ship, the Empress,” Scamp explained.

“Ah,” Arlene murmured, allowing Scamp to continue.

Giles was considering the new information. “What do you mean, they would jump down” he asked.

“You know,” Scamp explained playfully, “tuck and roll style, down to the platform.”

“You’re kidding?” Giles asked, now contemplating if it were indeed possible for an EI to be running irony as some kind of uncontrolled sub-routine. “What speed was the ship passing at?” he tried to clarify.

Scamp’s tone was giving nothing away on the irony front. “Maybe a couple of meters per second,” he responded matter-of-factly.

Giles glanced over at Arlene. Arlene was shaking her head. “No frikkin way!” she exclaimed, clearly taking Scamp’s suggestion as a serious one.

“I’m afraid,” Giles informed Scamp with a degree of relief in his voice now, “we’re going to have to go with the parking-up option. Sorry,” he added, his tone clearly not remorseful about his decision.

Scamp chuffed back over the intercom. “As you wish, Mr. Kurns. I’ll make preparations for entry into orbit and coordinate with their orbital control unit to dock.”

“Thank you Scamp,” Giles responded politely, while exchanging disbelieving looks with Arlene.

Scamp’s intercom clicked off.

“Did you believe that?” Giles exclaimed, still wondering if he had imagined what Scamp was suggesting.

Arlene was still shaking her head. “You mean that they just jumped? I can’t. I mean, what if they missed the platform? That would just be it for them, right?”

Giles thought for a moment. “It’s either a long way down, or a hell of a way to go from atmospheric exposure.”

Arlene shook her head, her expression suddenly much more serious than it had been. “Well, you’d know about that,” she muttered quietly.

Giles grinned. “Yeah, and I know how painful it is, with or without nanocytes to heal you.”

Arlene shuddered. “Ok. Conversation over. I don’t want to even think about it. Do you think we need suits to head down?”

Giles shook his head. “Probably not. But after this conversation, I’m putting one on anyway.”

Arlene’s mood seemed to shift and she grinned at him cheekily. “Seems like old age is making you more sound in the head.”

Giles glanced over at her as he headed back into the main area of the ship. “Seems like,” he agreed dryly.

Planet Kurilia, Koin Star System, Zhyn Empire

Giles and Arlene stepped from the Scamp Princess onto the skylift dock. Despite the altitude and low atmosphere it felt bitingly blustery.

“Aren’t you glad you didn’t opt for the Molly-method of descent now?” Arlene asked Giles as he stepped out and almost recoiled against the wind.

Giles’s face was stoney as he wrapped his arms around his body against the conditions. “Yeah, yeah. You were right,” he admitted reluctantly.

Arlene headed over to the lift and was pressing the call button repeatedly. Giles glanced back to see that Scamp had activated the door closed mechanism on the ship parked precariously in orbit. He regarded the swaying structure and then glanced back at Arlene. “You sure this is safe?” he asked, looking around the same altitude at the many other ships docked on flimsy-looking platforms.

Arlene shrugged her shoulders. “Dunno. But all those guys seem to think so.”

They didn’t have long to wait before the skylift arrived at their dock to take them down to the surface. On the ride down they mused about the advertisements and the culture as only anthropologists could.

“I think they’re probably more militaristic than the Estarians,” Arlene commented just as the elevator came to a halt at ground level. “Though, I’d like to see the influence of their religions here.”

Giles pushed himself up off the handrail he had perched his butt against. “I think you’ll probably get a chance to see that if we head through a populated area,” Giles remarked as the doors slid open to reveal a sandy area surrounded by woodland.

Arlene shot him a look of irony, one eyebrow arched. He couldn’t help but chuckle silently to himself.

They stepped out in tandem as if joined by the hip, only to be greeted by half a dozen armed Zhyn. Their tough blue skins glistened in the sun light and the reflection of their armor and swords glinted, blinding them for a moment.

Giles’s heart beat out of his chest as he suddenly felt more like a wanted prisoner than a guest on the planet. “Greetings,” he declared, raising his hands in a gesture of peace and surrender. “I’m Giles Kurns and this is my associate, Arlene Bailey. We’re expected by your Justicar,” he added quickly.

One of the large blue-skinned guards clad in ceremonial dress stepped forward. “Greetings. My name is Gh’herk. The Justicar is indeed expecting you. I’ll be your personal liaison on this trip. Welcome to Kurilia.”

His English was good, considering their language had a much harsher, guttural sound.

Giles was impressed. “Thank you!” he smiled, visibly relieved. “And may I just say, your use of the human language is… well, excellent.”

Gh’herk looked pleased with himself. “Thank you. I’ve been learning ever since I joined the forces. Five years now.”

Giles and Arlene exchanged deliberately affected glances. Arlene added her sentiment. “Well, I think it would take us much longer than five years to speak your language even half as well.”

Gh’herk bowed politely in acknowledgment and then turned to lead the way, gesturing for them to follow. “I’ll take you to the Justicar, if I may. Would you like to follow me, please?”

The guards ambled behind them, more as an accompanying and curious contingent than the forced security detail Giles had initially assumed.

The group trudged for some minutes through the natural terrain before reaching a metallic-built station. Gh’herk led them inside where it was much cooler, partly because it was out of the direct sunlight. He welcomed them into a type of subway train car and once everyone was inside the doors closed and the train moved gently off.

The shuttle was relatively quiet and from what Giles could tell, seemed to be underground. There were no windows to see out, though, and from the sounds, Giles suspected it was operating on some form of antigrav rather than maglev. The motion made it easy for them to stand and retain their balance.

Not that they had the option of sitting. There was a distinct absence of chairs or even benches. Giles clung to a rail along one side of the carriage, and Arlene wedged herself against the opposite wall for comfort.

Giles noticed she was paying attention to the details of the carriage, no doubt using her Estarian gifts of perception to sense the types of fields around them. She’d likely give him an appraisal of her findings later, when they weren’t likely to be accused of espionage.

It wasn’t long before the train slowed and the sound around it shifted as if it had pulled into another station. The doors opened and Gh’herk smiled with an awkward Zhyn smile and then led them out.

The new station was more developed than the last one. It was also more attractive, with pattern tiled flooring, and though the doors were plated in metal it was more decorative and expensive than purely functional — clearly a sign that they’d entered a more populated if not affluent area on the planet’s surface.

“Looks like we’ve arrived,” Giles remarked dryly to Arlene as he stepped past her. Arlene characteristically raised an eyebrow in acknowledgment of his astute deduction and then followed him out.

One of the guards had wandered ahead with Gh’herk falling into a relaxed escort formation. Giles and then Arlene followed them out into the small station, followed by their remaining three escorts.

Gh’herk led them into the adjacent building. It had a sense of space and grandeur that Giles had seen on only a few occasions before. There was ornate tiling on the floors and walls all in warm ocher tones. This new building was several stories high and resembled some of the Estarian religious and senate structures that Arlene had visited over the years. She made a mental note to add that data point into the mix later.

Giles glanced back to see her widen her stride to catch him up again. He slowed his pace and leaned over to whisper to her. “Pretty impressive, huh?” he said, raising his eyes up at a levitating light source hovering about ten feet above them.

Arlene nodded, trying to conceal quite how impressed she was. She wondered what the strange source might be that was powering the light, if it was indeed levitating. She knew she would be able to sense an electromagnetic field around it but there was none. She’d mention it to Giles later. There was certainly much to learn from these people.

Gh’herk picked up his pace as they moved through the hall. They walked for several minutes from the side where they had entered through to the far end, which they could barely make out from their starting point. Eventually they slowed as they neared a set of beautifully carved double doors guarded by armed attendants in full traditional dress.

Gh’herk made some Zhyn noises to one of them, who leaned over and opened the door for them. Gh’herk indicated for the guests to follow him through, and led the way into a red-carpeted foyer area with a desk to the left.

He grunted again to an older, smaller Zhyn female sitting behind the desk. She merely looked up from her holo and nodded before returning to what she was doing.

Gh’herk turned to Giles and Arlene. “The Justicar will see you in the main chamber,” he explained, waving a hand at the door ahead of them.

Giles nodded congenially and followed behind Gh’herk, who opened the door, slipped through and then held it open for his charges to enter.

Arlene watched Giles on his best behavior. She’d seen him do this routine countless times before with each new culture they had met on their adventures. Always the same. At least to begin with. He was gathering data. Sizing them up. She’d seen him act all nicey-nice even with known enemies and rogues only to obliterate them once his suspicions had been confirmed and he had the details he needed.

That said, he had been saving lives on some of those occasions. Kidnap victims, people who were being extorted by bullies and the like. She smiled to herself as she followed him through into the chamber.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad to be back in the mix with him again. 

The unlikely pair wandered into the majestic chambers. At the front was a small stage with a throne on it. The throne was empty. In fact, there wasn’t a soul in the whole hall. There were chairs set up as if it were some kind of court, and towards the front there were benches with different-sized desks and a lectern, presumably where the subjects would stand to address their emperor on matters of State.

Giles glanced around taking it all in, making note of the arrangement of the seats and wondering what it might infer about the political structure.

Gh’herk turned back to them as he led them down towards the front of the room. “Make yourselves comfortable,” he told them. “The Justicar will be right through.” And with that he disappeared through the door at the front of the room.

Giles and Arlene sat down on one of the front benches. Arlene turned, noticing that their escorts didn’t sit. Instead they milled about almost casually, as if they didn’t expect any problems. Arlene’s shoulders dropped a little as she relaxed. 

At least they weren’t being treated as hostile prisoners, she thought to herself, noticing the relative size of the Zhyn versus her own Estarian race. They were a good head and shoulders taller on average.

She glanced at Giles, who was oblivious to her concerns. He was engrossed in an emblem he’d found on the back of one of the chairs. He felt the weight of her gaze and pointed at the carving that looked like a coat of arms. He raised his eyebrows enthusiastically, almost as if she should recognize it.

Arlene frowned, her eyes silently asking him to explain his interest, but just at that moment the door at the front of the room clattered open. A rather large-looking Zhyn appeared, dressed in expensive robes, followed by Gh’herk.

The new Zhyn spoke to them in English with a heavy Zhyn accent. “Greetings to you, friends of Molly!” he called jovially as he crossed the floor in front of the throne. He came to stand just in front of the bench they had seated themselves behind. Giles and then Arlene stood up to make the necessary bows.

The Zhyn returned the bow as the pair lowered their eyes respectfully. “I am the Justicar Beno’or,” he explained. “I believe our mutual friend ADAM set up our meeting.”

“That’s right,” Giles confirmed. “My name is Giles Kurns,” he offered, “and I’d like to thank you so much for meeting with us. Especially on such short notice. I understand that you’re a busy man, so we appreciate your efforts all the more.”

“Of course,” the Justicar chimed. “I understand that you’re a friend of Molly’s?”

Giles nodded. “We are indeed,” he confirmed. “She sends her best wishes,” he lied.

The Justicar smiled politely. “And how is she?” he asked.

Giles shrugged, then remembered the pretense. “Recovering from her last mission, but doing very well.”

The Justicar regarded him carefully. “She is a strong young lady – for a human,” he said, continuing the pleasantries. “And a great friend of the Zhyn Empire.”

Arlene resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Giles pretending that Molly had sent them. Despite her managing to maintain her poker face, Justicar Beno’or glanced over in her direction. He smiled at her. “And you must be Arlene Bailey,” he said gently bowing in her direction.

Arlene lowered her gaze, returned the bow. “Yes, Your Honor. Pleased to meet you.”

The Justicar waved his hand casually. “Please, call me Beno’or,” he told her. “Both of you,” he added, nodding back in Giles’s direction. “Any friend of Molly’s is a friend of mine. And besides, I can’t have a beautiful young lady like you calling me by my title all the time,” he said, smiling back at Arlene.

Arlene’s eyes widened and Giles noticed her visibly stumble back a fraction on the spot where she stood.

She glanced furtively over at him. So much for Zhyn thinking we’re ugly! her eyes said to him.

Giles was too amused to feel chastised by her glare.

The Justicar seemed to understand most of what was going on. He took a small step backwards and folded his arms, returning to the business at hand. “So tell me, friends of Molly, what can I do for you today?” he asked.

Giles did a better job at hiding his smirk and composed himself. “We’d like to beg your permission to quest in the Zhyn Empire,” he informed him.

Beno’or made a single nod of his head, slowly, taking a moment to process the information. “And what is your quest?” he asked.

Arlene spoke up, suspecting that the request might be better received from a female who he had just expressed some interest in. “We’re looking for a talisman that may well tell us more about our collective heritage,” she explained. “And by collective, we mean Estarian and Zhyn.”

Beno’or nodded again, his eyes bright and interest piqued. “And I assume that anything you find will be shared with us?” he queried.

Giles jumped back in. “Of course!” he added, his voice a little too enthusiastic. Arlene shot him a glance that Beno’or noticed. The Justicar smiled at the bizarre interplay between the two.

He kept to his line of questioning though. “And where will your quest take you first?” he asked.

Arlene and Giles exchanged another look as if deciding who would answer the next question. Giles seemed to win the silent nomination and proceeded to speak. “We suspect we may find more information at the Moons of Orn,” he revealed.

“The Moons of Orn, eh?” Beno’or repeated, rubbing his chin slowly and contemplating the implications. “That’s very interesting,” he mused quietly. “Come,” he said, “let’s sit more comfortably and you can tell me more about your quest and why it is so important.”

He beckoned to them to follow him and led them out of the main chamber into a red-carpeted corridor and then into a sitting room to the right of the corridor. En route he chatted to them, almost casually. “You know, I used to be something of a history buff myself,” he called back to them as he led the way. “In fact, had I not been pushed into politics – by my mother, may our ancestors protect her soul – I almost certainly would have ended up in the priesthood. Studying the history of our spirituality or some such,” he qualified.

He waved them to sit down on an array of sofas in one corner of the room. A young Zhyn female appeared carrying a tea tray.

“May I offer you some refreshments?” he said, more as a statement of what they were going to do than a question. Giles and Arlene nodded agreeably and made polite noises of thanks, but it was Arlene who then pressed him about his history.

“So you’re a spiritual man?” she asked.

Beno’or nodded “I like to think so. I find it’s so much easier to lead and make decisions for the Empire when you have a moral grounding and an understanding about how best one might live.”

Arlene smiled.

There was a clatter on the tea tray, pulling the attention of both Arlene and the Justicar. Giles righted the tea cup he had knocked on its side and, looking embarrassed, sat himself back on his sofa away from the crockery.

The assistant reappeared with milk of some kind, and a flame that seemed to be magically held in a saucer. She tipped the flame into the tea pot and then took over pouring of the tea.

Arlene noticed the strange occurrence too, but at this point was too engrossed in conversation with Beno’or to ask about a detail she could probably have Scamp look up in an online reference about Zhyn tea ceremonies.

The three talked for some time, exchanging stories and insights about similarities in their culture. Beno’or was beyond charming and on many occasions had both Arlene and Giles laughing so hard they had to wipe tears from their eyes.

“You know,” he said eventually, his mirth subsiding as he considered his next thought, “I seem to recall something to do with the Moons of Orn in our mythology. Though… can’t for the life of me recall the details.”

Giles explained the nursery rhyme he had heard while he was captured.

“Hmm… yes… that sounds familiar,” Beno’or contemplated, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “And don’t think I missed the part about you being held hostage voluntarily,” he said. “I’m sure that’s a story I’d like to hear.”

Arlene smiled, still flushed from the laughing. “You know, it’s a shame you’re not coming with us on this quest. Something tells me you’d be a fountain of knowledge and a huge help to us.”

Giles barely thought anything of the statement as he fiddled again with the teapot, examining it for any hidden technology or magic that he hadn’t noticed in the first instance.

The Justicar’s manner had changed though. “It is,” he responded to Arlene. “And you’re leaving straight to there?” he clarified.

“Yes sir. We are,” she answered.

The Justicar gathered his robes about him and stood up. “Give me a few moments if you would? I’ll have my assistant bring in some fresh tea and explain to Mr. Kurns just how the flame in the teapot works,” he said, eying the young-looking man humorously.

Giles realized that they were talking about him and looked up quizzically, wondering what he had missed.

The Justicar disappeared.

A short time later, after his assistant had replenished their tea and explained the details of the flame that was added into the tea, the Justicar re-emerged. This time he was no longer in robes but in an outdoors atmosuit, not too dissimilar from those worn by Arlene and Giles.

“I’d like to grant you freedom to quest,” he announced. Giles and Arlene’s faces lit up, even though with how things were going they had expected a positive response. “But I have a request in return,” the Justicar added.

“Yes, Sir,” Giles said politely. “What can we do for you?”

The Justicar stepped forward, his air of office faded and now seeming to be more of an equal talking with them. “Allow me to come with you,” he said simply. “I have always had an interest in this part of our mythology and I feel called to participate.”

Arlene and Giles exchanged confounded glances. It was Arlene who spoke. “But don’t you have duties here?” she asked, her tone conveying that she had been caught off guard, and not that she was averse to the idea.

“Believe it or not,” Beno’or smiled, “I’ve just been granted a sabbatical for the duration of the quest.” His smile widened to a grin. “By the Emperor himself!”

Giles couldn’t contain his surprise. “You’re kidding?” he exclaimed, forgetting himself, his mouth hanging open.

The Justicar’s eyes twinkled with renewed enthusiasm. “I’m not,” he assured him. “I have a deep respect for Molly and her team. They have done right by us time and again, beyond the call of duty. And now, with the interest you have demonstrated in a culture other than your own, I see you are cut from the same cloth. The curiosity of spirit and genuine compassion for other races — you may be puny and scaleless, but you humans… and Estarians,” he added, bowing politely to Arlene, “have your hearts metaphorically in the right place, even if that anatomically isn’t true.”

In that moment Giles had a torrent of questions he wanted to ask about the Zhyn anatomy but managed to restrain himself. “Sir,” he said instead, “it would be our honor to have you accompany us.”

“Well then,” Beno’or said, clamping his hands together in excitement, “if you give me a few more moments I shall tidy up my affairs, pack and then meet you back at your skylift station to embark on your vessel.”

Giles, bewildered by the strange turn of events, stood up and bowed deeply. Arlene followed suit, allowing the Justicar to take his leave of them.

“Well that was unexpected,” Arlene remarked, sitting down once the door to the sitting room had closed behind him.

Giles looked over at her, shaking his head in utter amusement. “You’re telling me.” he concurred.

—

FROM MICHAEL >>> Woohoo, arriving (sometime) Today!

Frank Kurns was one of those characters in the beginning that I didn’t see much of, but he has always been in the background. I’d like to add more Frank Kurns stories in the future, but now it is rather cool to see his SON has his own series penned by the wonderful Ell Leigh Clarke.

We hope you enjoy this version of Indiana Jones Space Archeologist!

PROLOGUE

Question: how do you tame a rogue space archaeologist?

Answer: You don’t.

When Professor Giles Kurns discovered a crucial piece of intel while being held prisoner by the exiled former Zyhn High Marshall, he returned to the ArchAngel command ship with a compelling argument for him to be allowed to reopen an old research project.

But this time, it was more than intellectual curiosity.

This time, the continued existence of the Federation, and perhaps all species in the Loop and Pan Galaxies were at stake.

Having convinced General Lance Reynolds of the imminent significance of his findings, Giles and his partner in crime, Arlene Bailey, set out to the Orn System for a spot of tomb raiding.

Together with the Empress’s old covert ops warship, fully equipped with Gate technology and a rather spunky AI, they embark on a swashbuckling adventure of danger and intrigue to uncover the truth about the Ascension Myth.

Gaitune-67, Safe House

The safe house was a buzz of activity.

Joel could barely contain his enthusiasm for the return of their old friends. “I can’t believe it!” he exclaimed, clamping hands with Giles in a manly handshake.

He called over to Molly, the boss of their operation, but couldn’t take his eyes off Giles. “You go to the university to do a recruitment talk, and you come back with the Giles-ter…and Arlene!” he exclaimed, seeing Arlene following Molly out of the basement door from the hangar deck and into the safe house. The pair disappeared off on a hush-hush mission months ago, without so much as a goodbye, leaving the crew of the Sanguine Squadron intrigued as to what they were up to.

And missing their friends.

They’d been through some intense and interesting times, fighting side by side for survival, and to keep war from breaking out between the Federation and the Zyhn Empire.

And now, they seemed to be back. But for how long remained to be seen.

Joel shook his head in amazement as Paige, the budding business person, integral team member and self-elected hostess, breezed past quickly and began fussing around the common area to give their guests somewhere to sit.

Crash and Pieter were quickly persuaded to pause their holo games. They weren’t that concerned, on account of Oz (the AI) thrashing them mercilessly. Paige started picking up their beer bottles, her heels clipping busily as Giles and Arlene hugged the ever-growing spontaneous welcome party as news of their arrival back on the asteroid, Gaitune-67, spread through the base.

Paige strode out to the kitchen, carrying empty bottles and trash. “If you want to keep playing,” she called back to Crash and Pieter, “just take it down to the workshop.”

Pieter stood up stiffly. The first time in about four hours. “Are you kidding? And miss this?” he called back as she disappeared. Giles caught his eye and headed over, giving him a man-hug.

“How you doing, kid?” he asked, patting Pieter on the back firmly in a hug a little too tightly for Pieter’s liking.

“Ugh. I’m ok,” he said awkwardly as Giles released him. “So where’ve you been? You just disappeared from the ArchAngel.”

Giles looked caught off-guard. “Well yes. We er… had pressing business to attend to.” Pieter nearly rolled his eyes at the standard company line.

Paige had resurfaced from the kitchen carrying beers and a new trash bag to grab the rest of the trash that had been left strewn around by the boys having a game night. “Let him get in and sit down before you start grilling him,” she fussed at Pieter, shuffling him out of the way so she could continue with mission-hospitality.

Giles pushed his glasses up his nose as Paige thrust an obligatory beer into his hand. “Thanks!” he said, trying to smile amongst the kerfuffle.

Pieter didn’t budge. He stood awkwardly still looking at Giles. He ruffled his hair trying to think of what else to say.

“Let him sit down,” Paige’s voice instructed him again as she scooped up an empty pizza box along with some more empty bottles and disappeared into the kitchen for the second time.

Pieter moved out of the way to let Giles into the lounge area. But Giles was also distracted, scanning the faces that had shown up and were lining up to embrace Arlene.

Arlene was clearly more popular, he noticed.

Jack and Maya had just been released from hello hugs and were heading his way. But Giles was looking for someone else.

Before he knew it Maya had snuck up on him and was squeezing him tight. Giles tried not to spill his beer. “Hi!” she greeted him. “Long time, stranger. How have the adventures been?”

Giles grunted and bobbed his head agreeably. “Yes, all going-” His response was interrupted by Jack stepping in to hug him. She was a little more polite in her distance and quickly released him. “Yes, it was good,” he continued. “Some success. But we hit a dead end, which is why we’re back… for now…” he answered to the expectant faces looking back at him.

Maya’s eyes lit up as she glanced briefly back at Arlene, now talking with Molly and Brock, who had just emerged from the basement with screen-face. He’d obviously been taking the time to continue on with whatever pet project he had permission for. It was a stark contrast from his normal, bubbly self.

Maya peeled her attention back to Giles. “So you’ll be staying?” she inquired enthusiastically. Her eyes darted back to her as yet oblivious, but would-be mentor, Arlene.

Giles put one hand in his pocket and tried to feign politeness. “Yes. For a little while, at least. Tell me, is Sean about?”

Maya took a second to process the question, her distraction now evident even to Giles. “Er… yeah he should be,” she said.

Jack interjected. “I think he was down in the gym. The base gym,” she relayed helpfully.

Maya snapped out of her distraction and back into her usual ‘helping’ mode. “Lemme go find him for you. You relax,” she told him, indicating to Jack and Giles to sit. “I’ll be right back,” she added as she scurried off between her teammates chattering away with Arlene.

***

Within about twenty minutes Crash and Joel had brought Giles’s and Arelene’s overnight bags up to the safe house, leaving the Scamp Princess powered down on the hangar deck.

The team sat around in the common area, which Paige had managed to return to some semblance of order only to have a new set of empty beer bottles materializing on the mocha table.

“So come on,” Pieter insisted. “Tell us about what happened,” he pressed now that everyone was settled down and had a drink in hand.

Arlene looked at Giles. “I think you’re the better story teller,” she winked, pleased with herself with how she deftly moved the responsibility of recounting of the last couple of months over to him.

Giles narrowed his eyes, completely aware of her tactic. He leaned forward, taking a deep breath and placing his beer bottle on the table. “Well,” he started, “I have no doubt that Arlene will interrupt at appropriate points, but I’ll at least start the story.” His eyes had a glimmer of humor in it as he glanced around the assembled team. His gaze landed on Molly, who looked equally intrigued as the others to know what they had missed while he had been out of communication. He felt a flutter in his chest knowing that she was paying attention.

“So, as you know,” he continued,”after we all got back from the Zyhn mission Arlene and I continued doing some digging into the mysteries of the talisman that Sean and I had retrieved from Teshov.”

Brock interjected. “Ah, yes, we never did get to hear about what happened there.”

Pieter chuckled, his beer bottle almost to his lips. “Yeah, Royale is nearly as tight lipped as Crash,” he interjected.

Crash glanced at him, narrowing his eyes and then pointing two fingers at his eyes and then at a slightly tipsy Pieter.

Just then Sean arrived, his hair still wet from the shower and wearing a track suit with a towel around his neck. He wandered into the lounge area, poking his ear with one end of the towel.

Giles looked up at him. “Speak of the devil!” he grinned, springing to his feet and stepping over Pieter and Crash’s legs to greet Sean. This was clearly the person he’d been waiting for.

“I knew my ears were burning for a reason!” Sean chuckled, clamping his hand in Giles’s and then pulling him closer for one of his famous bear hugs. The two men slapped each other on the back in a show of mutual appreciation.

“How the devil are you?” Giles grinned back.

Sean bobbed his head excitedly and repeatedly. “You know, can’t complain,” he told him. “No one would listen even if I did,” he said dryly. “Besides, this lot keep me busy,” he said, nodding affectionately in Molly and Joel’s direction.

Paige handed Sean a beer and moved over to give him some space to share the couch she and Brock were occupying.

Molly squinted at the pair. “Since when did you two become so chummy?” she asked.

Joel added his commentary. “Yeah, and how come we’re just noticing it now?”

Sean did a little wink as he sat down and took a swig of beer.

Giles answered the question. “It was probably since he saved my life on our Teshov mission,” he mused. “I’ve heard stories about the great Sean Royale, but until that moment I just assumed he was a jerk.”

Sean stopped with his beer bottle at his lips and lowered it, his mouth open in mock amazement. Then he pretended to look hurt, his eyes drooping at the sides. He clutched his hand to his chest. “You kill me with your words, Kurns!”

Giles chuckled. “Come on, you’ve got to admit it, even the AIs don’t like you!”

Sean chuckled. “You know that’s just coz they’re jealous about how much everyone else likes me, right?”

Giles grinned, picking up his beer bottle, pointing at him. “Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night,” he told him, jokingly.

Sean finally took another sip of his beer and then set it down, lounging back on the sofa. “Yeah, whatever, mate. Weren’t you about to explain your mysterious disappearance without saying goodbye?”

Giles composed himself. “Yes. Yes I was…”

Brock pointed at him. “Hey, and then you have to tell us about Teshov. Sean Royale has a habit of keeping secrets, so we still don’t know what happened there while we were all busting our asses on Shaa mission.”

Giles nodded. “Ok. I’ll come back to that shortly, because actually, it’s kind of relevant to our mission after the ArchAngel.”

He settled down and continued his story. “So I as I was saying, the reason we left the ArchAngel so quickly was because the General gave us the ‘OK’ for a mission that was prompted by something I discovered while I was being held captive by that Shaa ass-hole.” He shuddered at the thought of the escapade where he had narrowly escaped with his life.

Sean chuckled playfully. “Ah yes, the one we had to rescue your retro-bate ass from…”

Giles nodded. “The one and the same.”

Molly had been quiet, taking it all in and exhausted by the evening’s events. Only now did her curiosity prompt her to interject. “So what did you discover?” she asked. This was the first she was hearing about the lead and it was likely that if it had anything to do with the talisman stuff Giles had shared with her, it might also hold some answers to her realm jumping abilities she was still learning to control.

Giles waved his hands. “More of what I shared with you in that first meeting when Uncle Lance brought you to the lecture theater,” he told her. “But perhaps I should start at the very beginning, to catch everyone else up?”

Molly nodded her agreement, and everyone settled in for the story.

“So there’s something that I didn’t explain to you,” Giles continued, looking over at Molly with a serious expression on his face.

Molly indicated that he should continue.

“You see,” he explained, “I was… economical with the full story because it wasn’t relevant at the time.” His eyes dropped to his beer bottle and he fiddled with the label as spoke now. “It’s not like it was a big secret. Uncle Lance knew the crux of it… but not the details I shared with you when we were first talking about it.”

Molly regarded him with a narrowed eye, trying to read between the lines of what he was saying. “You’re referring to the talisman I take it?”

“Yes, exactly,” he confirmed, still studying the bottle in his hands.

Sean cut in. “The one we went to retrieve?”

“Exactly,” Giles nodded, only now looking up to meet Sean’s eyes, and not Molly’s. “Except at the time I had led you to believe that the story started where I was asked to look after it by the Estarians. But that wasn’t the whole story.”

Molly frowned, glancing briefly at Joel for his reaction. “So what is the whole story?” she pressed.

Joel’s expression was blank as he awaited the details.

“Well it all began many many years ago,” Giles explained. “Long before even Arlene and I crossed paths. I was included on a mission to Earth: the place the other side of the Gate where our ancestors came from.”

Paige’s eyes lit up. “You’re talking about the origin of the humans?”

Giles nodded, smiling at her perception of his race. “Yes. Humans,” he confirmed.

Paige was half human and half Estarian, but because of her blue skin most folks just assumed she was a bizarre looking Estarian rather than anything. Apart from anything it was meant it was nearly impossible for humans and Estarians to mate because of their DNA structure. Nevertheless, Paige was a miracle. And an anomaly.

Giles now held everyone in rapt attention – as he so often did when he lectures.

“The mission was to swing back to Earth to build up its defenses against another Kurtherian assault. And to rescue a certain vampire. This vampire will remain nameless, but he had been stranded there since the war against the Kurtherians broke out.”

“Why nameless?” Brock asked, leaning forward and shuffling his butt back into the sofa a bit more to get comfortable.

“Because this particular vampire wouldn’t like the idea of being rescued by anyone. And, besides,” Giles added, “he’d probably tell the story quite differently… like he wasn’t being rescued.”

Brock grinned. “Ah, but we know it is a he then!”

Giles pointed with his beer bottle in hand. “Or,” he added, “maybe I’m just throwing you off track?” He winked before trying to return to his story.

“Hang on,” Brock interrupted again. “I thought earth was destroyed?”

Giles nodded. “It was,” he replied simply. “Pretty much, at least.”

Pieter frowned, confused. “Well hang on, was this before or after it was destroyed then?”

“After,” Giles confirmed. “The vampire survived being blown up by a nuke – apparently. I never did get the full story from him. He’s not the most talky-talky of people.”

Brock and Pieter looked at each other, processing this new intel and trying to slot it into what they’d each learned in the limited time allocated to human history back on Estaria. Brock immediately jumped to the question they were both thinking. “Well hang on then… how old are you?”

Giles grinned and glanced over in Sean’s direction. “That’s classified. Right Sean?”

Sean grunted from behind his beer bottle. “Right.”

Brock shook his head, knowing full-well the game that Sean had been playing with them, not telling him how old he really was.

Pieter was still enthralled by the discourse. “So then what happened on Earth?”

“Well… let’s just say that during a swash-buckling adventure,” Giles revealed glibly. “I ended up helping the team who was responsible for finding and assembling a Sacred Clans ship left over from when the Empress kicked their asses the first time before she left Earth.”

There was a hush amongst the team. All movement stopped. What Giles was talking about was legendary — so legendary that not one of them really knew the details of what had happened.

Giles waved his hand ironically, now looking uncomfortable at all the attention he was suddenly receiving, despite this being his main driver normally. “Only… well, you don’t need the details. But let’s just say there was an artifact on board that everyone else thought was just junk.”

Molly regarded him carefully. “But you didn’t?” she emphasized, pressing him for as much information as she could glean.

“Exactly,” Giles agreed, smiling at the recognition that Molly had bestowed upon him. “Though I was still a young buck by Federation standards, I had already done my share of book-worming and adventuring, and I knew that it must have some significance. Although what the sacred clan was doing with it we’ll probably never know,” he mused as his thoughts drifted momentarily.

He pulled his attention back to the task in hand. “Anyway, it turned out it was some kind of talisman, likely originating on the planet itself from the crude scans we could do with the onboard material analysis at the time. And this was the talisman Sean and I retrieved on Teshov.”

Molly nodded. “So the Estarian Elders didn’t entrust you with it?” she asked rather skeptical of him once again.

Giles’s eyes looked concerned. “No no,” he protested. “It’s not like that. Yes, they entrusted it to me, but several decades after I’d given it to them for safe keeping. You see, it turns out that this talisman had certain… magical properties.”

Brock raised his eyebrows, looking skeptical and a little anxious at the same time. Paige and Maya were wide-eyed, hanging on Giles’s every word.

Molly looked blankly. “What do you mean… ‘magical properties’?”

Giles nodded at Arlene. “That’s not my area. Arlene? Want to take this one?” he suggested.

Arlene nodded, stretching her legs out in front of her for a moment, and then putting her palms together between her knees as she leaned forward and pulled her legs back in and stretching her back. “I guess the easiest way to describe it is that all things have a power to them. A property, like entropy. Or temperature,” she explained. “Some objects, or places, or people, have more of this power than others. Like Neechie…” she added, the sphinx having just at that moment come into the middle of the group and was sitting directly in front of her between the mocha table and her feet.

Paige and Maya seemed to be getting more and more excited at what they were hearing.

Arlene continued. “Some places have a ground energy, too, meaning that it is easier to manifest certain things in that place than others. Estaria has a slightly higher power than most planets, and that’s why they have such a high incidence of their ancestors having been able to ascend and realm-walk.”

Brock’s eyes were also wide now, and he was looking around anxiously as if afraid of ghosts appearing behind him.

Arlene brought the conversation back to the talisman. “And sometimes objects have so much power that someone who is attuned can pull energy from it, and use it to move things around in this realm.”

Molly frowned. “Move things around? Like psychic kinesis?”

Arlene tilted her head from side to side. “Yes and no. I was talking more about making things happen, or transmuting matter or energy into one form of another.”

Molly frowned. “Give me the science,” she asked without any real energy on the request.

“Well,” Arlene explained, “It’s kind of like this. Your brain emits certain frequencies, depending on the thoughts you think. But for those who have total control and awareness of the frequencies they have, they can use this to resonate with, and affect, matter in the physical world.” She smiled. “I just prefer to call it magic because not every can do it!” She winked playfully.

Molly bobbed her head, contemplating what Arlene had just told her. It fitted perfectly with what she had been teaching her all those months ago out in the deserted landscape of the asteroid.

Arlene chuckled to herself. “Anyway,” she added, “It comes in handy now and again. Especially on missions with this one,” she added, nodding her head in Giles’s direction.

Giles took that as a cue to continue with the story. “Quite,” he agreed dutifully. “So this talisman had power, and I had learned enough to be able to feel it. Not straight away, but after a while of having it in my possession. So when I met the Estarian elders sometime later I explained this to them, and they suggested they look after it. I for one was happy to not have it with me when I was doing my gallivanting. Way too easy to get into all kinds of trouble I didn’t know how to get myself out of.”

Arlene nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it is a little like walking around with a target on your back,” she confirmed.

Giles chuckled. “Yeah, all was safe until I got involved with a woman who was ruthless and cruel and would stop at noth-”

“Alright. Alright!” Arlene interrupted him. “You don’t need to lay it on so thick!”

“Hang on,” Molly interjected looking at Arlene with her eyes wide and horrified. “YOU were the woman?” she asked.

Arlene rolled her eyes at herself. “We were young and reckless. He makes it sound like I was an evil sorcerer or something.”

Giles leaned over in a low voice and whispered in the direction of Joel and Pieter. “Oh, she totally was.”

Arlene gave him a stern look.

Giles straightened up again. “Yeah, okay, we’ll skip that bit about how you tried to kill me to get your hands on it,” he said.

The rest of the team could barely believe what they were hearing.

Joel chirped up, looking at Arlene. “Is that true?”.

Arlene nodded. “Yep.”

Giles waved his hand dismissively. “All water under the bridge now. Anyway, the rest,” he said now looking at Molly, “of what I told you about the elders, and how they were killed and having to find another hiding place for the talisman, is all accurate.”

Molly nodded, pushing her bottom lip out contemplating the information.

Giles pulled his lips to one side. “Are we good?”

Molly shrugged. “Sure,” she said simply. “You’re right. It wasn’t relevant to anything we needed to know at the time and it doesn’t change anything.”

Giles’s face relaxed and his shoulders dropped about two inches. “Good,” he said, smiling now. “So,” he continued, turning back to his story,” when we started putting all this data together I started wondering if there were other talismans, like the one I’d found on the ship. And the six sections on it looked awfully like constellations as seen from areas like Earth, Estaria and the original planet of the Zyhn Empire – Zhyn.”

He made eye contact with each member of his enraptured audience as he spoke. “That, together with the uncanny DNA similarities between the Estarians and the Zyhn made me wonder if there weren’t some other association between them. So, while I was in prison that other captive we rescued shared with me a nursery rhyme about the Moons of Orn. It got me wondering if that was where the Zhyn talisman might be hiding, and when Arlene checked the constellations on the talisman – taking into account the 100,000-year lag time – it looked like that could very well have been the constellations looking from the Moons of Orn, back into the space as seen from Earth, in the Pan Galaxy, pointing back in the direction of this spot.” He paused for breath, his excitement at his string of discoveries getting the better of him.

Brock screwed his face up. “You mean these two sets of regressed constellations both point to the same area of space, as viewed from these points?”

Giles nodded. “Seems more than just a coincidence.”

Oz piped up over the base intercomm. “I can run the probability of that being a coincidence if you like.”

Giles chuckled. “No need, thanks Oz. Though very kind of you to offer. We understand it is astronomically low… and then if you factor in the rest of my theory, I think we can safely say we’re onto something.”

Oz laughed too, clearly enjoying the whole team being together and being a part of things. “As you wish,” he conceded, the audio channel going quiet again.

“So, after you guys kindly saved my life from that infernal hole,” Giles continued, “Arlene and I were pretty sure that our next stop should be the Moons of Orn. And when the General gave us the go ahead it was deemed to be of utmost importance to the Federation and we just had to scarper.”

Molly nodded. “Seems reasonable,” she agreed.

Joel looked at her, amazed. “How can you not be even a little bit hurt that he didn’t say goodbye?”

Molly shrugged. “He had a job to do,” she said blankly.

Joel eyed her carefully as the conversation moved on. He could sense that there was a chance her cool exterior and analytical assessment was still just her protection mechanism for keeping people at a distance. He just hoped that she hadn’t reverted. He didn’t know what might have gone on between her and Giles, but he sensed there was a commonality that the pair shared… both being outsiders, and both being too smart for their own good.

Brock was enthralled. “So what happened next?”

FROM MICHAEL >>> What happens next?  They tell a story that takes place out there somewhere… With snarky Zhyns, snarky responses and a female that keeps both men on their toes.

A female who is blue, cause that is normal for Sarkian Space.

The fact that Arlene had tried to kill Giles was just water under the bridge. The fact that she would consider killing him again was just frustration with a strong-willed, hard-headed pain in the ass human male.

Giles was, to those who knew his father, a chip off the ol’ block.

Planet Leath

Hours later, the Leath Prime One Intelligence officer watched the interview in the comfort of his own living space. He had paid personally for the intelligence so it didn’t go through the Leath infrastructure, and at the moment he wasn’t sure if he had just damned himself or possibly liberated his people.

He re-watched the video one last time, trying to commit the information to memory. Then he shook his head. Getting up from his seat, he made his way to an old desk on the lowest level in his home. He opened a drawer and extracted an old tablet he had used in his youth before he could afford better tools.

He turned the unit on, surprised to see that it had been charged recently enough to still have power. He would have thought it had lost its charge over the many years since he had last powered it up.

He plugged in the password and was surprised to see a note appear.

“Hello, Jerrleck. This is you, from earlier in your life. If I am correct, you have had your memories modified by the Seven.”

Jerrleck stopped, realizing immediately that if he continued, whatever he learned could possibly be accessed by the Seven. He wasn’t sure how deeply they read minds, but he was positive they scanned his topmost thoughts.

He dared to read another line.

“If you read any farther, realize what I say below may possibly be discovered by the Seven.” Jerrleck smiled. At least the younger him and present him were both intelligent Leath.

“If you are still reading,” the note continued, “I have had plenty of time to realize what must have happened to our people, to me and consequently to you. Think about just how many Leath have been killed in our war against the Etheric Federation, and how many more will die if we continue this attempt to Ascend our people under the direction of the Seven.”

Jerrleck considered the truth of this statement. Only a few years ago he’d helped one of his best friends mourn their only daughter.

All because the Leath had been told to take over a world the Leath had no business or interest in ruling. He had done the numbers…

Jerrleck’s eyes opened and other information started pouring into his mind. He stood up and walked to the opposite wall in the windowless room. Feeling down a line, he found a small indention and pushed it.

The wall opened.

Jerrleck stopped a moment, knowing this was his point of no return. He wasn’t sure just how long ago he had been mind-wiped, but it was apparent that he had. He put the tablet down and walked back up the steps to the main level. It took him only a short amount of time to secure his residence against intrusion and return to the bottom level.

Now it was time to see what his younger self had been into, and what he could do with it now that he was older and hopefully wiser.

An hour later he was in a state of shock. His mind was confused, but in his heart the path was clear.

He needed to revive a rebellion that had been put on hold until he became aware of it. The last leader had been taken away in the middle of the night.

He should know—he had pulled her from her bed and taken her to the Seven himself.

He looked at the monitor in this hidden room and ran a finger across the image on the screen. “Dur’loch, my love,” he whispered. “This will be for you.”

 

FROM MICHAEL – I’m at about 46,000 words on this book, meaning I have about 24,000 or so words minimum to go. There is a LOT going on in this book, and I really hope the book is enjoyed as we wrap up the last 2 books before Bethany Anne goes back to Earth…

You know… To meet someone?

THANK YOU ALL for supporting these books, these authors and me personally as we build out this Universe. I’ve already written the last scene (nothing else) of book 20 and I have to say…

It made me tear up, but not in a bad way.

Ad Aeternitatem,

Michael