This is the earliest we've ever been late! In the immortal words of
Zben: "Glad to see us back!"
Actually, I'm glad I held on 'till Sunday to finish this up. Got a lot
of late-breaking news from the Doc 'n' the Dog. :-) The Aslan must've
been stunned into silence by the realization of where they were; I heard
nothing from them, so I'm gonna play them as NPC's until they wake up or
tell me to let them rest in peace. (C'mon Rob, life is not all battle :-))
When we left our adventure, the Aslan with the unpronouncable names
had just entered the R-alpha system. The Alcyon had just jumped toward
R-alpha, on their pre-arranged course, and the Imperial fleet had just
told the Alcyon to heave to. I guess that'll teach the bureacrats...
**************************** We begin aboard the Alcyon ***************
Jordan peers down the halls almost as if he is in a trance. He watches
and waits for any commotions that may occur. After a while of looking
and observing, he puts the helmet to his suit on and double checks his
auto-shotgun clip.
Motion stirs him into action and he levels the shotgun at the shadow
creeping up the corridor.
<Click> (sound of round being chambered)
[GM note - this is our tried-and-true friend who bonked himself with
the desk, and whose name I forgot.]
"Ulp. Uh, high. Sorry I'm late. Where do you guys need me?"
Horne orders him back to the armory.
Jordan then awaits anxiously but unemotionally for the
next order to be barked out.
- - ----------------
Zben pays close attention to the countdown for jump. When he
approximates Jump minus 2 minutes, he addresses the computer:
"Computer: High speed holographic recording of all data on
bogies coma Imperial. Begin now. Terminate 20 seconds after jump
initiation. Also, prepare to generate 1 kilowatt RF spectrum burst of
white noise, linked to firing of main laser, delayed by.." he stops
and make a quick calculation of distance to hydrogen cloud ".0025
seconds. Use transmitters on Alcyon, and all sub vessels to generate
multi-nodal wavefront."
Turning to the commander "Sir. I've set up an RF burst linked to
the hydrogen explosion to assist with the jump masking. Do I have
permission to engage?"
<Etienne> Engage.
#####include all the usual stuff associated with jumping #####
<Niishu> 99.99995% discharge sir. We're gonna come out of this jump
within a few hundred meters of our programmed point.
<Etienne>
In a low but still audible voice:
"If any of us survive..."
[Addressing the computer...]
"Store all sensor data from just before General Quarters until just
after entry into Jump-space. Coded 'Imperial Fleet'. Correction,
coded 'Imperial fleet 1'. Then cancel all displays of external data
and return all intership connections to standard communications setup."
- - ---
Cup of chicken soup in hand, Johann is about to begin to speak when the
lights dim for jump. Surprised, he looks up at the lighting panels and
begins to speak, and interrupts himself again.
"Dirty panels... I thought the robot cleaned them at least once a week."
He cranes his neck and looks close at the slowly evaporating thin film of
frost on the panels.
"Oh, It was just the hydrogene." Johann pauses and looks at the floor that
is covered with ice that has begun to melt. "...hydrogene...".
- - ---
The SubCommander's voice barks out on the all-call channel, a bare ten
seconds after the Jump is initiated:
"CLEAR THE CORRIDORS, PEOPLE! SUBCOMMANDER COMING--"
- - ------
Zben locks down the external communications station and starts restoring
internal communications, first by running a diagnosis on all systems.
Turning to Charyn, "Well, we seem to have made another one! You can consider
this your `trial by fire'... and I think you did a great job. Its nice to
have someone else on board who understand these wave pushers! Besides," he
says with a grin, "with two of us understanding communications there's a
better chance for each of us to get on an Away team!"
Turning back to the console "`course, you being on the Generalist team,
I guess you'll get a good shot at R-alpha anyway. Lets just hope the
`shots' AREN'T from our turrets..."
(To the console) "Computer, run analysis on stored information
reference bogies coma Imperial. Extrapolate speed, trajectory, and
acceleration for each unit. Predict minimum time for each unit to
match system intrinsics, reposition, realign, and prepare for jump to
any sector of Alcyon target system. Store all data under heading
Imperial Fleet 1"
Etienne turns to Commander Ger with a formally correct salute...]
"Commander, request permission to talk with you privately. I have
information whose importance I have absolutely no way to judge."
<Zben>
(Turning to the commander) "Sir. I have an approximate minimum turn-
around-and-jump time for the Impers. 7.7 hours. This does not include
re-fuel, but does include any jump vector that puts them in the same
system as R-alpha."
Tuning back to Charyn "I don't know about you, but I could use a
drink. Soon as we stand down I'll show you where the crew lounge is,
if you'd like. First round's on me." (grinning) "I expect there'll be
several rounds after that..."
<Etienne>
"Nishu, start briefing Charyn on what happened during the last jump.
Also point out anything she may not be familiar with about the Alcyon.
Like our internal commo setup. Oh, and she'll also need to get a comdot
as soon as possible. Plus, I may need your input in a few minutes.
I'll give you a call if I do."
- - -----
The airlock door to Engineering opens and Lucan and Dulinor start
to enter the room. 'Vouf caroms off of Lucan and comes rocketing in at
his usual dead run....and hits the ice condensed on the deck.
"--THROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"
He narrowly misses Abuko, bounces off Morser and sends him reeling, skates
past the crew with tail tucked and arms windmilling like rotor blades,
executes a neat half turn as he passes, and slams backwards into the main
maneuver-drive console at about thigh height.
<Morser>
"Vy don't we chust -OOF!! Hah? Vat? Oh, sorry, herr subcommander...it
zeemz power has been diverted from ze deck's heating coils for ze
currrrent crrrisis. Ve should haff zat ice cleaned up as zoon as ze
ship stabilizes."
Abuko drops his cup of chicken soup as he hurries to change channels on
his commdot. The ice melts in spots where the soup spatters.
'Vouf does a beautiful roll across the surface of the console, randomly
flipping about fifty switches and using the console surface as a launch
pad, and sails off and past it for another two or three meters, hitting
the rear wall shoulders first with a crash and sliding to the floor.
<Abuko>
"Robot! Do an olfactory sample for hydrogene right now!
Questions: What concentration is it? and is that concentration
explosive or flammable?"
Bruised and panting, 'Vouf gets his feet under him, stands
up, falls down again, gets up again, and stands with feet braced wide apart
and mailed fists clenched. He slowly scans the room with a feral glare,
silently daring someone, ANYONE, to even SMILE.
Ian regains hands-and-knees on the deck and looks briefly at the commotion.
"I'm sure glad Adrian's not here, he chuckles."
Leadfoot interrupts reparing the fuel line and floats still under the
ceiling for a second. Then he darts down to the floor and up to his
previous position in the ceiling. Everyone with a communicator on the
general engineering channel hears the answer.
"Concentration of Hydrogene variable. Local maximums close to explosive
concentration."
<Abuko>
"Redd! Do you know where the environment controls are? Get over there fast
and purge the air in this compartment! Everyone, evac engineering! You can hook
up the the panels in here through your hand computers or some consoles outside
this room. Anyway, the only thing that needs watching right now is the power
plant, and the crystals, so that they really are empty and don't hold any
additional charge.
"Robot! Set routines for work in explosive environment. No saws, drills,
welders and so on. And try to move as little as possible and don't strike any
metal."
"Bridge, Engineering here. We've got hydrogene in the air so we are
evacuating engineering to purge the air in here. It'll only take a few
minutes."
Johann opens the main door "Let's go everyone. Try not to slip on the ice
and slam into something metallic..."
When the expected explosion dosent arrive, Johann makes a comment about how
good it is that holodynamic controls don't produce sparks when they are
operated and proceeds with the evacuation. When everyone, including the late
arrived Vouf, is out he scans the room once again and exits, closing the valve
behind him.
"Redd, Abuko here, everyone is out now. Clear to purge."
Helping 'Vouf to his feet, Karl suddenly remembers what he was thinking
about a moment ago(possibly a new speed record for him :-), and almost
drops 'Vouf back on the deck while tapping his commdot:
"Herr Kaptain, it'z prrobably a bit late now, but as zoon as ve get out
of jump, I vould highly advise checking ze integrity of ze surface jump
vebs. Until zome of ze injured rrecover, ve haf no vay of knowink what
zey found out zere. I also zink zis should be done from ze viewports
of ze other ships, to avoid usink ze airlocks again until ve find out
chust vat happened! Morser out."
'Vouf tests his footing gingerly, half ignoring Morser's offer of help.
When Morser lets go of him to start talking to the Bridge, he almost falls
again, but catches himself. He then gently conveys the still-chattering
Morser out of Engineering behind the others, carefully choosing his footing,
and doublechecks that no one is left behind but Leadfoot before giving an
all-clear hand signal to Abuko.
As the flammable gas mixture begins pumping out of Engineering, he says,
"Nice job of damage control, all of you. Sorry you got such a baptism of
fire, Mr. Wrinkely--or should I say ice?" His smile carries no humor.
He turns to leave. "Dr. Abuko, I'll leave damage control in your capable
hands. In the meantime, I don't want any of you disturbing Doctor van der
Merwe with questions until he's out of Sickbay-- he's got a lot on his
mind right now. But for those of you who have never seen an L-Hyd leak
before, let me clue you in: we may see Silvmane again, but MT is dead as
a black dwarf." He sighs gustily, and walks away.
"If anyone wants me, I'll be on the Bridge punching holes in the bulkheads."
*****************************************************************
The Kaekh-oh [hope I spelt it rite :-)] drops out of jump space to find
a main-sequence, yellow-green, star, with no obvious planetary bodies,
but a higher-than-normal neutrino reading from all directions forward.
"Commander, computer says high likelihood of asteroids and extensive
mining in this sector. .
"By the Gods! Look at THIS!" Akhouw is nearly dazed by the display
now slowly appearing in the holo tank. As the Kaekh-oh moves, a thin,
silvery arch slowly resolves before them, from edge-to-edge of the tank.
Almost creeping into their consciousness is the fact that what they see
is as far away from the stellar primary as is the Kaekh-oh.
"NOW we have glory for the clan!"
<Aiwi>
"Wait! we've got a moving body. Looks like a shuttle."
<Akhouw> Follow it.
- - ----
"Routine maintenance. Nothing fun about this except I get to see the
stars. I wonder why he always has me go fix things, and check the
vacuum zone? `Doejin,' he always says `you know you love this.' Yeah,
but when does Doejin get to play?
"Hmm, that's new - it moves. Stars don't move..."
Fresh orders pour in - Terminate maintenance immediately. Return to
base and await further instructions.
"Now THAT is curious. He told us to expect visitors, but now he says
they're here and we're not supposed to meet 'em?
"Oh well. Back to base little chair."
- - ---
<Aiwi> We've got a good fix on that craft sir. Definitely a shuttle,
power spectrum is cleaner than anything I've ever seen. He seems to
be out here skylarking.
Uh oh, he's turned toward the . . uh . . ring? sir. We'll never catch
him, but we should get close enough to find a city.
*********************************************************************
- - ----
Hearing the latest medical emergency call, Dr. Limner halts (he was
on his way to his grav bus), and asks on the medical channel, "Should
we treat them in engineering or in sickbay?".
Just then, Ian and the medbots go screaming by with Anton, then fly
back for the next round of patients. "It looks like sickbay it is,
then."
Dr. Limner then heads to sickbay. He realizes that he is still
wearing his vacc suit, and, although the hood is hanging behind his
back, he looks rather like a diver than a doctor. Putting the hood
on, he scrubs the whole vacc suit. Then, putting the hood behind his
head and removing the vacc suit gloves (actually they just peel off
his hands and tuck into the sleeve -- the vacc suit does not come
apart), he scrubs his head and hands again. He then dons a medical
gown. Now, with the gray hood hanging behind the white medical gown,
the good doctor seems to have transformed again, this time into some
sort of minister or priest.
As he walks into sickbay, Doctor Van Der Merwe tosses him a crystal.
"We've got another surgeon aboard," he curses. "If only those @#$%
@#$% corporate types would give us this info *before* we need it!
This guy's name is Yorblin, some scout doctor. Get him out of the
freezer, start him thawing, and get back here and help with the
incoming."
- - ---------
Lazer continues to stare intently at the tactical screen for several
seconds after Jump blanks it out. Then he snaps his head up, glances
across the other tell-tales, and mutters, "A perfect jump after that
fiasco. There's a god for fools and incompetents, and he likes us..."
Then, the controlled tone of command returning, "Mr. Horne, take your
team and make sure that bloody airlock is secure. The telltale says
it's sealed, but then the failsafe shouldn't have allowed the accident
to happen at all. When you're sure, put a security seal on the corridor,
and we'll take a closer look later. Farouk out."
J.J. stands and addresses the rest of his small fire team. "Let's button
up, just in case, and check out that airlock." He spits out the cheroot and
sets the Helmet of his Vacc suit an buttons it down. He chins his comunit
in the Vacc Suit. "Mr. Farouk, we're on our way, Horne out." And with that
he leads the other two of his team out of security, to see what the awaits
them at the airlock.
<Lazer>
"Security to Engineering. I can send down some bodies if you need help
with cleanup. Security out."
"Security to Bridge. Permission to power down? Security over."
While waiting for a reply, Lazer runs a complete systems check, looking for
any other damages, corollary to the fuel leaks or the cloud explosion.
The comm buzzes politely, and Commander Ger's voice comes through,
"Bridge to Security. Permission granted. We're clear. Bridge out."
Lazer nods to Andon, "All right. Shut her down, pilot." While Andon
tends the engine power-down sequence, Lazer resets the safeties and travel
locks on the missile turrets.
" Security, Thul here, you want me to meet the team at the airlock?,
Thul over."
"Horne here, fine by me meet us there, this OK with you Farouk?"
"Farouk here. Negative. Sorry, Thul, someone has to stay at the security
post there on the 'Talisman. You got to blow away that nasty threatening
hydrogen cloud--let J.J. have his fun closing an airlock. Farouk out."
After hearing "the word" passed that the emergency is over, Thul
grabs the rectangular device with the three buttons on it and goes through
the choices displayed for him on the console:
"Weapons>" ----> "ALL>" ----> "Safe..."
"Sensors>" ----> "ALL>" ----> "Standby..."
He reaches over to the corner where his guass rifle lay, removes
the magazine and clears the breach. He removes his webbing and
mutters to himself under his breath "I'm getting a little old for
this sheise!"
"Security, Thul Jonson here. 'Talisman secured from GQ, awaiting
further instruction."
He walks back to the galley, opens a cabinet, and pours himself a
brandy. He shakes his head slowly, as he plays the events as he
saw them through his mind. "Mein GOTT! That reminded me too much
of the close call we had back in '58! We were outgunned then too."
When shut-down is completed, Andon and Lazer drop lightly out of the
command shuttle, after one last check that the docking clamps are
properly re-secured. Suddenly realizing he has no duty left to attend
to--the EVA obviously being on hold, for the moment--but too wound up to
do nothing, Lazer jogs off to the security post.
<...> Farouk to Bridge. Command shuttle secured; I'm on my way to the
'Talisman. Farouk out. <...>
The easy run through the corridors does Lazer some good--helps work the
adrenalin out of his system. On arriving at the 'Talisman, he summons a
mug of warm, spicy Tammaran zyder out of the beverage dispenser, and
drops smoothly into a chair. He scans the board quickly; nothing seems
unexpected.
"Thul, if you still want to, you can go help with the airlock. It'll be
a couple of hours before I can relax--I might as well watch the ship."
After the trouble is over, Abdul skulks back from the Talisman to his
cabin, muttering something about having to run all over the place for
no obvious reason. He remove his vacc-suit and stows his equipment
in his usual hap-hazard manner and starts recharging his laser's power
pack [ about time too ].
[ A while later ... ]
Abdul rushes to contact 'Vouf, "Don't know if you're the right person to
direct this suggestion to but couldn't we recommence the bug sweep while
we're in jump space? Give us something to do for the next week. A lot
better than another silly overly long party."
'Vouf's response is carefully measured... Schmud gets the impression that
the Vargr is very angry about something and trying not to take it out on
Abdul. "NO I'M NOT-- eh-hrf. No, I'm not the right person to direct it to;
you've got a Security chief to coordinate with. If you need the voice of
authority, then yes, get on it. But check with Farouk first... I know he has
at least one team on the job already, Horne's people are checking out that
supposedly failsafe airlock that mangled Devious. 'Vouf out."
Abdul, have no fear--we'll get back to it. Just as soon as we get this
mess straightened out.
Farouk out.
- - ----
"Damn all this...." Christian fervently swears to himself while his
hands are feverishly working on Anton, in a valiant attempt to cauterize
the amputation while fighting the decompression and anoxia damage that
Anton suffered when he lost suit integrity.
"Dulinor, type and cross-match five units; inject 10cc dextranol, we
need to give his spleen a kick in the ass. Monitor fluid levels and push
the plasma, he needs blood volume fast."
The medicomp beeps softly, and Christian pauses briefly to read the
latest update on blood chemistry. Not bad, the critical levels are starting
to nudge upward, but it's still a near thing. He stabs at a series of
controls, and a holographic projection of Anton's neurological scan fades
into existence.
As he stares intently at the hologram, his eyes widen fractionally and
he is momentarily taken aback. Christian utters a vicious curse as he
punches up a supplementary brainwave scan. "Khakh trrae, gvaekh durrgh! If
I ever get my hands on the engineer/moron who is responsible for the
safety interlock failure..." He picks up a laser scalpel and shifts up to
work on Anton's skull. "Dulinor, get the bone knitter warmed up and optimize
it for facial repair." If I didn't have enough to deal with -- his damn
skull has a fracture and now there's a beaut of a swelling haematoma. He
pauses for a second to gather his wits, then plunges ahead with the weary
work of many hours needed to repair the extensive damage.
Just a few minutes later, Lucan flashes in with the LH2 victims, followed
by Dr. Limner. Christian's manner is harsh and abrupt. "Limner, take that
table and get cracking. I'll be over when I can. Lucan, get Silvmane
stabilized and then help Limner. Maybe MT isn't a total loss."
With accomplished hands, Dr. Limner begins to work on the frostbite
patients.
"Doc, I'll start on Silvmane. MT looks like he's in *serious*
trouble," Ian pants. "Some parts broke off when he slid across
the deck." And Ian turns to Silvmane, plugs him in and starts to
minister to him, while Lucan and Limner start to figure out what
can be rejoined.
"This is the most ill-fated mission I've ever been on," comments
Limner, while busy trying to get blood flowing back into frostbitten
fingers, "and I've explored scores of planets."
"Well, there was that time on Eriandor 11. Nobody was killed,
although my assistant Brandon received third degree scalds when the
natives tried to cook him. Yes, they really tried to cook him alive,
big black pot, and all.
"You see, it seems that they had some odd tradition that you are only
supposed to eat during the daylight. Only animals eat after dark,
they thought, and animals deserved to be eaten themselves. It seems
that this race was fixated on eating. They even had very explicit
social rules about how and where to eat, and about what foods could
be eaten with which others. Probably very similar to many cultures'
fixations on the reproductive act.
Anyway, what happened was this..."
Dr. Limner continues with his story for some time while working on
the frostbite cases. After a few minutes he turns to Ian and
finds him passed out, fallen over Silvmane.
(that's what you call a real ORAL SEDATIVE).
(waiting to go to sickbay and learn first aid...)
Whistling despodently, Alliara strolls to her assigned cabin and
settles for a nice rest with Arbiniik Gruushan's newest scout poetry
anthology and her favourite toy: LSP Orgasmo-Cycle Mk. XXXIV (60kg, 4 x
0.5hp motors, direct neural inductors, 30 KW/hr Cr300).
As soon as Dr. Van Der Merwe finishes unfreezing corpsicles and
pages her, Alliara will get off the O-Cycle (if not unconscious before
that) and go to the MedBay.
Several hours later...
Doc Van Der Merwe turns back to his work, his face set in a rictus of
tightly controlled anger. "Too many good men, dammit.... Too many..."
He continues to work on Anton, while keeping an eye on Limner's valiant
battle to save MT. His face slowly becomes increasingly tinged with gray
as the work progresses. Eventually, he steps back and wipes the sheen of
perspiration off his forehead. He soberly looks at Anton, and turns to
Dulinor. "Take Mister Devious and put him in Unit 1. If he's still stable
in an hour, transfer him to the Alcyon Infirmary."
Christian tiredly shakes his head, and then steps over to Dr. Limner.
It is clearly evident that MT is beyond help -- too much cell damage to
repair; ruptured brain cells, a cascade of pulmonary and cardiac damage
leading to an inexorable final conclusion. Christian looks at Limner, and
shakes his head. "Lucan, take MT to the (his voice tightens) morgue."
As work begins on Daniel Silvmane, the gloom lifts a bit from
Christian, as it becomes clear that the cryonic injuries are not as
severe as was first feared, but the danger of system shock and gangrene
are still ominous. However, as the time progresses, Silvmane's system
comes back stronger than expected, and with the wonders of Tech 15 medicine
the cell damage is regenerated, again quicker than normal. As Christian
finishes up, he remarks to Dr. Limner - "That's something quite remarkable -
he must have a strong will to live, I guess..." With several hours of
intense effort under his belt, Christian is positively gray and haggard,
and his mood is subdued and somber.
Van Der Merwe wakes Thomas. "Meet Dulinor in Alycon Infirmary -- we're
setting up our hospital care there for Devious and Silvmane. Make
sure it's all ok. I'm going to report; after that, I'm going off
duty for a while..."
"...is ..."
Christian slowly shakes his head. Ian slowly sinks to the deck. "Yeah.
I'll be there in a couple of minutes."
<...> Van Der Merwe to Abuko, Farouk and SubCommander Bhyarrvouf. Please
meet me in on the Bridge for medical report. <...>
Many minutes later, Christian slowly walks onto the bridge, with a
slight stumble in his step from fatigue. His appearance is strikingly
abnormal -- his face is gray and haggard, his hair is disordered, and
his expression is grim and shows his weary frustration.
Acknowledging the others with a nod, he looks at Ger. "Commander,
Gentlebeings, I am afraid the n..news is not good. MT is dead -- the
cryonic damage was just ... too extensive. Silvmane should make a full
recovery, but he won't be able to return to duty for about a week. He
was damn lucky. Anton Devious, however..." Christian pauses a second,
trying to push away the mental haze of exhaustion. "... There was more
damage than just the amputation... The b..blood loss and de..decompression
did more damage, and he suffered a skull fracture as well. He's in a coma
right now.. (looks down at the deck) I don't know when or if he will come
out of it... All we can do is hope.."
He looks back up at Ger. "I'm sorry sir, it's the best I could do." He
stops, sways slightly, frowns, then looks over at Bhyarrvouf. Christian
say "Permission to faint, sir?" and gently crumples to the deck.
Bhyarrvouf catches Christian as he topples forward, crying, "Aenrra,
AENRRA!" He lurches backward under the big man's weight, then eases
him into a shoulder assist. "Permission denied," he whispers. "Not until
I get you back to your cabin, you moron. Tsakha, what an idiot...."
He helps the half-conscious doctor off the Bridge, tossing over his
shoulder, "I'll see to him, Commander. You should get some rest; I'll
cover the first shift tonight."
Lazer bows his head, "Oh my Lord..." He gives a quick, silent prayer
for the dead and wounded.
He opens his eyes just as 'Vouf starts to hoist van der Merwe, and quickly
steps forward. "I can take him, if you'd rather get back to Engineering.
Unfortunately, I can't help there."
**********************************************************************
Ayrlathi swings open the wide wooden shutters of the arzeth danunduln
and looks out. It is sunfade -- Ayrlathi's favourite time of day --
and the light is slowly beginning to dim. He gently takes in the
subtle aromas of the summer evening and listens to the breeze rustling
the taspeln stalks in distant fields. An irridescent hipsir flits
through the sky in front of him, trilling its roosting song as it
seeks a comfortable perch for the night.
Ayrlathi wanders around to the opposite side of the tower and looks
down upon the town of Hilawin. Here and there, various jijid are
wandering casually about their business. Small lights are appearing
in some of the windows as the sun steadily disappears. In the
distance, Ayrlathi can make out two members of the edo najizev
patrolling the top of the town wall, on the watch for dangerous
animals.
As the sky grows dark, Ayrlathi returns to the side of the tower that
faces away from the town, and turns his gaze towards the sky. This
is what he really came up here for -- to watch the stars come out.
He has spent many an hour staring up at the myriad tiny points of
light, and he knows them well. They are almost like old friends to
him.
But tonight something is different. There is a new light in the sky,
one that Ayrlathi does not recognise. And... it is moving! For
several minutes he watches it carefully, his tendrils making small
writhing motions atop his head. Before long, it passes beyond the
horizon and is lost from sight.
Deep in thought, Ayrlathi closes the shutters and makes his way
slowly down the wide spiral stairway. As he leaves the tower, he
instinctively closes the door behind him and raises the ornate
bronze marker which indicates that the tower is vacant once more.
As he walks back towards his home, Ayrlathi is still consumed with
curiosity about the strange moving star. He wonders whether it will
prove to be of any importance. Perhaps he should mention what he has
seen to the Ezad when they meet tomorrow...
~~~~~~~~~~
Rak stands ankle-deep in the freshly-fallen snow just outside the
cave entrance. His supple neck arches backwards as he stares up
into the night. Rak rarely notices the cold, but tonight there is
a shiver which seems determined to run repeatedly up and down his
spine. Perhaps it is not the cold after all.
Rak's thoughts are interrupted by sounds of shouting and struggling
from the cave behind him. He looks around to see the shaman Mrog
being dragged out by two particularly burly kythui.
"Stop whining, Mrog," snaps Rak. "I don't care if I *have* interrupted
your dinner. Explain *that*!" Rak points up to a tiny point of light
moving slowly across the sky. "What is it, Mrog? Is it one of your
tricks?" Rak makes a concerted effort to pull himself together. He
must not show any signs of fear in front of his underlings, but he has
to admit to himself that this light suddenly appearing in the sky has
left him feeling very unnerved.
~~~~~~~~~~
Phin Base 1 is always a hive of activity, but today it is doubly so.
Phins are rushing about everywhere as if there was no tomorrow.
Ferdy swims into the vast coordination centre and lurks at the back
of the room, observing the comings and goings. The wall of the great
spherical chamber is lit up by a mind-boggling array of different
instruments and panels, nearly all of them being attended by one or
more phins. Ferdy has never seen the place so crowded.
Eventually, Ferdy's curiosity gets the better of him and he hails a
phin who happens to be dashing past.
"Harry, what's going on here today? Why all the fuss?"
"Come and listen," says Harry excitedly, and he leads Ferdy across
the chamber to where several phins are already listening to a 3D
sonic projection. "It's a deep space sensor," explains Harry, "and
just listen to that blip!"
Ferdy listens, and there is indeed a blip. "Does this mean what I
think it means?"
"Yes," says Harry. "Visitors!"
********************** (trivia - how many stars in this message?) **
Have fun :-)