look at that, we have got a CREATIVE FORUM now!!
So, with a couple of days delay, here is an update of the translation status of Farnhams Legend by Helge Kautz (HelgeK). We have been working solidly, namingly Steve Miller (SteveMill) has spend HEAPS of his time rewriting a lot of translations over the last month.
for you, and all other involved!There are seven more chapters to be translated and we have re-writes to 7+1 chapters with Steve waiting for me to finish the first pass of the translation of ch8, so he can convert it into proper English
Again, thanks all involved people. Your contributions are hugely appreciated. Special thanks to Steve, who always amazes making the impossible possible
The last update and Chapter 1 can be found @ http://www.egosoft.com/x2/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22323 .
The Prologue to the book and my first post in this matter can be found @
http://www.egosoft.com/x2/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11284 .
Chapter 2
And on the countless other planets that may circle other suns, is there life also? Is extraterrestrial life, if it exists, based on the same organic molecules as life on Earth? Do the beings of other worlds look much like life on Earth? Or are they stunningly different - other adaptations to other environments? What else is possible?
Carl Sagan,
“Cosmos”
“Sissandras!”
Nopileos’ voice rattled through the old corridors of this burnt-out Boron spiral station, fading into the distance as an eldrich whisper.
“….andras, as, dras, ras, dra-dras, ras…dr, dss…sss…s…”
“Oh you rotten egg”, Nopileos cursed quietly as his Egg Brother vanished behind the next turn without responding.
Why was it so difficult to have some fun or adventure with Sissandras or anybody older than four suns?
He gathered his possessions from the decking, cramming his credit chip, comm-link, scale scraper and nutri-packs into an orange-blue polymeric bag with careless haste before following his Egg Brother.
Only after the command centre door sealed behind him did he realise that he had forgotten to put the station in hibernation mode. The power reserves were not unlimited and he did not want it to be detected by every ship that passed within a dozen parsecs.
He pivoted smartly on a clawed heel and re-entered the command centre.
The large circular hall offered a spectacularly panoramic view of space but the centre was in a pitiable condition. Most of the consoles, control panels and equipment were destroyed, and the subtle shades of ocean blue favoured by the aquatic Boron as decor, disfigured by carbon scoring.
The station had been ransacked and everything in almost everything in working order had been disassembled and removed.
‘Probably sold,’ Nopileos thought. ‘What else?’
A few of the consoles, however, were still functioning.
Dark blue or magenta backlit displays, Boron colours for ‘Optimal’ and ‘Alert’, indicated, in the shared Argon script, that the life support systems were functioning at minimal levels.
Considering the station has been donated to him it was in good condition.
“Opportunities that provide good short term profits often prove to be uneconomic in the long run.” Sissandras had warned.
Nopileos chose to ignore his advice. He had been given the co-ordinates of the abandoned station by an ancient Boron who asked for nothing in return save that,
“You never forget your Boron friends and allies.” He did not elaborate on this wish.
Nopileos ordered the station computer to switch to stand-by.
All computers he had dealt with in his young life had a verbal interface. This one was no exception but understood only the Boron tongue. The station, he realised, must pre-date the establishment of Argon as standard language for transactions between the two species and that was something that happened long before the Teladi joined the Community of Planets in Jazura 563.
He was forced to enter the stand-by commands using one of the few working consoles by hand, not an easy task for a clawed species. He hoped Sissandras had not been angry enough to leave without him. Shutting down the systems required a few Mizuras, ample time for his Egg Brother to develop all manner of silly notions.
As the station deactivated, section by section, Nopileos noticed his brother’s AutoBroker sitting forlornly on one of the carbon streaked consoles.
Was it, he wondered, left behind deliberately? Nopileos took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring. It was a mundane piece of technology yet Sissandras had spent every spare Mizura during the past four and a half suns developing and improving his new trade software.
Nopileos, on the other hand, had made more use of his comm-link and spent egg-free Tazuras visiting planets and trading stations, pirate bases and weapon factories, building contacts with potentially useful people. While this was nothing out of the ordinary for a Teladian merchant saurian, it was certainly unusual for a Teladi aged only 11 suns, with at least one more sun of schooling at the prestigious Breeding Complex in Company Pride ahead of him.
His latest and so far greatest coup, was the well targeted rumour of a 'Profiteroid', an asteroid consisting of more than 90% Nividium. He heard the story from a drunk argon pirate and of course, did not believe a word of it. However, spreading the legend through his network of greedy, profit-oriented Teladi contacts amused him.
His scale crest flexed in happiness at the memory.
On the spur of the moment he ordered Sissandras' Auto-Broker to research the Nividium industry.
With the last active systems off-line, Nopileos picked up his bag and followed his Egg Brother back to the shuttle.
*
"You know, my colleague." Sissandras began as the black Boron spiral slowly faded into the star-flecked darkness. "I wish you showed more enthusiasm for the goals of the Teladi Corporation."
"Oh, but I take these things seriously, brother." Nopileos replied. "Very much so!"
His scale crest twitched, almost imperceptibly, but he restrained himself.
"Look around you ..." he gestured grandly towards the windows and Sissandras' eyes followed his claws instinctively.
"What do you think is out there, brother?"
“Profit”, Sissandras replied mechanically and turned his view back to the controls of the shuttle.
“Planets that no Teladi has visited.” Nopileos proposed. “Races we haven’t encountered yet …”
“New markets.” Sissandras insisted.
“The secret of the Star Gates!”
“What is so mysterious about them?” Sissandras asked. “One flies through them and BANG one has reached ones destination.”
Nopileos nostrils flared indignantly. “Brother, you have no imagination!”
Sissandras made some minor adjustments to the trajectory of the small shuttle craft and plotted a fast but safe course back to the hatchery before he answered.
“There is no shame in that and please stop calling me brother, colleague.”
Nopileos did not reply, instead he sat back and closed his eyes. No wonder his race above all of the Community of Planets was considered grumpy, slow and boring.
That attitude showed in the fact that the Teladi, although the last of the races to join this federation, arrogantly refer to it as the Profit Guild, bringing the wishes and aspirations of those hundreds of billions of people down to the level of the credit-obsessed Teladi.
Credits left, income right, resources behind; the only adventure Teladi allowed themselves was the annual tax return. Excitement for the whole family!
The Teladi race was considered slow and unintuitive, by it’s very nature. Nopileos, however, doubted that assessment. After all, there were adventurers – military, discoverers, scientists. Admittedly there were not exactly many of them, and most of those were driven by the lust for profit, but they proved that a Teladi could posses more talents than those required to be an excellent broker, merchant or company secretary.
The main impediment to his adventurous streak, was of course, his heritage, documented all too well in his name, Isemados Sibasomos Nopileos IV. Life as grandchild of Ceo Isemados may provide plenty of bonuses but it also brought a heavy burden of responsibility, the worst of which was, the expectations of others.
Certainly his Egg-Elders were surprised, although not excited, that he was the brightest and most successful student the Company Pride hatchery had produced, easily outstripped his very gifted Egg-Brother, Sissandras.
Nopileos had attracted more than his fair share of attention at school. Despite his tendency to spend more time sleeping in or disrupting classes than actually working,
his grasp of the subjects enabled him to tax his teachers with questions they could not answer. Sometime during his fifth or sixth sun his Egg-Comrades began to avoid him, having failed to upset him with the dirty tricks played on him.
Teladi tricks.
Nopileos’ scale crest popped up in amusement, when he remembered how often these failed. Once they glued his credit card with Quantum Adhesion Glue to the school bench while he was sleeping. While every other Teladi would have been outraged over their sanctified credit card being stuck to a bench forever, Nopileos was simply amused.
“Did they expect him to take credit card AND the school bench to the bank?” he had inquired blithely.
“Tss … tsssk”, Nopileos hissed as he drifted off to sleep, lulled by the gentle hum of the drives.
Space Station Antigone Does Not Respond! It was, the synopsis promised, a fast-paced anti war story describing the lives of an Argon Egg-Couple during the Xenon Conflict around Jazura 214.
Nopileos sat back on his sleeping table, leaning against the wall, his claws resting comfortably on the humidifier, and began scrolling through the story on his Reader, happy that the Egg Nest, the communal recreation and rest room used by himself and his colleagues between study units, was empty.
“What exactly was an Egg-Couple?” he wondered idly. As far as he knew the Argon did not lay eggs like the Teladi. Perhaps the translation was wrong?
His focus drifted to the window. It was a splendid morning, as most mornings here at the Hatchery. The planet Platinum Ball, the seventh planet of Company Pride system and home of the famous Company Pride Hatchery, was one of the nicest places a Teladi could imagine. Unfortunately, due to the absence of native flora and fauna, it was almost useless for anything else.
Reportedly, even the atmosphere was generated by huge sub-surface gas converters at the poles of the planet, built by mysterious beings a long time ago. However, despite three dozens of suns of occupation, no Teladi had bothered to explore the poles.
More than 80% of the planet surface was covered by a beautiful blue ocean, with only a few medium-sized islands protruding. The rest was covered by the small continent of Holmaseos, which was a Teladi enclave and location of the Hatchery, and the large leisure continent of Ebelon.
Every year Ebelon was swamped by millions of Argon in need of recreation – an unexpected source of profit that secured the lucky discoverer of the Argon wanderlust a seat on the Teladi board of directors.
Nopileos thought it strange that the Teladi and the Argon shared a similar notion of paradise when they were different in so many ways. He snorted in a puzzlement that vanished when the Reader hit his nose.
“Hello, dear colleague!”
He looked up and saw the Hegebalios looking at him, his head tilted and scale crest raising in amusement. Hegebalios’ scales shone, bright new-hatched, green, an easy target for jest throughout his life. He was an outsider, too.
“What is up, my friend?”
“I know, after one Wozura of directed studies the first Stazura’s of general teaching are always the worst. Still, the class begins shortly, financial management and profit ‘science’.”
Nopileos snorted, it was just about the most boring subject imagineable!
“Oh Egg-… wasn’t history and brood care on the agenda?”
“Yes, but the classes have been cancelled due to recent news. Anyway, brood care is horrible, not to mention history!”
Nopileos wiped his nose with tongue. It was useless to discuss with his colleagues which subjects were boring and useless. Even the unit teachers could not conceal their boredom. Several times Nopileos caught a teacher telling something obviously wrong and but nobody appeared to be interested in his corrections.
“What is the news?” He asked instead, trying to sound interested.
Hegebalios raised his claws and spread the fingers, revealing the vestigal webbing, a gesture of doubt.
“I am not totally sure –the stock market looks like a storm is heading it’s way. It could be absolutely disastrous.
“Now isn’t that terrible.” Nopileos commented, his tone deliberately deadpan, bored.
“Tss-shhh-hh”, Hegebalios hissed. “Nopileos, you are an incorrigible ignoramous. Will you come along now?”
Nopileos glanced briefly at his Reader before he switched it off and followed his nest colleague, the last sentences haunting him:
“Nyana, my heart is yours forever. My life is empty without you and nobody else shall ever be my sun. Will you wait for me? Please promise you will!”
The image on the tiny monitor flickered due to the magnetic interferences caused by the continuous militaryactivity. Still, Martinus saw a single tear running down the cheek of his beautiful truelove.
“Forever, my love”, she whispered.
Without warning a glistening explosion lit up the nightly sky, turning darkness to light. Martinus was blinded for a brief moment and once his eyes re-adjusted the small screen was empty and filled by static noise.
His blood ran cold, fear strangled his heart with an iron grasp that left him paralysed for uncountled moments.
Only when dawn came did he turn off the communicator, which he slipped it into his pocket. Lost in thought and walking as if in a trance, he stepped outside into the cold of the Argon winter.
The halls of the Hatchery were nearly empty. Only the odd Teladi hatchling dashed past Hegebalios and Nopileos, hastily heading for the class rooms of their respective nest groups. They’d probably be a bit late but with luck the teachers may not notice. Nopileos, however, had ‘extended privileges’ in these regards anyway – the rules of the hatchery did not include punishment for late appearances and dalliance. This sort of attitude did not seem to have been anticipated. It made it all the more surprising that Sissandras, who was always on time, was waiting for them in front of the class room.
He looked uneasy.
“Hi brother?” Nopileos greeted, puzzled.
“Brother.” Sissandras responded.
Nopileos was surprised by this greeting. How long ago was it since Sissandras last called him brother? Suns ago! Something serious must be upsetting the young Teladi.
Sissandras turned to Hegebalios, “If you could continue? We will join you shortly.”
Hegebalios flexedhis scale crest in acknowledgement and stepped into the class-room.
Nopileos glanced in before the door closed. The students hadn’t taken their seats and the lecturer was not there. If they entered now nobody would notice they’d been late.
Sissandras did not waste any time and came right down to business “Have you seen my AutoBroker?”
“Which?”
“The small one”, Sissandras did not appear to notice the redundancy of Nopileos’ question.
Nopileos frowned and pretended to think very hard.
Of course, he knew exactly where Sissandras left his AutoBroker.
“Tsssssssshhhh. Yes, I think I saw it in the control room of the Proud of the Ce.”” he replied hesitantly after a while.
Why did his Egg-Brother miss his AutoBroker now and not earlier? After all they had returned two Tazuras ago. Most importantly, why did he miss it at all? His program ran just as well on the main computer that always remained in the hatchery.
“Is it switched on and connected to the network?”
“Of course”, Nopileos had decided to answer his Egg-Brother’s questions truthfully.
However, Sissandras did not ask any more questions and only looked very concerned.
Before Nopileos had a chance to ask what the matter was his Egg-Brother opened the door and entered the class room. All students had taken their respective seats and were studying the projections on the bench tops while the teacher explained the displayed graphs.
Lecturer Wohalimis interrupted his explanations, looked at the two brothers who hurried quietly through the room to get to their seats.
“Now look there!” Wohalimis shouted, “Colleagues Isemados Sibasomos, Nopileos and Sissandras IV! What an honour that you decided to take part in this class!”
A low fizzling became audible and a few scale crests rose.
Sissandras looked so remorseful it made it difficult for Nopileos to stifle his laughter.
“There was a small inconsistency in our project report that had to be discussed” Sissandras explained shyly.
“Colleague Sissandras”, Wohalimis responded with inflated nostrils, “I certainly did not expect crestless excuses from you. Be careful, I hope you will not follow the bad example of your set by your Egg-Brother.”
Sissandras waved his ears assiduously in acknowledgement. “Never, Mister Lecturer, Sir!” he said with strong voice.
“Well, sit down then. Now to you …” Wohalimis turned towards Nopileos.
“I appeal to your sense of responsibility, colleague. You are the most talented student at the institute yet still I occasionally observe a questionable attitude towards the goals of the Teladi Corporation. Would you please use your abilities a bit more profitably!”
The lecturer felt like using harsher words but restrained himself.
“Mister Lecturer, I really take the goals of the Corporation very seriously!” Nopileos reaffirmed solemnly. From the corner of his eye he noticed Hegebalios looking at him, he gazed studiously down and twirled his right ear between his fingers when he noticed he had been noticed.
“Alright, Nopileos, sit down.”
Nopileos obeyed and nudged his brother with his elbow while taking the place next to him.
“You are learning quickly, brother!” he whispered. Sissandras looked at him with a crushing look in his eyes but remained silent.
In the meantime lecturer Wohalimis continued his explanations.
“Sirs, all of you will be aware of the significance of Nividium production, which has always been a profitable but small branch of ore processing industry due to it’s scarcity. Now the picture has changed – in near future we can expect scale scrapers and even cubicles to be made of Nividium!”
The class whispered excitedly before Wohalimis continued.
Nopileos, expecting a boring Stazura had started opening a few class-irrelevant texts on his screen and was only half listening, got very interested when he heard the word ‘Nividium’.
Hey, so my rumour has made it through to the class, he thought with satisfaction. No wonder everybody was excited and Sissandras missed his AutoBroker just right now.
“The curious thing is that the Profiteroid has not been discovered by an independent prospector but by an automatic explorer of the PROFIT COMMUNITY of the TELADI NIVIDIUM INDUSTRY, – PTNI. That organisation has acquired, over night, a universal monopoly. Now imagine what that means for the shares of this company.”
Nopileos sat motionless on his seat, feeling like somebody had poured a barrel of egg yolk all over him.
The lecturer continued obliviously with his illustrations but his voice appeared to have moved far away; Nopileos stopped paying attention, he just squinted at his Egg-Brother. Sissandras’ forehead scale had changed to an unhealthy pale yellowish colour, a clear sign that he felt very uneasy. But why? He could not possibly know that Nopileos hadordered the AutoBroker to research the Nividium industry just before they had left the Boron spiral.
“… and that is why there is no Nividium share left available on the market.” he heard Wohalimis say, “Neither those of PTNI nor any other company.”
With an uncertain motion he opened a data file, it simultaneously opened on all the other students’ desks.
There it was written, grey on blue: A huge asteroid consisting of more than 85% Nividium has been discovered and officially registered. So the rumour he had absorbed and re-distributed so carelessly was not a rumour after all!
Nopileos closed his eyes, opened them again, and blinked a couple of times, still the display remained unchanged.
Just prior to the discovery of the Profiteroid an agent had bought every single available Nividium share.
The license number of the agent was Sissandras’ AutoBroker.
