New month, new update
We have been busy over August and made very good progress on the translation of HelgeK's book 'Farnhams Legend', the background story to XbtF and in parts to what we still see in X2!
As mentioned last month, all chapters have been translated and we now have rewrites of 20 chapters + prologue. So there are only 6 more + epilogue to go. Proof-reading has made good progress, too. We welcome Rapier and PJK among us. May your pedantism match ours
Alright, enough talk, here is chapter No 7.
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Oh how close fascination is to horror! One empty Star System after another – but why? I lay awake at night and I am afraid of the answer.
Dr. Pjotr Ondronov,
Logbook of the Winterblossom
Brennan watched the control light for half a second as his thoughts began to race. “Valerie what kind of signal are we dealing with here?”
The onboard computer reacted instantly and answered with her usual steady voice. “It is a frequency modulated trinary data stream spread over seven channels. The first channel also incorporates a modulated amplitude which most likely carries information, in all probability a simple mathematical logic describing the transmission protocol used.”
Brennan frowned. “Can you do something with it?”
Valerie replied instantly, which suggested that the highly efficient onboard computer was already dealing with the contents of the signal without being asked to do so. “Its mathematical logic is very simple. But it appears a few basic instructions are missing. I believe the sender assumes they are already known so there will be a slight margin of error. I am certain one of the channels is an audio transmission.” -
“Let’s hear it,” Brennan ordered.
The same instant a deep sonorous rumble filled the room, which Brennan instantly identified as the heavy energy converters working at full stretch. And there was a loud hissing and squawking, like an enraged cobra in the middle of a chicken coop, overlain on the signal. Occasionally he could make out a few syllables and some choppy consonants.
"Tssh! Hshmme mss ap! Tain ussandrshhoo shmlasss lshnse dessssu!"
The sentence repeated itself several times as Brennan attempted to picture the kind of species that would use this menacing sounding language.
"Hassshe masss apt, ain ussndroosh mlshmlasss loanshh dessu!"
The strange pronunciation seemed to truncate the words, chopping them short and Brennan had to strain to understand them at all. Despite the strangeness, the words had a melodic tone that gave him a little bit of hope. Then a crazy thought went through Brennan’s mind. What if the space craft over there was of terran origin and Valerie, for some unknown reason, had mistranslated the transmission?
“Valerie, are you sure you aren’t mistaking something completely different as audio data?”
The computer hesitated for a tiny but still noticeable moment before the answer came. “Affirmative, Captain. It is the only possible explanation,” she answered tersely.
"Ochshiro! Tshhh-shh! Hashhimashshhcapsh! Tshain ussandrooshhh mshomaass lshoanss desu!"
This time there was a distinctive impatient undertone and Brennan had the impression that whoever it was, was attempting to speak more clearly. Not that this would help Brennan to understand this totally unknown alien language....
"Valerie, is there a video signal?”
“One of the channels could be carrying a video signal but I am still working on the decoding,” the computer replied.
"Oshiro... what do you want to say to me, my strange friend.” Brennan muttered. In the common terran commercial language which had been used globally for several hundreds of years and which evolved from a simplified form of Japanese, 'oshiro' meant “Wake up!”
Brennan shut his eyes and attempted to separate each sound as the sentence repeated itself. A new sentence followed.
"Hashhmemashte shhh Captain Usshh Andrshoosh Melomilashhh Lshanies dessu. Dshoso, nachkashh ehsh haishtte! Phsoniksh-fnshe desshu!"
Slowly these words started to form in Kyle William Brennan’s brain a recognizable pattern.
It could not be, must not be and he refused to believe it, even remotely to consider it!
“Hajime mashite Captain Ussandroos Melomilas Loanises desu - My name is Captain Ussandroos Melomilas Loanises.”
NO!
"Val, please tell me I am wrong. This isn’t Japanese is it!”
“Sorry Captain Brennan I can not grant your wish. It is Japanese.”
Again the cooing and hissing speech echoed out and this time Brennan understood even more:
“Hallo, here speaks Captain Ussandroos Melomilas Loanises from the space ship Phoenix. Over.”
Phoenix? Things were getting even more bizarre.
“I decoded the video signal. Shall I..”
“Yes,” snapped Brennan, even before Valerie finished her sentence.
The image on the screen so matched the mental picture he’d drawn that he forgot to be surprised. A broad smile appeared on his face and vanished just as quickly.
The Extra Terrestrial looked like a lizard; a large, intelligent looking salamander with shiny polished scales, cunning ’looking through you’ orange red eyes, a considerable forehead and a drooping crest which looked like a flaccid green hose on his head. Apparently the creature could see Brennan as well, to judge from his reaction which Brennan could only interpret as surprise. The alien spoke again, this time though with a stronger, more accentuated pronunciation.
“We have visual contact, wonderful! Identify yourself Argon pilot. Here speaks Captain Ussandroos Melomilas Loanises IV from the Teladiani Destroyer Phoenix."
"Hajime mashite Captain Brennan, Kyle William desu. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu." My name is Captain Kyle William Brennan. Delighted to make your acquaintance.
Brennan spoke slowly, full of scepticism and anticipation. Perhaps this was a psychological experiment and someone wanted to test his reactions to a completely strange situation. Or perhaps he had sustained a head injury during an accident and was now in a delusional state? It felt real to him, but the situation was so surreal he decided for the time being to assume he was the victim of a psychic illusion.
"Captain Kyliam Brennan! In the name of the Teladi Company I bid you welcome in the star system Seizewell and I wish you a great profit.” proclaimed the lizard with a near ceremonial cadence. “Naturally for us as well,” added the creature after a short pause. His pronunciation had started to deteriorate almost immediately, as if he had forgotten he was speaking to an alien being and Brennan had trouble understanding several words.
"Domo arigato, Captain", he only replied. Thank you very much.
“Oh adorable Kyliam Brennan from noble Argonian brood, this chance meeting so far from your homeland is a good omen. I would gladly invite you on board my ship to discuss this profitable incident further!” Brennan shook his head slightly. He had been trained to deal with all manner of situations. He had experienced some pretty strange things in his time but this situation he could not explain.
“Captain,” he said “Please give me a moment to think it over.”
He saw how the lizard turned his black taloned claws upwards while spreading its thick fingers to show off the thin, pale swimming skin between them before he cut the transmission. Only then did Brennan force his muscles to relax and he slowly sunk back into his seat.
Very slowly, Kyle added up all the known facts in an attempt to understand the situation. Well, what were the facts?
First, the Singularity Engine apparently threw him into an unknown part of space – or maybe even a parallel Universe - before the engine had been detached and lost. Perhaps it was drifting close enough to salvage?
Second, contrary to the evidence of centuries of space travel before the Terraformer War, there were indeed extra terrestrial life forms and it was he who had met them first! Unless he was delusional of course, but that comforting hypothesis was collapsing under the weight of evidence from his own senses.
Third, even if Extra Terrestrials existed, it seemed impossibly coincidental for an accident with a Singularity Engine to transport him just to the place where they were.
Fourth, the alien spoke an archaic version of a terrestrial pidgin-japanese, the ancient trading language of the early High-Tech Centuries. That fact alone was enough to make Brennan question his mental state.
Fifth, these Extra Terrestrials treated him as if meeting a human was a normal occurrence, inviting him onboard to chew the fat.
Sixth, the alien assumed Brennan was able to breathe the air on board the Phoenix.
Seventh, how come the alien ship had been named Phoenix? This was a name straight out of Terran folklore!
Eight, he would without a doubt need help, so could he afford to turn down the invitation? If this was not a nightmare it was his duty to inform Earth.
Brennan ran the logic past Valerie and although she had not been specifically programmed to deal with such a situation her parallel transputer banks did not doubt their perceived reality and she was therefore able to deliver answers unbiased by emotion.
“Is there a logical reason for me not to believe I’m trapped in a nightmare?” he asked.
"Captain Brennan, the data is incomplete but a hypothesis begins to form. First of all it is very likely the defective Singularity Engine mistakenly locked onto the Singularity of a Jump Gate. This has always been a theoretical possibility. The whole Galaxy is full of Jump Gates, even if mankind hasn’t had one for more than six centuries. Such Gates would form natural junction points where you could expect to encounter alien species.”
"Captain Farnham never discovered any other species – and after him no one else did either! All explored systems had a Jump Gate but were lifelesss. Xenobiology 101,” interjected Brennan.
“The absence of proof of the existence of Extra Terrestrials is not proof of their non existence, Captain,” replied Valerie. “Philosophy 101.”
Brennan nodded pensively. He remembered all those historical debates covered in training, about the extraordinary flight of the Winter Blossom. There were as many opinions as there were scientists and philosophers and these discussions never quite ceased – not even hundreds of years after the destruction of the Earth Jump Gate. One thing was for sure; there was at least one other species, the Jump Gate builders. They had placed the gates in lifeless systems and then disappeared without a trace -maybe hundreds or thousands or perhaps even millions of years ago!
This was also the reason why Humanity had never built more than two Jump Gates. The widespread network of alien Gates had been discovered, well before the building of a third Gate began.
“Additionally,” continued Valerie to prevent Brennan from getting absorbed in his thoughts, “It can be safely concluded that this non-terrestrial species has had extensive contact with Terran civilisation, because of their use of the old Earth trade language.”
“Perhaps some Terran colonies survived the Terraformer rampage and later met the lizards?”
“Possibly, Captain. That would explain why the lizard creature was not overly surprised meeting you here.”
Brennan nodded and slowly the fog started to lift. Valerie’s explanations made sense. For the computer this all was just a big complicated equation and she did her best to try and correctly solve this puzzle.
“How high is the probability that you are correct?”
“64.42%,” replied Valerie in an instant.
“Ok, that leaves a lot of leeway for whole legends....” observed Brennan with just a hint of a smile, feeling he was slowly getting to grips with the situation. He reopened the communications channel. The lizard who had introduced himself as the Captain of this alien ship appeared almost instantly on screen but he did not look into the camera, instead he spoke in urgent sounding hisses with another reptile, visible only as claws and a flash of a dark green uniform sleeve. Brennan was pretty sure these two creatures had not been conversing in Japanese but had been speaking in their own native language.
The Captain hastily turned around to face Brennan. Just for a moment he looked furious, as if he wanted to have Brennan for dinner, but then his eyes cleared. "Oh, Captain Brennan", he said in the now almost familiar sounding japanese Pidgin. He sounded a little like he wanted to give the appearance of being surprised but had missed the right emphasis.
"Captain, please forgive the short delay. I accept your offer of a personal meeting with pleasure and I am looking forward to it,” explained Brennan.
The lizard creature moved his head slightly from left to right and the crest on his head twitched. “I am highly pleased oh Captain Kyliam Brennan", it said. “I am confident we can find a way for all of us to make profit.”
Profit, why does the lizard speak continuously of profit? As Brennan did not know how far the salamanderesque creature could interpret human emotions, he stifled the impulse to frown. Perhaps this was just a common figure of speech? He would soon find out.
A faint reddish flicker coming through the front screen of the cockpit diverted Brennan’s attention from the alien being on his screen. Thrusters flared around the hull of the huge ship, thin, orange flames, began and the Phoenix drifted towards the X Shuttle.
"Captain Brennan, with your permission and for your own safety we would like to take your vessel on board the Phoenix. Please do not start your engines during this manoeuvre.”
Brennan acknowledged tersely, noting they expected his permission but did not ask him first. In any case he had no choice, all he could do is to look out of his cockpit window and watch a precision manoeuvre that closely resembled the recovery of a damaged ship in Deep Space. Strictly speaking, he realised, this is what it was!
The Phoenix edged closer and closer and at the same time performed a slow, gentle rotation around its longitudinal axis. While the X shuttle was soundlessly engulfed by the strange ship he took a glance at a small interior window. There, just two meters away, stood one of the lizards returning Brennan’s stare with bright curiosity, then the instant was over and the window was gone, disappearing out of sight. The lizards seemed to be relatively small, Brennan estimated only about 140 to 160 cm tall, but naturally there could also be exceptions.
The rotation of the alien space ship became less and eventually something appeared in his view, which looked like a somewhat bigger air lock. It opened slowly to reveal a hangar. To his surprise it was just big enough for his shuttle to squeeze into. Each end of its wings would have just about half a meter to spare between them and the hangar walls.
The precision with which this big space ship moved the X Shuttle into its hangar was amazing. From the Phoenix’s size one would think, her steering would be clumsy but on the contrary, the hangar of the Phoenix just floated over the top of the little Earth spacecraft, while sinking ‘down’ on it. When its winged docking doors closed shut only a few centimetres under the Shuttle’s landing gear, Valerie had the presence of mind to lower it at the right moment.
His instruments registered a slow gravity surge inside the hangar, slowly pulling the Shuttle down. It sank the last few millimetres and came softly to rest on its landing skids. The gravity stabilised at almost Earth normal. The Shuttle now rested on its three landing skids, which sat firmly on the Phoenix’s docking doors. Brennan was impressed. The effortless ease with which the alien ship had shifted the X into its hangar was remarkable. Never in his life had he been a witness of such a smooth rescue manoeuvre.
“Valerie, what’s the weather like outside?”
“I have no outer sensors,” she answered, “but atmospheric pressure outside approximates that inside the cockpit. Atmospheric composition unknown.”
It was not an answer Brennan liked but the lizards seemed to know what they were doing. He cracked a nutrient bar from the emergency supplies and washed it down with a deep gulp of water while he waited to see what their next move would be. The bar was dry and tasteless but packed with nutrients and vitamins. Brennan estimated he had a two-week supply, possibly three with a little belt tightening. Better that than risk food poisoning or worse by trying to eat whatever it was the lizards ate. The water was recycled, so that should last longer. He preferred not to think about what he would do when the supplies ran out, hoping that by then he would have found a way back to Earth or at least run across the humans Valerie hypothesised.
The video screen flashed to life, “Welcome on board of the Teladi Phoenix, Captain Kyliam Brennan. I will meet you directly in person at the dock of your ship.” The lizard stood up, blinked and disappeared out of view of the camera. The screen darkened and died.
“Well!” Brennan, muttered, more to himself than to Valerie. Butterflies churned his stomach, it was a long time since he had felt this nervous but this was an historic moment - the first meeting of a human being from Earth with members of an alien species. Some philosophers predicted the first such contact with alien intelligence would inevitably degenerate into hostilities due to the enormous cultural barriers and the resulting misunderstandings but so far the lizards seemed peaceful. He hoped they’d stay that way.
The alien seemed to be professional, experienced, prudent and, thankfully, helpful.
“A small step for mankind but a big jump for....” he stopped. He could never get the quote straight and he asked Valerie.
“Famous quotations are not part of my programming Captain,” she retorted. Brennan grinned and made his way to the airlock in the centre of the shuttle.
“Keep an eye on things,” he ordered as he reached for the airlock controls.
“Yes Sir, Captain,” replied Valerie, deadpan.
Brennan hesitated, wondering again if the air outside was breathable and then he shrugged, what the hell, and mashed the switch with the palm of his hand. Both doors of the airlock opened simultaneously, indicating that at least there wasn’t a vacuum on the other side.
Without thinking Brennan held his breath and took a step forward. The shuttle had no gangplank and rested on its landing gear about a metre from the deck. Bracing himself against the inner walls of the airlock Brennan leaned out. Belatedly he realised he was still holding his breath and took a deep gasp.
The air tasted fresh, cool, and with no alien aromas. ‘At least the lizards appreciate personal hygiene,’ he thought. He felt a little light headed but alert and energised, indicating a slightly higher oxygen content than he was used to but, so far so good! He dropped the short distance to the deck, bending his knees on impact.
Although he stood on the hanger doors, with the cold vacuum of space just under his feet, after so many years in the United Space Command, it did not disturb him and he looked around. The ambient lighting levels in the hangar were a little low, suggesting the lizards had better night vision. With a 10-metre length and 8-metre span the X-Shuttle was not small and it almost filled the hangar. Mentally he scaled this space against what he had seen of the Phoenix and whistled softly. She was huge.
The hangar was empty apart from his ship and almost antiseptically clean and the walls appeared to be constructed from rectangular ochre-coloured panels. These were pierced by a couple of closed doors, which he guessed led to service areas, and a large glass screen, that probably hid an office, but it was unlit and the light in the hangar was too dim for Brennan to see for sure.
Brennan spun round at the hiss of an airlock opening. The hull of his ship blocked line of sight and with his heart pounding wildly he waited for that moment of truth, first contact with an alien being. Part of him wished for a weapon but another part thanked the Universe that he did not possess one. Brennan wiped his sweaty palms on his flight suit and squeezed past the shuttle wings towards the sound. Three lizards strode calmly towards him, their unshod black taloned feet clicked loudly on the metal deck. They looked like gripping claws, capable of using tools. The skin of the beings was divided into large corrugated plates of scales, which looked like dark green leather, both supple and resilient. Unsure how to greet them, Brennan waited.
"Irshmashhe!" hissed the middle creature with such undisguised aggression Brennan almost took an involuntary step back. Over-riding the impulse Brennan stepped forward. Then it clicked what the lizard had just said. Irashaimase - welcome. Optimistically he put the aggressive tone down to a cultural misunderstanding; maybe that’s just how they always spoke.
"Domo", he replied amiably, “Are you Captain....?”
"Ussandroos Melomilas Loanises. Delighted to make your acquaintance.” The Captain held his head sidewise and blinked his eyes for a second. Brennan copied him.
"Captain Brennan, are you alone on board of your ship?”
Brennan nodded. “Yes I am.” The lizard’s crest ruffled slightly. "Tssh-shh. That is what I thought.”
Loanises remained quiet for a moment and his orange red eyes wandered over to the X Shuttle before returning to Kyle.
"Captain Brennan – I don’t know if you are familiar with the interior of a Teladi Destroyer. If it would interest you, I would gladly give you a short tour.”
Brennan nodded. “Many thanks, I would be very interested.”
“Wonderful. Should we reach a profitable understanding later I will only charge you a small amount. In a manner of speaking, just a friend’s fee.” The crest rippled a shade and Brennan hid his confusion. ‘Profitable understanding? Friend’s fee? They want to charge me for the tour of this ship as if he were a tourist in a strange city?’ The lizards apparently did not realize he did not come from this part of space and therefore did not have the necessary local currency, whatever that might be: Beaver skins, crocodile teeth, star dust, glass beads?
Brennan mentally shrugged, it was too late to back out now without somebody losing face. They’d find out he couldn’t pay soon enough so he might as well enjoy the ride, find out as much as he could about them while giving away as little as he could in return. He noted, his palms had stopped sweating, a triumph of curiosity over fear.
“What now, esteemed Captain?” hissed Loanises, “If you would follow me please?”
His two taciturn companions turned with a strangely graceful shift of their clawed feet and strode towards the exit. Captain Loanises waited until Brennan caught up before he continued. He looked at the man from Earth with a sidewise glance while they both walked through the lock.
“Adorable Captain Kyliam Brennan, can you tell me something”, he asked in a confidential tone. “This wonderful material your clothes are made from, how many credits did this cost you?”
The Teladi, as the lizards called themselves, were curious beings Brennan thought. “Too much!” he answered noncommittally.
As the tour proceeded Brennan realised that although the technology level of the Phoenix easily matched that of a Terran Destroyer it did not suggest the Teladi could be the creators of the jumpgates. He got the distinct impression they neither knew how they functioned or cared about their ignorance. All they were interested in were profits, which they lusted after. Obliging and helpful as they were his guides let no opportunity pass to remind him of his growing debt. Brennan remained tactfully silent.
"Captain, can we speak freely with each other”, said Loanises after a while. By this time Brennan’s ear had adapted to the sibilance of the Teladi intonation and he understood every sentence with little problem. “There are a few things that do not fit in connection with your appearance in this sector, which I really want to clarify with you.”
Brennan nodded “Which I would like to do too.”
Loanises snorted through the nostrils of his rather flat snout and waited for a moment. As Brennan did not continue he snorted again, this time a bit louder. “Captain, your presence here makes my scales itch. With us Teladi it is not customary to cross-examine our guests, but I have to ask you to truthfully answer some questions. Certainly I am prepared to compensate you for valuable information with an appropriate fee.” He took a seat on a bench and indicated for Brennan to join him.
“Wow” replied Brennan ironically, “I should leave this room a rich man then!”
"Tshh? I should not think so. But perhaps you would almost wipe out the amount you owe the Teladi Company.”
Brennan pulled a sorrowful face and raised his hands helplessly, letting them fall back onto the table. “Go ahead, ask me something, anything at all.” The Teladi hesitated for several seconds, as if Brennan’s resigned invitation had taken the wind from his sails. He gave Brennan a penetrating look with his orange red eyes.
“Well, we know that your space ship is an Argon prototype. Due to the manner of your arrival in this stellar system we can deduce that this is due to some new advanced technology. As you can imagine, this interests us greatly.”
As Brennan did not react, Loanises continued.
“As one can plainly see, your ship has been damaged and so far you have had no chance to contact Argon Prime to report your accident. We have the means and we are prepared to repair your ship which will enable you to return home.” Again the Captain of the Phoenix paused to stare expectantly at Brennan, making him think he’d missed some nuance which would give the lizard’s statement some new significance but even without knowing their customs in detail he knew what would follow if he agreed to this offer. The Teladi would set a fee for it, which in turn would push him further into debt.
His only advantage was they still thought he was Argon and they seemed to have a reluctant respect for that people. His mind raced to find some way to turn that to his advantage. Who were these Argon and how would they behave in this situation? What is expected of him? If he acted out of their character he could find himself up shit creek, paddling with his bare hands. So far, the big, talking Salamander had made it easy for him but perhaps it was a trap? He decided to gamble and stood up.
The Teladi looked up at him, his head sideways and his snout half open.
"Captain Loanises, I thank you for your hospitality. You are somewhat right with your assumptions but I am not prepared to pay an exorbitant price for the repair of my ship, as by doing so at best I would only gain a few extra hours on the Argon rescue team heading our way.
The Teladi jumped up from the bench.
“A few stazuras, which could mean life or death for you!” he hissed angrily.
“Are you threatening me?” asked Brennan, worried now that the situation was suddenly getting out of hand. He checked, there were nothing more than just a few tables and benches between him and the exit.
“Oh no, adorable Captain Kyliam Brennan, nothing is further from the truth. But after the arrival of your space craft in this part of the Universe accompanied by a strong gravity wave with a unique radiation signature it is only a matter of time till the Split or Xenon arrive to investigate.”
Brennan briefly considered confessing he was bluffing but raised the stakes.
“Well, even if my buddies don’t arrive in time – which I don’t believe – the Split or Xenon would be as interested in my ship as you are, Captain. I might get a better deal.”
"Tshh!!!"
Brennan could not interpret the gestures of the Teladi – but he would bet ten to one that they signified indecision. The Teladi flexed his right claw to reveal the webbing.
“This is precisely the reason, oh Captain, why the Teladi Company, even though it is the biggest financial power in the Universe, and the Argon Federation will never reach the same level. Stubbornness! Pure illogical stubbornness!”
Brennan took a step towards the door. The Teladi snorted agitated – this time helpless rather than aggressive – and said. “Please Captain, we will find a way, to profit together from our situation.” He pointed to the bench. “Would you like to sit down again? I have a proposal for you.” He handed Brennan something. The small oblong plastic card in Brennan’s palm was the same approximate size as the credit cards used on Earth. It was just a little thicker and almost square and the dark green marble patterned background pulsated irregularly with shades of red and ochre that matched the walls making it much more beautiful than the plastic money he knew.
Brennan listened to the offer carefully. He smiled and moved the credit card into one of his suit’s leg pockets. The reputation of the Argon alone had been the reason for the change in the Teladi Captain’s stance. Perhaps these Argon were the descendants of the Earth beings, whose existence in this space sector Valerie had forecast he thought.
For the 212.004 Credits, which the Teladi had transferred to Brennan’s new credit card, he allowed them to deep scan the X Shuttle every nanometre. There was nothing on the Earth prototype that could be a military secret – the only device secret was the Jump Drive and that had been blown away. Naturally the Teladi did not know this – and Brennan hoped they would not find this out before he’d put a few hundred thousand klicks between them.
While a complete Teladi repair crew plugged the hole in the hull, renewed the cables, serviced the lasers and shields and uploaded a comprehensive set of star maps into Valerie, Brennan took in his temporary quarters. There were no bunks, just several clinical looking tables and benches of different heights. Either the lizards either did not need any sleep or the hard benches were sufficient.
A flat video screen was set into the panelling of the cabin wall, covered by a plate scored by the claws of the lizard creatures. Surprisingly its control elements were inscribed with Latin letters that seemed to be either abbreviations or gibberish. "Wjasl", "Lunst", "Grulid". Brennan suspected the Teladi had adopted the human script for their own language. Interesting!
He was sure the Teladi would not have given in if they had not feared diplomatic repercussions with Argon Prime. On one hand they had been desperate for information about the new drive but on the other hand they would not risk upsetting the Argon, with whom they seemed to have sort of love-hate relations.
Brennan wiped a drop of sweat from his forehead. As much as the lizards cared about a clean, fresh air, the labouring air humidifier was not designed for the comfort of humans and the room was beginning to feel like a sauna and he had no idea how to switch it off. Suddenly a shrill tone blared, which Brennan took to be a warning signal. At the same time white lights blazed and the cabin door hissed open to show Teladi scurrying along the passageway in a hectic but organized manner. Alarmed, he jumped up and stepped outside.
“What is going on?” he called to a Teladi running past.
"Wosshmak gshashh Shhenon!" called the lizard without stopping. It was not Japanese, it was Teladian. Worried, Brennan ran down the corridor trying to remember the route back to his ship. He ran into no more lizards, confirming his suspicions. They were all at their posts, battle stations. He stopped in a large oval room from which half a dozen corridors led. He looked around for markings that might be directions. "Ssolmak", said one inscription in terran letters, "Huspil" was another. He decided to follow one corridor with the inscription "Fulmar"; its grey blue colour coding vaguely looked familiar. If he remembered rightly it was here Captain Loanises escorted him away from the hangar.
After less then a minute a light green door on the end of the corridor blocked his way. Bingo! He now remembered the colour clearly. This has to be the entrance to the hangar. He searched the frame for controls but he could not see any buttons, sensors or anything resembling them. He squatted down to inspect a little rise in the frame just a few centimetres up from the floor. A foot-level sensor or control? Brennan pressed the button. It resisted firmly but in the end started to move and the door opened slowly upwards.
Brennan squeezed impatiently through into the hangar where the Earth Experimental Shuttle still stood. The big hole in its bow underneath the cockpit had gone but he did not have the time to examine the repairs more closely because the airlock of the Shuttle started to open. Valerie must have seen him coming he guessed and Brennan jumped the metre up into the lock.
“Valerie, status. Now!”
“Repairs of all system finished. Operational readiness: 116%. No other information is available.”
As Brennan slumped into his pilot seat, the little video monitor on the console lit up and Ussandroos Melomilas Loanises, Captain of the Teladi Phoenix appeared.
“A squadron of Xenon approaching. Hangar doors will open. Good luck.” The picture darkened and the same moment Brennan’s instruments indicated gravity in the hangar was diminishing. The hangar doors on which Brennan’s ship had been parked, swung slowly out and open, revealing the black of space. The air froze into white snowflakes that wafted around the X Shuttle as it fell into the vacuum.
Brennan observed three points of light approaching in formation, on swords of blue flamed exhaust. The Teladi must really fear the Xenon, he thought, to throw him to the wolves just to save their own hides.
“My heroes!” mocked Brennan, as the hangar doors above him closed. The shuttle shuddered as a blue energy pulse hit the shields. Fortunately the extreme range of the shot meant most of the energy dissipated before impact. He did not wait for a second blast. He ignored the warning lights flashing all over the cockpit, targeted what appeared to be a jump gate on the radar and hit the throttle. Just for an instant the Inertia Dampeners could not cope and the full force of the acceleration hit Brennan like a punch in the face, the chest, his whole body. As he screamed the Podkletnov Aggregates cut in and the powerful M/AM engines began accelerating the ship.
The Phoenix banked to port, her main engines blazing as the shuttle came up to full speed. The X seemed to be faster than the Xenon ships and as they fell behind Brennan began to think of his next steps. He had never flown through a Jump Gate but he assumed they would function like his Jump Drive, only, he hoped, with a few less fireworks. The big question was what would be waiting for him on the other side?
He took in the fuel gauge. Another forty, perhaps forty two hours at full power – then he would be dead in space, easy meat for his pursuers.
One thing was for sure, he had to think of something fast.
Still itching to read on, even if Steve hasn't given it the final once over.
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