FARNHAMS LEGEND: Chapter 12 - January 2005

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KiwiNZ
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FARNHAMS LEGEND: Chapter 12 - January 2005

Post by KiwiNZ » Thu, 13. Jan 05, 13:08

Hey there.

Sorry for the delay but after th Christmas chapter I thought I better distribute it a bit so time isn't too long for the next chapter to follow. My excuse anyway :)

There are no news at the moment, work on the rewrite and finding a suitable publisher are still prime tasks.

Thanks again to all involved, in particular SteveMill for rewriting our crude translations! And obviously thanks to HelgeK for actually writing the story in the first place :thumb_up:


Here now chapter 12.


Only he who possesses three eyes can fully grasp the concept of three-dimensionality;
Only he who truly grasps the concept of three-dimensionality is holy.

Paranid Bashra,
first and second axiom


"Sir? Sir?"

Senator Nan Gunnar nodded vacantly and called up the next page on the terminal.

"Yes?"

The adjutant took another step towards the black gahamoni desk.

"The Priest Duke first class, negotiator and assistant to the Bishop of Paranid Prime, envoy of the Pontifex Maximus Paranidia, prophet of the New Revelation in his own right, Reverend Olmancketslat, is ready and expects your appearance."

The senator let go of the terminal and buried his face in his hands resignedly and his voice came muffled through his palms:

"That is one hell of a long title."

The adjutant nodded. "Yes Sir, that it is."

Nan Gunnar took a deep breath. "Ok then," He took the hands from his face and rose to his feet. "Conference room seven?"

"Seven through eleven," answered the adjutant, "the partition walls were removed."
"My god... goodness," Gunnar sighed. Paranids were known to need a lot of personal space, but five halls?

It was obvious which 'important matter' this was about. Nobody would have expected the diplomatic negotiations to lead to the Paranids approaching Argon Prime first, when it was the Argon government who had a request to make. However, now that it had happened, it was an opportunity. Senator Nan Gunnar, even though he was head of the RD Commission, wasn't quite sure if the Paranids really knew who was pulling the strings here. Diplomacy was so much harder than even a good game of Chuss or Namira! The Paranids held all the aces, but as long as they preferred to act the righteous and honourable members of the community, they couldn't play them.

On the way to the conference room the Senator and his aide, Sobert, ran into Special Agent Ban Danna, the officer of the secret service charged with the operational coordination of the mission. Danna was a tall, spindly man of middle age, with thinning hair and a serious expression. He was a skilled negotiator, but not being a diplomat, he seldom shied away from more drastic measures.

"Agent Danna," greeted Nan.

"Senator" answered Danna, nodding towards his superior.

"New insights, Danna?" The Agent opened a door and let the Senator go first. Together they walked briskly down the long corridor.

"Only to that extent that our assumptions confirmed themselves - there's a high probability that the unknown ship really originated from sector RD."

The Senator looked at Danna quizzically. "How did you arrive at this conclusion, Danna?"

"Now..." Danna hesitated one second and a small smile ghosted across his face.

"We have information from a Teladi named Ussandroos Melomilas Loanises, the Captain of a destroyer named Phoenix. It had a chance to execute a nano-scan of the alien spaceship."

The Senator looked impressed.

"A sterling performance - how did you manage to get the information from the Teladi?"

The Special Agent chuckled softly.

"The same way you get anything from a Teladi - credits, lots of 'em!"

Nan Gunnar shook his head.

"The saurians would sell their own grandmother to the Xenon for cash!"

"I'm not sure those hucksters even have a grandmother Senator, I've never seen a female Teladi!"

"On the contrary, Danna, you've never seen a male Teladi - because there aren't any!"

"Oh?" Ban Danna was obviously surprised, but had no time for further questions. Before the large black swinging doors of the conference hall were two Argon guards, touting beam weapons, and a Paranid carrying a richly ornamented dagger on his belt in addition to his gun. The Argon and the dangerous looking Paranid glared at each other in icy silence. Stepping wordless to the side they let the Senator, his adjutant and Ban Danna enter.

The conference hall was large but simply equipped and in the dim light the subdued tones of the furnishing blended into the dark colours of the walls and floor. The urge to talk in whispers was strong and the illusion of floating freely in the black void between the stars, overwhelming. It was a notion that came quite easily to members of a space faring species.

On the opposite side of the hall stood, or rather, adroitly posed, Reverend Olmancketslat in subdued light from a concealed source, obviously intending to conjure a reverent response from other Paranid. To humans he just looked pompous.

He was over two meters tall and his angular frame was draped in a flowing robe, rich in decoration. Only his multi-jointed, skeleton-like arms suggested, that the envoy - like all of his people - was more bones and skin than anything else. The three protruding eyes possessed no visible pupils and disconcertedly did not reveal the object of their focus. Due to many years of diplomatic experience the Senator knew that Olmancketslat wasn't looking their way with any of his three eyes, so as to demonstrate his innate superiority and indifference to their existence.

Several meters to the left of the Priest Duke stood a second Paranid, wearing a similarly large, but less ornately decorated robe. Unlike his superior, the subordinate watched the Argon approach with a scrutinizing gaze and one hand close to his dagger.

The Three-eyes were by far the most physically striking beings in the Community of Planets - at least from the outside. Not even Senator Nan Gunnar and Special Agent Ban Danna, despite their long experience, were able to fully rid themselves of a certain instinctive reverence. Knowing that a Paranid required at least two meters of personal space to be at ease the small group respectfully stopped short.

The Priest Duke's underling said something in the rustling language of the Three-eyes to his lord. Nan Gunnar caught some of the words as the Paranid was informing the envoy formally of the Argon delegation's arrival. Paranid was a relatively simple language to understand but speaking it was another matter entirely given the natural limitations of human vocal chords.

"In the name of the ruler over three-dimensionality we welcome the unholy envoys of the Argon people," said the Priest Duke, who had no problems articulating himself in the common commercial language of the community, almost accent-free. The Senator sketched a bow. To be addressed as "unholy" by a Paranid suggested no personal insult, just an observation and reminder of the superiority of the three-eyed species over the ocularly challenged.

"Thank you Reverend Olmancketslat," the Senator answered evenly, before introducing himself and his companions. He did not invite the Paranid to take a seat, as superior beings did not deign to sit in the presence of inferiors. The Argon remained standing too.

"Senator Nan Gunnar," Olmancketslat said, "As you undoubtedly know, our priests of science have made a splendid discovery; a significant anomaly within the continuum of time and three dimensions." The tall Paranid made a semicircular movement with his bony arms, which set the robe rippling. He looked like a magician giving a show for children and the Senator had to suppress an involuntary smile, both because the Three-eyes were perfectly able to interpret human facial expressions and because they had no sense of humour, not even the grimly, sadistic spark that shone through with Split on occasion.

Gunnar noted that Olmancketslat called the alien spaceship a 'significant anomaly' and claimed Paranid credit for the discovery.

"Reverend Olmancketslat, Argon Prime detected this 'anomaly' also and investigated thoroughly. It looks as though it is not a temporary natural phenomenon but uses the jumpgates in order to traverse the sectors of the Community."

The Paranid crossed his arms over the chest.

"You speak the truth, Senator Nan Gunnar, Senator of the Argons, but the accuracy of our measurements nevertheless exceeds the capabilities of the unholy races by several orders of magnitude." It was true, of course - the Paranid excelled at anything to do with navigation and spatial detection, making their scanners, autopilots and docking computers highly sought after items, so what did the Priest Duke want?

Special Agent Ban Danna spoke up. "Reverend, if you permit me to address you..." The Paranid generously gestured approval.

"Thank you. Frankly, the science priests of Paranid Prime failed to track the 'anomaly', but you know that we unholy creatures have knowledge of those coordinates. Is it not like that?"

Startled, the Senator raised a warning hand but it was already too late. The Priest Duke hissed a word in his native language and took a half step towards the Argon. His subordinate clasped his dagger with white knuckles and crouched like a giant insect ready to leap on its prey.

"Soulless creature, consider to whom you are speaking!" the Paranid thundered. "Truth prevents not disembowelling! But we are tolerant in this instance." The Paranid stepped back again and the subordinate relaxed a little. The Senator noted that the hidden light source illuminating Olmancketslat exactly followed the Paranid's movements and guessed it was sewn into the seam of his robe.

"Yes, it is true. Due to adverse circumstances our science priests lost the position of the anomaly." The three eyes of the envoy twitched uneasily in different directions - a sure sign this admission of weakness came hard.

That Danna's gamble succeeded in moving the discussion forward without tazura's of diplomatic dancing with these religious fanatics impressed Gunnar. He'd have to use him more often. He moved quickly to take advantage.

"Reverend, we have a suggestion to submit."

"So speak!" the Paranid answered, his arms spread wide.

The Senator nodded to Danna.

"Reverend," he said, turning to the Priest Duke, "the 'anomaly' - the unknown spaceship - is currently in a Split sector. As the Boron government in Kingdoms End indicate, it is likely that within the next one and a half tazuras it will inadvertently enter Xenon sectors as they are on the direct path to Argon Prime."

"Senator Nan Gunnar," answered Olmancketslat, "The route with the smallest enemy meeting between the Sectors of the Split and Argon Prime passes through the entire three-dimensionality of the god realm of Paranid. We may be more moderate in our reactions than our dear, unholy fellow combatant, the Patriarch of Chin, but what makes you believe that we will present you this holy gift of the three-dimensional space, as on a silver plate?"

"Reverend, the answer is obvious," Ban Danna interrupted again. The Senator threw to him a warning look, which the Special Agent acknowledged with a conciliatory nod. "We have the exact coordinates of the unknown ship - and you possess the destroyers fast enough to get there and escort the mysterious intruder through the enemy sectors and protect it from destruction."

"What are you driving at, Argon?"

"Our information does not help us - no Argon fighters could get there in time. Paranid Prime has ships in position, but no location co-ordinates. Either we cooperate for the common good or none of us will benefit from the situation. Period."

The Paranid were fanatics when it came to their religion but they were not stupid and Olmancketslat knew only too well that Danna's logic was sound.

"I must hold consultation with the Pontifex."

The Priest Duke withdrew a couple of meters and a partition wall fell. The assistant remained to keep several eyes on the small Argon delegation. More than forty-five mizuras passed before the partition rose again and Olmancketslat stepped out with a decision. For the Paranid this was extraordinarily swift, particularly as a message drone had to cross five sectors to get to the Paranid home planet.

"We would like to come now to the details of our agreement," he announced.

Ban Danna glanced at the Senator.

"Naturally, Reverend Olmancketslat," he answered.


"Where did you learn to manipulate the Paranid so sharply Danna?" the Senator asked as the three Argon left the conference hall. "A couple of times there I thought they were going to go for our throats."

"You tell me about the alleged missing Teladi males and we might have a deal!" Danna laughed.

"I'm all in favour of mutual back scratching Danna, but there's something more important we need to do. Sobert."

"Yes, Sir?"

"Write up a summary of the situation, make it brief but don't leave anything out. Then send it encrypted to our contact in the Goner Temple, Noah Gaffelt. I've a feeling we're going to need them in our corner before all this is through."

"Noah Gaffelt, right, Sir."

The Senator turned to Ban Danna

"Agent, I'm a bit concerned with the arrangements. Olmancketslat didn't seem to be particularly happy about you going to Paranid Prime so you can accompany the Paranid escort of the anomaly, beg your pardon, the unknown ship."

Ban Danna shrugged.

"The Three-eyes will try to get rid of me, but in such a way they don't lose face before the community. That's my ace."

Senator Gunnar was silent in thought while they waited for an elevator.

"You just proved that you can deal with those three-eyed skeletons, Danna. So I'll trust you for the time being, or at least until you show up in an aluminium coffin."

Danna shook his head and smiled. "Nowadays everything is made of Nividium, Senator. It's more durable and cheaper."

Gunnar laughed.

"Time for a last meal in the cafeteria? I'll tell you what government astro-biologists say about our venal Teladi friends. You won't believe it!"

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Post by therjw » Thu, 13. Jan 05, 14:23

good read cannot wait for the next part :D

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Post by Al » Thu, 13. Jan 05, 18:18

good stuff guys.

Al
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Post by (/\)arped » Sun, 16. Jan 05, 00:29

Very good, can't wait for the next part!

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