Hello again,
here is chapter 17 of HelgeK's novella, which provides the so dsired background information to the X Universe. Translated by forum members and re-written by SteveMill it is now waiting for final review and publication in print. As yet no date has been confirmed, so I will just keep posting
Enjoy!
-----------------
"[...] and during the 17th of December night watch at 23:16 we observed a colossal unknown alien space craft, which did not belong to the Terraformer Fleet materialise from empty space a long distance from the jumpgate and move away at relativistic speeds. It crossed the ecliptic plane of the sun Alpha Centauri through the orbit of its second planet, Taurus, and disappeared after thirty six minutes from our sector screens. Since then the remaining two jumpgates of the sector, aC1 and aC2, lost their connection with Beta Lyrae bL1 and Epsilon Eridani eE3. Instead, they lead now into completely unknown sectors of the Galaxy. From now on we are on our own, only us and the amok machines.
God help us all.
Lt. Cmdr. Poul Vantera,
Logbook of the (USC) Dragonfire
In a time long past a mighty, and undefeated warrior of the Family Nihal by the name of Ghus t'Gllt had a vision that would change Split society for all eternity. The discovery of space travel still lay far ahead. Beings on other planets, should they exist, were conceived as monsters, swift and terrible to be sure, but certainly fated to fall. Of that the Patriarchs were certain.
But that glorious moment lay far in the future.
On the Split home world of Hodie, the rival family clans fought for resources as if they were as scarce as they were abundant, with only the briefest periods of peace. It was a time of blood and chaos; one step forward, one step back.
It was then Ghus t'Gllt battled himself into a position of power so absolute as to be beyond challenge. He was the mightiest of Split - and the strangest. Invincible, quiet and with a spirit unconsumed by the hatred that raged in the breasts of his contemporaries. If he killed it was from ambition, not the blind, blood lust that burned in the heart of other warriors deemed great, for Ghus t'Gllt had made an extraordinary discovery.
The Split were hot headed and quick to anger, always fighting. They were cruel, they were callous and they were contemptuous of death and life in equal measure. But they were by no means stupid. With anger unprovoked and in check, a Split was capable of greatness. Philosophy, science, art - there was no realm in which they could not excel.
The very notion outraged his peers for whom such activities were the province of the lower orders. And even those with such gifts were quick to meet any slight, any perceived dishonour with the mailed fist and the bloody sword.
Ghus t'Gllt understood this but he also recognised that the female of the species were more temperate, particularly when pregnant and could even let the most blatant challenges pass unanswered. Yet the males treated the mothers of their children with honour, at least until the family had a surfeit of sons.
Ghus t'Gllt, this mightiest of warrior of the Split had in his life as many as twenty-seven wives, according to legend, and not one did he execute. Instead, on the basis of his insights he inspired his females to tread the path of science. His success was astounding and divided the Split clans into two camps.
One for those who grasped the epoch shaking significance of this innovation, could see the advantage it bestowed not just on the family, not even on the clan, but for the whole species.
On the other side of course, were those who thought Ghus t'Gllt a traitor and heretic.
But Ghus was both a powerful and a smart warrior and these blessings were multiplied by his unique disposition. It made him the most potent of Split as the following tale lays bare.
At the triumphant end of one of the many campaigns against his rivals the head of the Nihal family stood before him, beaten but unbowed and vowing a vengeance that would bind the generations. It was the Split way.
It was also the Split way to lop off his head and gird the family, arm the clan for the ceaseless vendetta to follow. But Ghus was wiser than that. With a single, awesome stroke of his sword he sliced away the legs of his foe, below the knee, leaving him a living cripple. It was a terrible dishonour, a loss of face too awful for the name-giver of his family to bear and long did he plead for a swift and honourable end.
Ghus implacably refused all his begging, all his entreaties until finally he consented to permit the Family Nihal to join his own and expunge the dishonour. Now the name Nihal is just a footnote in history.
Some time later Ghus achieved the rank of Patriarch of the Family Ghus. Ghus sat for many decades on his throne and imposed his ideas against all opposition. Remarkably, he also avoided assassination and only when he had reached a ripe old age that dimmed his vision and drained his sword arm of strength did one of his many opponents manage to behead him.
His wives and older family were executed and the rest sold into slavery and in time the name Ghus t'Gllt was all but forgotten, his family name lost to his conqueror.
But during the long reign of the Patriarch Ghus, the people of the Split made significant advancements in science and still bigger social changes. Instead of being treated as dangerous heretics, the men, and indeed women outside of pregnancy, who conjured breakthroughs in knowledge from their own fertile brains, were honoured.
Blood though, as they say, will out and with the fall of the Patriarch Ghus the Split could not but slide slowly back into the barbarian dark. But the seeds of enlightenment had been sown and the Split remained a people of talented scientists and thinkers.
Many hundreds of years later a young warrior with the name Thuruk t'Mhhg began his ascent along a similar path to that of Ghus t'Gllt. He tied all the loose threads together that had been left undone and under his aggressive, yet still prudent leadership he succeeded in reversing the slide. He conquered chaos and disorder and finally bound the Split into a united nation although the governing format remained the dictatorship of the Patriarch and it has been ever thus. No Split, whether privileged or oppressed, would ever question this.
If the story of the warrior people of Hodie has a message, it was this: A strong arm can kill many - but only the one with a smart mind is truly dangerous.
Cho t'Nnt leaned back in his command throne, peering pensively into the multi-hued haze of the Halmnan aurora. The engines of the BONE SCOUT thrummed a monotonous drone through the hull that could be felt more than it could be heard.
The pilot on duty, Ohl t'Crrn could fly with his eyes shut, reacting intuitively and instinctively to the subtlest cues from the environment before the flight instruments even had a chance to register a change. Like the off-duty chief pilot, Uchan t'Scct, Ohl t'Crrn belonged in the absolute elite of his profession. The ability of these two pilots to fly the BONE SCOUT made it as deadly a weapon as the Plasma Throwers in the hands of the weapon officer.
Cho had every confidence in them and used the days of their slow travel to trawl the archives, prepare some plans, study maps and ponder certain matters. He knew he was neither a thinker nor a shaker like Ghus t'Gllt - at least he was not born with those abilities. But the ancient warrior was a hero of his and what came naturally to Ghus, Cho decided he would nurture within himself by an act of will, against his species' instincts.
The Patriarch of Chin had not been a friend of progress but true to the tradition of Thuruk he was not a barbarian either. Zein t'Nnt, the head of the Cho Family though, he was a strong and prudent warrior, in the spirit of Ghus and one day not too far in the future Cho would help his blood relative, Zein, to rise to the throne of the Patriarch of the Split, overthrowing the present, inadequate incumbent. However, for now he would serve him faithfully, although he was sure Chin hated him more than anybody else.
Why, he wondered, would a high-ranking officer such as himself be sent on an unimportant mission like this? The Bone Scout had unobtrusively trailed the Paranid fleet through the enemy sectors for several days now, observing its battles from a safe distance. The gate to the Paranid sector of Priest Pity was only a few stazuras away now, so if anything was going to happen, or be made to happen, it had to be quick.
As calm and collected as the two pilots were, the rest of the crew was not and it was getting restless. They wanted a fight - and failing that they wanted mock fights. Just to keep their combat edge and not out of any undirected blood lust. Nothing, of course, was further from their thoughts!
But Cho wanted peace in which to think and these thoughts were now interrupted by his communications officer appearance on screen.
"Sir, we just received a message drone from the Patriarch Chin. The content of it is encrypted. Would you care to see it?" Cho waved assent to the completely unnecessary question. A projection screen came to life and to the surprise of the Special Envoy it was not the face of the Patriarch himself that greeted him but the anaemic sallow, serene image of an elderly Split. Cho vaguely recognised the face but could not immediately place him.
"I speak for the Patriarch Chin. Paranid and Boron reconnaissance units, matching our own observations, have reported concentrated fleet movements in the Xenon sectors. Furthermore, the attacks of the machines have also increased in the territories of the Confederation. Argon Prime will shortly mobilise all troops and reservists on the basis of our reconnaissance. The Company of the Teladi has already proclaimed war and have in accordance with their cowardly emergency plans moved all their units back to safer positions."
As Cho listened he tried to place the Split. The single eye was a clue but nothing came.
"Highest priority for the Bone Scout is still the pursuit of our primary target. Any information about the strange ship is of vital importance. Identification from the Patriarch is following - Whi t'Rllt, Commissioner on Duty of the Communication and Security Branch. End of transmission."
Of course, the head of the Family Whi! Cho had caught glimpses of him once or twice but they'd never spoken. So, the Patriarch of Split had appointed the leader of the Family Whi Head of the Communication Department? Good! Cho's lips formed a thin smile. The Family Whi surely would protest this denigration and Chin would have to appoint a successor of a lesser rank if he was not to risk a serious confrontation with them.
Interesting and hopeful!
The Teladi and the Argon on a war-footing, that was interesting news too and Cho was certain it had been the Paranid incursion into Xenon space that prompted the machine's own fleet movements.
Better and better!
The Split of course did not have to mobilise, their military was always ready to fight and it was a philosophy Cho approved of. 'Always ready, always eager!' It made his chest swell with pride.
Cho checked his computer and discovered that the message drone also held a data packet of current news reports. Whi, he had to concede, was considerably more adept than his predecessor. The young special delegate of the Patriarch left the command throne for his private quarters to study the news items in private. There would be just enough time before they reached Priest Pity.
*
He returned a stazura before his ship reached the jumpgate, his mind still dwelling on what he'd learned but he pushed the news to the back of his mind and focused on the present situation. The Paranid would undoubtedly be guarding the gate to Xenon space but would they use a fleet of ships or would they set up automated defences like laser towers that would open fire on anything coming through?
Perhaps he should launch a message drone to the Priest Duke of the sector to alert the Paranid that the Bone Scout was coming through? They'd no doubt learnt of his presence anyway so he might as well impress on them his importance, as Special Envoy of the Patriarch of Chin.
A message drone it was then, Cho decided. With important people like him around, the Paranid needed to be informed.
In the message he detailed his role as the Ambassador of the Patriarch of Split to the Priest Duke of the Priest Pity. He itemised the warrants that endowed him with far reaching powers delegated by his ruler to support the Paranids in this time of crisis.
He had the authentication codes to back his boasts and the authority to claim he had been ordered by his sovereign to trail the Paranid fleet through Xenon space. If necessary he was willing to claim permission from the Ambassador of the Pontifex Maximus Paranidia. It was not a statement that would stand up to much scrutiny. In reality the Three-Eyed Ones knew why the Bone Scout was there and they knew he was aware of that. It was because of the alien ship.
He chose not to pursue his line of reasoning any further, banking on the fact the Paranid would not officially accuse him of anything, given the current situation. He doubted they'd even suspect that the sole intention of the Special Envoy was to make off with the alien craft at the earliest opportunity, pausing only to laugh roguishly in their faces. At most they might think him a spy and try and feed him false information.
If he succeeded they'd keep quiet, not wanting to lose face. Face was inordinately important to the Three-Eyes.
Twenty mizuras later a message drone returned with a personal invitation from the Priest Duke to 'Our Salvation', the Central Command and Guidance Centre of the sector.
On the other side of the gate the Bone Scout found itself staring down the barrels of a dozen laser towers but they remained quiescent as the Split ship sailed onward to the central trading station.
As it cruised towards its destination Cho ordered the computer to perform a full sensor scan, but it revealed nothing and he assumed the alien craft must now be in the giant station.
Even compared to the limited aesthetic of Split installations the space stations of the Three-Eyed Ones were nothing to send a message drone home about. In fact they were little more than gigantic, shapeless blocks in space, so ugly that even Space Flies would have torn their own wings off in disgust rather than admit building them.
Cho's ship slipped into the allotted orbital slot and he took the shuttle, Son of Scout A, across to the station. Looking around the docking bay he could see more shuttles and a few other small craft but nothing out of the ordinary. But, he reasoned, the station would have more than one landing bay and the alien craft would be hidden in an empty one, assuming it was on board.
Cho gave the smallest possible bow commensurate with diplomatic protocol to the two tall bony figures approaching him, noting their three eyes were almost devoid of pupils.
"You are the unholy Special Representative of our allies, the Patriarch of Chin - Cho t'Nnt!" one of the Paranid stated matter-of-fact, without looking directly at Cho. This Paranid wore not the flowing robes characteristic of his people but a close fitting functional battle uniform, which accentuated his spindle thin and overly long limbs. To Cho, these Three-Eyes looked as dangerous as they undoubtedly were. Of all the races of the Community only a Paranid would dare to confront a Split hand to hand if they had any other choice.
His 'reception committee' turned out to be anything but talkative. Without saying a word and without even adjusting their long strides for the comfort of their shorter-limbed guest the two warriors hurried Cho, smarting at the impertinence of it all, through the corridors of the station at an uncomfortably brisk pace.
The hectic station hummed like a disturbed insect hive and the imperious swathe cut by his escort only contributed to the organised chaos. Other races abounded, even the awful Boron with their repulsive pressure suits and suspicious stalk eyes that tracked his movement. What did these water treaders know that he did not? More, probably, than he, the Paranid and the rest of the Community combined. They always somehow did and no amount of bribery, threats, drugs or torture could ever force one to speak of something they did not want to.
It was sometimes said these repugnant tentacled beings had telepathic abilities but Cho hoped this was just space talk.
The station was a maze of high ceilings and angled corridors and down one near the landing area Cho glimpsed a unit of at least twelve fierce-looking and heavily armed Three-Eyes guarding a high, semi circular hanger door. Cho was pretty certain he knew what they were guarding so assiduously. He'd have to see if he could get a sneaky little look later. Maybe, if he were cunning, he could get the Priest Duke to give away a few unwary words.
It would be interesting to know whether the crew of the alien craft might still be behind the doors of that hangar or if they were somewhere else within the station. Maybe these aliens were already on the surface of the planet or had even been moved to another sector?
They passed the hangar door and burrowed deeper into the heart of the huge station, finally stopping outside an impressive gate at least two and a half times the height of the tallest Paranid.
The arch was pure, polished Nividium inlaid with artificial precious stones the size of Cho's fist. It was a little garish for his tastes but perfectly suited for a pompous, high-ranking Paranid dignitary. As the door opened Cho's fingers unconsciously formed the Split sign for 'bad taste'.
"Go in!" ordered one of his escorts without showing any sign of entering himself. "His Excellency Inmanckarselt is receiving you now." Cho did as he was told and without replying stepped inside.
The room was twilight-lit but the additional illumination provided by the fluorescent finishing of the ornately decorated chests and cabinets scattered through the room provided enough light to see by. More than enough in fact, given the garish decorations.
Near to a pair of dimly illuminated Paranid stood two other beings. Argons or Goner, by the look, it was difficult to say, as they were practically silhouettes in a shadowed corner of the big room.
"We bid you our Welcome, Special Courier and Ambassador from the Patriarch of Chin!"
The Priest Duke took a step forward and turned his three eyes toward the much smaller Split. Cho sketched a bow.
"I thank you, Excellency Inmanckarselt."
The Paranid raised his multi-jointed arm to half his height and pushed the surprised Split back with his open hand. "We are pleased to see our ally the Patriarch possess the foresight to send his envoy and confidant to us. You have come at the right time but do you come here with the right enthusiasm?"
Cho felt the anger rise slowly and begin to pulse hot in his veins. The Paranid had already begun to lie, right to his face. He was neither happy to see him nor did he show enough respect toward the Patriarch! In any case it had been an insult to put such a question to a Split!
'I will break every bone in his body, every single one,' he thought! 'In the unlikely event I ever get the chance. He is only a Paranid and ……' Cho quelled the urge with an effort of will.
"Why certainly!" he answered. "The alliance between the Holy God's Domain of the Paranid and the Grand Patriarch is a precious commodity, which justifies any effort."
The Priest Duke made a gesture with his stretched arm that could either mean agreement or refusal - Cho was not sure which but he was leaning toward the first one.
"Well! As much as we appreciate your presence here, your time and effort is far better utilised being at the side of Pontifex Maximus Paranidia on our beloved home planet than it is here in this insignificant border area of our God's Domain. But while you are here, partake in this magnificent present our Holy Trinity had made sent to us!"
With these words he pointed with a magician's flourish that rustled his robes towards the two humanoids. The corner brightened enough for Cho to distinctly recognize the two human beings. One of the two was definitely of Argon origin - tall and narrow with thin, grey hair on his head and clothed in the traditional Argon fashion. The second one was half a head shorter, with short, black hair and he looked very muscular and strong for a human.
Cho immediately noticed something else - his clothes. They looked like a uniform of some sort, but not that of the Argon military or their Secret Service or indeed the careless fashion of the Goner. It was light blue with a patch on his right arm depicting a four-limbed being over a stylised galaxy background, circled by an unintelligible Argon script.
Was this perhaps the crew of the alien ship? No, this could not be. Why should the Priest Duke confide in him, let him into the secret of the Jump Ship? If the alien vessel had really come from a completely unknown part of the Universe, why did it have a crew of human beings? No! Never! That could not be the answer! The taller Argon solemnly nodded toward Cho, while the other peered at him with undisguised curiosity.
After a considerable pause the Priest Duke spoke again, cutting off the strange Argon, as he was about to speak.
"Make the acquaintance of Ban Danna, the Ambassador of our unholy allies, the Argon. Also make the acquaintance of Captain Kyle William Brennan, our guest from far away, the pilot of the heretofore unknown space craft, of which the Community of the Planets for some time has eagerly sought!"
"From the significant anomaly," tossed the Argon Ban Danna casually into the conversation.
The pilot of the alien space ship obviously did not understand the meaning of this phrase, just as Cho did not either, as he cast an inquiring glance towards Ban Danna. Even the Paranid eyed the Argon for a split second with unsteady pupils.
The man from the alien spacecraft used this moment to make a slight bow and address Cho "I am pleased to finally get to know a Split. Although you people made it a bit difficult for me."
"Why should we want to make it easier for you, Human? It was not us who needed help, it was you."
Brennan seemed to grimace, which the Split interpreted as an almost hysterical fit of laughter. "It's always shoot first and ask questions later with you people isn't it? Your allies and friends, especially the Boron, see things differently."
"The horrible Boron creatures are not friends of the Split, Human!"
The human tapped his forehead in an unintelligible gesture.
"Of course, I should have thought of that myself."
Cho felt his anger rising again. Keep still, he willed himself!
Ban Danna said a few conciliatory words to the man from Earth. "Brennan, I cannot justify the behaviour of the Split. But the races of the Community are all different and despite all that, the balance of forces works well. Sure, it's not perfect but it is good enough. You will understand this after being here for a little while."
The pilot just nodded. "We'll see."
Cho decided to ignore for now this insolent descendant of the soft human race. Soon he would have the chance to interrogate Brennan and if he was as delicate as the Argon and Goner he would be delighted to answer any questions he chose to forcefully ask. The lips of the Split formed a hard thin line.
The Priest Duke followed the exchange in silence, the subtleties of which, as his species lacked any understanding of irony, sarcasm, cynicism or any other concept conjured to mind by the phrase 'sense of humour', passed him by completely. He did though, notice the wall of mistrust and hostility building brick by brick between the Split and the humans and made a doomed attempt to smash it down.
"Unholy creatures and beings!"
They all turned to stare at him.
"We all have our function in the 'Space of the Three Dimensions and the Time'. So listen to the mission we will assign to you in the name of Our Holy Pontifex."
Cho, being a Split, did not take well to either the tone or the substance of his words. No one gave Inmanckarselt the right to order him around, even if he had turned up unwanted, unannounced and with larceny in his heart. He was the Ambassador of the Patriarch of Chin no less, and he would have his revenge.
The Paranid continued unaware.
"An agreement with the Argon Government provides that we will escort our guest, Kyle William Brennan from the planet Earth, to the main planet of the Human, to Argon Prime. Ban Danna is to accompany him there, on your ship, the Bone Scout"
Cho growled angrily. Surely he had not heard that correctly? He made the sign for "absolute and definitive refusal" but before he could speak the two humans began blithering simultaneously.
"I will accompany Brennan aboard a Paranid escort!" asserted Ban Danna. It seemed to him to be the safest way home for him and the pilot from Earth, even if it was not in strict accord with Senator Nan Gunnar's orders.
"Actually, no one said Ban Danna had to accompany me on board," said Brennan, who was willing to go with Ban Danna's instinct that this could be a trap of some sort but wasn't willing to walk into another by letting him aboard the X-Shuttle. The Argon might be human but that didn't mean he trusted them any more than he trusted the rest of this space menagerie.
"Do you dare to object, creatures!" roared the Paranid arching his long back menacingly.
"No human will board a warship of the mighty Split except as a slave!" raged Cho.
"Eminence, I really must insist, in the name of my Government, we stick to the terms of our agreement." Ban Danna could very well understand why Brennan did not want him to be on board the X Shuttle, he'd have done the same thing himself. He folded his arms across his chest resolutely and fixed the Paranid with a challenging glare.
A long pause followed and the Priest Duke realised the disagreement was on the brink of flaring into an all-out argument. Then the three unholy creatures would try to leave the room, possible the station too, which in the case of the alien pilot could not be allowed to happen.
His choices were a narrow two dimensionality.
If he gave into their demands it would thwart his plan to unobtrusively do away with the Argon and the Split and take the unholy strange alien to Paranid Prime. He should kill the three of them right now but that would mean failure and a severe loss of face before the whole Community for disgracing the Pontifex.
Along the second dimension, he could accede to their demands and swallow the loss of face before these unholy beings, to buy time to create and explore more dimensional possibilities.
There was really no choice.
"We decide herewith in the light of Our Glory to comply with the wishes of the human creatures. The arrangements will be adhered to word for word and the ramifications of the many more dimensional possibilities will be ignored."
Inmanckarselt made a sweeping gesture with the seam of his richly embroidered robe.
"You are all dismissed until further notice - but keep yourself available!"
With these words the hidden light source tracing his every movement faded and the spindly Paranid melted into the semidarkness.
The door opened with a soft hiss. The two heavily armed guards were still on station.
There were still a few things Brennan urgently wanted to discuss with the Argon, Ban Danna, but not in earshot of any aliens, even if they lacked the insight to follow the body language and subtleties of tone and intonation that enriched human speech with layers of meaning. He needed to get him alone, which was a bit difficult, as they'd not known each other long enough for any trust to build.
For now, and his growling stomach ensured it was no secret, he needed to eat.
"Danna, you said something about a canteen earlier?"
The Argon nodded.
"With the best Argon food, shock-frozen on Montalaar!"
"Tempting - not sure if I can wait for it to cook though. How's it cold?"
The Argon Secret Service Agent grinned as the door slid shut behind them.
"You'll have to suck it and see. Guards - we want to eat!"
The Paranid did not even look at Danna. "Only in our company," one of them replied. "Follow us."
"Follow us?" mumbled Brennan. "As if we had a choice I bet."
Cho t'Nnt's patience had been stretched to its limits by now and then some way beyond. All he wanted to do was get back to his ship and start shooting. That would calm him down, just thinking about it ignited a warm glow of satisfaction in his stomach and that would have to do, for now. He followed the humans and the guards down the corridor to the Outer World Cantina.
It catered for all species both in dishes and in settings. There were the high tables favoured by the lanky Paranid, Teladi benches, Boron tanks as well as squat tables and chairs suitable for humans.
Cho took a place near the back wall where he could keep an eye on the Argon, the alien and the entrance.
The Earth pilot with the name of Brennan said something to the Argon and both were laughing when food rose up the lift built into the centre of their table. The Earth human fell on his like a beast and a few moments later Ban Danna's appeared. He removed the lid and seemed to revel in the aroma.
"In the name of Thuruk's beard, I have far better things to do than to watch these two chewing creatures," Cho mumbled to himself.
A Paranid standing with a group of others at one of the high tables, near the two humans, bent down to the alien pilot and apparently said something.
Brennan ignored him and continued eating. The Paranid repeated himself and gave Brennan's shoulder a slight nudge. Cho would have been going for throats by this time but the two guards just watched impassively. Brennan also remained still.
Danna must have said something because the Paranid started to bend his back angrily. The other Paranid in the group, who until this point had not taken part in this incident stopped eating and turned towards the two human beings. Cho noticed Brennan slowly place his eating utensil beside his plate and exchange a few words with Ban Danna. The Argon frowned and seemed to be trying to calm the alien pilot. Naturally, the Ambassador of the Argon knew it could be deadly to be involved in a fight with the Paranid, a fact Brennan did not seem to recognise.
The skeletal Three-Eyed one gave the pilot another, harder shove. Ban Danna shouted, "Brennan don't!" but the alien stood and turned towards the Paranid, who stood several heads taller. Ban Danna leapt to his feet but still the Paranid guards did not move.
Cho felt a certain respect for the pilot of the alien spacecraft then. He had been patient but he was clearly no coward! Cho jumped to his feet as well, entertaining as it might be to watch, he could not allow Brennan to get killed. He hurried across to the human table.
"….it is a one dimensional point!" he heard the Paranid to snarl. The Three-Eyed one spread his multi jointed bony arms and started to embrace Brennan. Cho knew what this "embracement" meant - the skeletal arms of the Paranid were incredible powerful and because of the leverage afforded by their several joints, they could crush almost any creature to the death.
"Stop!" Cho shouted and knocked the arm of the Paranid away. Simultaneously his companions stooped into an attack stance and finally the guards took notice, dropping into an attack crouch themselves.
"The Pontifex and the Priest Duke Inmanckarselt would not like it if these unholy creatures did suffer any harm!" shouted Cho.
The Paranid turned hissing to Cho.
"Split, who are you who dares utter such heretic words!"
"I am the Special Envoy and Ambassador of the Patriarch of Chin! I will report this directly to Pontifex Maximus Paranidia who I will see later today at the order of the Priest Duke of this station!"
"The creature speaks the truth," said one of the guards, as if only now recognizing him. The effect of this sentence on the enraged Paranid was surprising. He stood up straight and mumbled something like "Forgive me", made a bow and turned straight back to his meal as if nothing had happened. His friends did the same.
Cho was close to having a raving fit by this point. He had been belittled in the presence of the whole canteen - Argon, Teladi, Paranid and other Split - so very humiliated, while they pretended to obey the orders of the Priest Duke and his Pontifex!
And he had placed himself in deadly danger for what, to safeguard the life of this worthless Brennan creature? How much more humiliation would he have to take before the Patriarch took him off this ungrateful assignment and gave him another, worthy of his position?
Brennan placed his hand on the Split's shoulder and said "Thank you."
"Rahhrgh!" The Split violently shrugged the hand off.
"You not touch me! You not think this matter finished is!"
Cho did not look further at the perplexed human but turned immediately around and marched with quick steps toward the exit. Not a sezura longer would he have been able to put up with this shame - he had to return immediately to the Bone Scout, before anything else happened to test his immense forbearance!
Boiling with rage the Split pushed his way between tables, kicking over a chair and shoving an elderly Goner, bedecked in a brown hooded frock, violently to the side. He regained his balance just short of collapsing into Brennan's table and whispered something into his ear that the Paranid guards could not catch. Ban Danna however did but to his own surprise he didn't understand a word the Goner Sect man said, or any of Brennan's reply.
Cho t'Nnt risked a quick glance over his shoulder as he stormed from the canteen and saw the old Goner sit down with the two humans. Whatever they had to talk about could only be idle gossip, unworthy of a Split such as himself. He headed to his shuttle and the Bone Scout.
*
The retro-rockets flared blue through the Split Python destroyer bridge view-ports. It was not part of Cho's plan to join up with the Paranid convoy escort waiting for the Earth ship too soon. Cho was certain the ship would not reach Argon Prime, the Paranid would not let the prize go now that it had so conveniently fallen into their bony clutches.
Even the Argon had realized this - why else did Ban Danna insist on being on board of a Paranid ship? The Three-Eyes had consistently tried to hide their activities but would the presence of an Argon Ambassador on board and the arrangement with the Argon Government be sufficient to keep them from doing what they wanted to do? He doubted it.
"The jump ship is launching, Sir," his pilot reported to Cho.
"I am not blind!" he snapped back.
"I am sorry Sir," apologised the pilot unperturbed. Being snapped at he could handle, it was his commander's uneasy silences that strained his nerves.
The Earth ship slipped from the Our Salvation docking tunnel. It looked little more than a small and insignificant personal transporter with aerodynamic styling and wings for atmospheric flight. It had a sleek elegance the ships of the Community lacked and it's fluid form and construction suggested an advanced manufacturing technology. But nothing on the ship looked dangerous or out of the ordinary. If this ship had been presented to Cho as a new construction of Argon engineers he would never have questioned it. That this tiny orbiter could conquer the vast distances of the Universe without jumpgates seemed inconceivable, despite what the data said.
On the gravidar the Ambassador of the Patriarch watched as a few destroyers of the Paranid fleet left the convoy to form a, naturally for the Paranid, absolutely geometrically perfect formation for the Earth ship to slot into.
According to the mission order data, which the Bone Scout had received only a few mizuras ago, Cho's ship was supposed to be the rear guard. It was not a position he liked and he planned to break away from the formation once the convoy was far enough away from Priest Pity.
His onboard computer confirmed its course with blinking bleeps on the gravidar. The route led all the way through the God's Domain of the Paranid after which it crossed into Argon territory, ending at Argon Prime.
The next jump would lead into the sector Priest Rings. The jumpgate was on the opposite side of the sun and the projected course took them a discreet distance around its gravity well. But something was not quite right. Cho checked his gravidar and asked his pilot to re-plot the course the alien Jump Space Craft was supposed to take.
"Pha can you confirm the course of the target ship?"
The pilot answered instantly.
"His course leads straight through the corona of the sun, Sir."
By now even the Paranid realised that something was amiss and the convoy broke in confusion. The alien jump ship's engines began to glow white-hot and Cho realised the Earth pilot had reached a similar conclusion to his own. The Paranid had no intention of letting him reach Argon Prime.
The Earth ship took advantage of its superior speed to begin pulling away and the Paranid destroyers moved to intercept.
He's got a lot of hostile space to go through, Cho thought, and they'll take him down by force if necessary. The lead destroyer began launching missiles as if to confirm his fears.
The speed of the Earth ship left them floundering in its wake, moving so fast only a message drone or laser fire could have caught it. The Three-Eyes came to the same conclusion and as the missiles self-destructed harmlessly their lasers opened fire.
By that time though the alien ship was out of range, but according to his pilot's calculations it would begin entering the sun's corona in two or three stazuras.
Cho demanded an update on the alien's course, taking into account the current acceleration. It looked like the pilot was gambling that his speed and relatively weak shields would take him through the worst of it before his hull temperature reached critical. By taking a risky shortcut he'd reach the jump gate in two stazuras and eighty-three mizuras. It was a trick his slower pursuers would be unable to emulate. It would take the Bone Scout at least six stazuras he calculated, as the Earth ship disappeared behind the sun.
Cho permitted himself a moment of grudging admiration for the daring and professionalism of the Earth pilot. He had gambled everything on two guesses. That the Paranid wouldn't fire on him and risk destroying his ship and if they did, his speed would save him from them and the heat of the sun.
The Paranid should never have allowed him to let him get into his ship. They had him already in their possession - only their fanatical wish to show the rest of the Universe they had nothing to hide, had them lose a sure fire thing.
How stupid of them! But now he, Cho, had the chance to succeed. What had the Patriarch asked of him? That he should follow the alien ship to the furthest reaches of the Universe, no matter how far it would take him and how much time this would take. At least he had the perseverance and the intelligence the Tree-Eyed Ones lacked.
Cho was by now completely calm, the pilot Kyle William Brennan, Homo sapiens, was a worthy adversary. To follow him would demand his fullest attention and know-how. Perhaps the Patriarch had suspected this and recognised those noble qualities in him, perhaps he did not hate him as much as he had imagined?
Six stazuras later the Bone Scout reached the jumpgate, well ahead of the Paranid pursuers. The traffic in the sector was relatively light and as the Split Destroyer crossed the gate's activation threshold it passed a lumbering Argon Transporter hauling its burden towards the inner planets.
A small Boron cruiser, also passing out of the sector through the jumpgate came close enough to tempt Cho into some target practice but he willed himself to keep calm.
Once through the gate he scanned the sector for the small alien ship. There were plenty of targets on the Gravidar but none whose mass matched the Earth vessel. By now he was feeling alarmed. As fast as it was the Earth ship could not have traversed the entire sector already.
After two further stazuras his sensors picked up a faint and rapidly expanding cloud of space debris. A stazura on the communications channel with the nearby Paranid patrol and a Teladi cruiser named Phoenix confirmed his worst fear.
It was difficult to make sense of their babble but it seemed a Xenon ship had rammed a small ship moving at extremely high speed. The intense flash and the tiny fragments of hull all pointed to a matter/anti-matter explosion. Cho knew the alien ship carried a large reserve of anti-matter to power its engines.
As the Paranid refused to share any of their own data a snarling Cho had no other choice as to pay a horrendous price for the video - as well as the sensor data of the incident from the Captain of the Teladi Phoenix.
With his eyes full of rage the young Special Envoy smashed the arm rests of his command throne. The video recording was somewhat blurred and did not show him much more than a long-distance shot of two ships, which could have been the alien ship and a Xenon destroyer, colliding. However, the Gravidar record displayed the exact signatures of both ships and dispelled any doubts he might have had:
The Jump Space Ship and its pilot had been completely destroyed.
FARNHAMS LEGEND: Chapter 17 - June 2005
Moderators: TheElf, Moderators for English X Forum
