Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Only two of the three moons hung above the horizon when Jessica Hunter stepped down from The Pegasus. The landscape was similar to what she anticipated; a red sky spread dark over a brown desert brushed with scraggly plantlife. Still, she had expected more light. Jess glanced at this world's small, red sun.
Lifting the recorder to her lips, she opened her mouth, but stopped. Something was moving toward her.
-- Argus Skyhawk
With a practiced squint of her eye, she activated the micro-sensor package implanted in her right eye. Tracking out 100 meters, the form of a Kalpurnian M.E.B.A.(multi-environmental battle armor) unit came into view, and even from a distance she could tell it had massive damage. Replacing the recorder with her mag rifle, she made her way towards the stumbling hulk as it did the same. At 4 meters both stopped and seemed to study the other, with the armored creature fianally breaking the silence.
" You're late" rasped the creature, the armor's speaker distorting the speech to almost unintelligable levels.
"Couldn't be helped Jonas." She studied the armor a second time, slowly walking around the massive 3.5 meter tall war machine. "I see you ran into a little resistance. Must've been pretty stiff to trash a MEBA unit. Costly too, Kalpurnian tech is usually at a premium price."
"Since I have aquired what you asked me to, I don't think I'll have to worry about the price of replacing this unit. Perhaps I will even upgrade to the new Crustbuster class suit."
"Crustbuster huh? Next contract call for you taking out a moon or something? Never mind, lets get on with our business. Where is the data crystal and the unit?"
"Right here" A small compartment opened up in the chest of the suit and Jonas pulled out a small metal box. " Now where is my payment?
"Right here" The whine of the mag rifle's superconductive magnets was the last thing Jonas heard as two titanium slugs with depleted uranium cores screamed from the barrel at sub-light speeds. Two half meter holes appeared in the chest of the alien, who died without making a sound or even falling down.
Jessica left him standing there, a fitting grave stone for a galaxy that would soon need one.
Commander Telth SolAthra watched the small craft rise from Twanos from the bridge of the Kalpurnian Imperial destroyer Veethra.
"Tactical, scan that craft. You know what to look for."
"Aye sir"
"Jessica" purred the AI of the Pegusus. "There is a Kalpurnian destroyer scanning us, approximately one million kilometers off our stern and closing."
"Hmmmm. Don't leave system yet, lets see what they make of you."
"Sir, positive readings for Rat'chatkan technology, but the sensors show most of the ship is Rat'chatkan based, instead of one small component,also with some Terran tech intermixed."
"Impossible!" bellowed SolAthra "Our scientists have been able to crack only the most rudimentary Rat'chatkan machinery, and you're trying to tell me a miserable Terran has done something the Imperium has been unable to? Hail that ship, and tell its captain to prepare for boarding under the authority of the Kalpurnian Imperium."
"They are hailing us , . . . Jessica, they are demanding you turn me over to them!"
"Arrogant bastards think they own the galaxy just because they've been spacefaring a few hundred years before everyone else. Tell them no, feel free to be as rude as you like, and activate offensive protocols. They won't take no for an answer when it comes to you."
"Sir?!" the tactical officer sputtered, "They refuse to give up the ship....and whoever's on board has an excellent grasp for swearing in Kalpurnian"
"This impudent Terran obviously needs a lesson taught to it. Power up weapons, target to disable only. Prepare boarding pods and give the order to capture the captain alive. I shall enjoy interrogating it while we return to the Imperium."
"They have powered up weapons, Jessica. Do you have a attack pattern in mind?"
"Surprise me."
The small craft raced towards the larger warship, and unleashed fingers of raw energy from several nodes that speckled its hull. Vicious molten gashes were raked across the Kalpurnian ship, and large sections of its interior were opened up to the cruel ravages of space. Several shots were fired from the warship, but they fell upon shields they couldn't hope to penetrate.
"Sir!!" screamed SolAthra's tactical officer, "engines and main power off line! Ships functions down to 23%, suggest we abandon ship!.......sir?!" He looked across the ruined bridge and found a structural support resting on the captains pedestal.
"Escape tubes" managed to streak through his brain before the ship and it's 149 crew members were consumed in a cloud of superheated gas and debris.
Jessica and the Pegasus were light years away when the first fragments of
the Veethra began to burn up in Twano's atmosphere. It provided a
magnificent lightshow to the natives, who took it as a favorable sign. They
couldn't have been more wrong.
--M. D. Halperin
Yet, Jessica did not know about the galaxy's impending doom, and she would not have cared if she had. As far as she was concerned, the universe ended five years earlier when David died. What did it matter if 149 Kalpurnians lost their lives? They had been dead already; they just didn't know it.
When the Pegasus docked at Minos Gamma, the data crystal was hung around Jessica's neck to look like a piece of cheap jewelry, a tacky souvenir perhaps. Customs ignored it.
Outside the spaceport, picketing mobs shouted insults at new arrivals and waved signs with messages like "Galactic immigration equals galactic death!" One individual threw a rock at Jessica and screamed, "Go back where you came from, spacer!" She could have incapacitated him in seconds, but it was vital that she avoid attention while she was here.
A member of the nameless race stepped from the crowd and blocked her path. Beaming, he cried, "You're the woman the named ones call Jessica Hunter! You've come!" He wore the blue robe which identified him as a religious leader.
"Who are you and how do you know who I am?" She wanted nothing to do with a fanatical species that believed only objects in nature and in heaven were worthy of names.
"I've seen you in a vision. You're destined to save us."
--Argus Skyhawk
The alien ship was traveling and nearing the intruder. The signals from the intruder informed them that it was the Pegasus. The conditions of the signals indicated a lower species of life. The computer of the ship had one goal programmed: Destroy all lower forms of life.
A tiny pod left the ship and immediately started developing, like organic life, into a duplicate of the original alien ship. Steal their intergalactic technology was the second goal.
A sun for the destination system appeared... "Setting destination for breandsfasdfa (star).... Increasing speed to maximum.... Will eliminate all life in star system... this star system contains the jdsjjjfdgfdfg (intruders, invaders, lower life forms).
The ship plunged into the star... into the core. It broke the laws of physics.... it made the sun go nova and it exited. It headed towards the hhdf ioioioa,n'd (asteroid belt) surrounding the system and waited for the end of the life here.
The signals recieved said there were warring factions.... "war is bad... our ajfjajfd (creators) are the one, true race....but they will enslave those with great technology and societies."
The adsfa (inner) 4 planets of the system were bathed in a jfdjjdf'dfas,n
(blinding) light. The ship scanned, and heard the screaming of life on all 4
planets. It left to find others...
--Lee Jamilkowski
Jessica woke with a start, cold beads of sweat running down her face, and stared into the dark confines of the cheap cubicle she had rented for the night. Reoccurences of that damnable dream were becoming more frequent, and doubts of it just being a dream were beginning to arise. "I have got to find the last component and get off this mudball" she said to no one, but vocalizing it comforted her, and reinforced her resolve to complete the task.
After slipping on her gear, a strange noise from the hallway caught her
attention, and convinced her to crawl out of the window. Several blocks
away, she looked back and saw lights on in her room, which she had left
dark. Someone was after her, or more importantly, the components.
The small data crystal and part of a Rat'chatkan processor node were worth
a small fortune alone, not counting the secret this certain crystal
contained. Jessica had to find the remaining part to the node and activate
the crystal before she could allow herself to rest. Too much was at stake,
and too many forces were positioning themselves to intercept her. Ever
since the discovery of the long dead Rat'chatkan race and their almost
mystical technology, goverments and other powers (malevolent and otherwise)
had been fighting with each other to grab as much of the remaining tech as
possible. In the 75 years since its discovery on a long dead world towards
the outer rim, much had been discovered, but very little understood.
The activation of the crystal would have a significant impact on that
problem, but not in the sense Jessica or anyone else would think of.
--M.D. Halperin
Jessica moved throught the streets of the city looking for Blood Price a bar where the creature she searched for usually hung out. Blitz looked like rat who had been in an atomic accident but no one could solve a riddle or crack acode like he could.
The room was dark and the air was full Of Shaylem and Desatole. If it had been a little stronger, Jessica would have had to have had her detox mask.
A Draconian Storm trooper made to lay his hand on her bottom, but one look of warning and he drew his extended claw back into his shield. Jessica saw Blitz sitting at the end of the bar. A Kiljar Whizzer in one hand and a Myjorin wattress in the other. She couldn't see what he was doing with his third hand and didn't really want to know.
"We need to talk." she growled.
"I'm busy" Blitz snarled.
Jessica helt up her card and waved it under his over sized nose. She spoke one word. "Interested?"
Blitz's one good eye turned gold as he read the long line of cridits Jessica was offering. Then he looked at her shaply body showed off by the tight captain's uniform.
"What if it's a Brides Price I require?"
Jessica moved so fast it was hard for the eye to fallow. Blitz found himself face down in the blood and puke covered floor.
"You would not live through the honeymoon, my friend." Jessica growled.
Blitz picked himself up trying to regain some of his dignity.
"Now, are you ready to talk bussiness?" Jessica questioned sweetly.
"Yes," he said sulently, "What do you need?"
Jessica glanced around the room at the unfriendly faces. "Not here." she frowned. "Meet me at the Hoovel Port in 0100 hours."
The hour grew late the red moon Of Dwarf Shod cast it's firey glow over the distant landscape.
Jessica scuft her milatary boots over the broken pavement, kicking at the tangle of Simmerimg Plants that pushed their way up through the cracks.
Blitz was late. He was a thief and probably worse, but when it came to money he was usually on time. She couldn't imagine someone attacking him in an alleyway and wouldn't want to meet something that would try. She bearly stopped herself from jumping, when he spoke almost in her ear. "Who would you have me kill, Princess?"
She'd forgotten how light he was on his large feet.
"Blitz, your late."
"Sorry, but there was the matter of a wager, and I didn't think you'd want the Sparlayians listening in on our little chat."
The Sparlayians were the biggest Crime Lords in the known space. No, anyone who messed with them ended up dead with their finger prints removed. "Blitz I need you to decode the message on the back of this." She helt out the data crystal so he could see it.
His mouth watered, "Is that what I think it is?"
Jessica held to the crystal tightly, "Yes, Do you know any Rat'chatkan?"
Greed was written all over his face, "A little." he reached for the crystal, "Let me have a closer look."
Jessica drew her short knife from her shirt and slide the thin blade beneath Blitz's double chin. "Okay." She said sweetly, "As long as you realize I can slit your throat faster then you can say Bovivian Whore."
Blitz swallowed and nodded. Jessica handed him the data crystal but kept the knife firmly in place.
Blitz squinted at the small symbols. "This here." he pointed at one of the symbols, "means dream, but as for the rest," He frowned, "Well, this here is either stair or way." He mumbled, "Or star."
"Well, which is it?' Jessica growled.
"Well, you see the language has so many different meanings." he whined see his money slipping away.
"That's not much help." Jessica said.
Reluctantly, "There's this guy I know." Blitz didn't like to share but he figured half credits were better then no credits. "He knows more Rat'chatkan then anyone else I know."
Jessica felt like cutting his throat right there for wasting so much of her time.
Blitz felt her rage, "His name is Rook and he lives out past the great Sands. I didn't think you'd want to travel so far. I've heard you Spacers don't like to ride horse back."
Jessica wasn't about to tell Blitz she had no use for the furry little beast called Ponies. "Well, you were told wrong." she said. "Get us some gear together, we will leave at 0600 hours."
Jessica awoke with sweat pouring off her and the warning signal of the Pegasus going off in her ear except it wasn't the pegasus' waring system but the alarm clock.
She sat on the side of the bed cursing in several different langiages. She'd had that damn dream again. More and more she was beginning to think it was some kind of warning. Her grand mother, bless her heart, was as fey as any Seer. She was beginnig to think she had some of her grandma's talent.
She dress quickly as one does who is use to being on the mve in a hurry.
It was still dark out as she made her way to the stable she agreed to meet Blitz at. The stable smelled of hay and horse shit, surprisingly not an unpleasant odor.
Blitz was rolled up in a blanket by the door but quickly jumped to his feet when Jessica entered.
Jessica wondered why he'd slept in the stables but decided not to ask. Blitz stored her gear in a rolled up blanket behind the saddle on the small horse.He then stuped and laced his long fingers to gather to offer Jessica a boot up.
Jessica would have preferred stepping on his flat head, but she knew she needed him so she excepted his help and climed in to the saddle. They moved out at a slow walk. Jessica didn't want to draw attention and she kept check her back trails for fallowers.
The sun was high in the sky and Jessica's backside felt like a piece of
raw meat before Blitz said they would stop for a meal.
--whisper
Jessica just about refused to eat when she saw what Blitz had stashed in his ruck. She thought she was imagining the faint rustling and whimpering for the entire trip, acounting it to the wind and native wildlife. Instead, it had been their dinner crammed into the cruddy bag Blitz had slung over his shoulder.
After choking down as much as she could, thoughts turned to her extraordinary luck in finding Rook so soon. When Blitz mentioned his name, she damned near fell over in disbelief, figuring the search for the elusive alien would keep her on this miserable planet for quite some time. Instead, the oportunity to complete her quest had arisen, and she realized she was sitting on her very sore rear end while Rook could very well be heading the other way.
"We have daylight left Blitz, lets get moving again."
"But I still have half of my Creel Rat to eat! It will spoil if I don't consume it now."
"Won't be much difference if it does, now get your gear loaded and lets go."
"In all the cycles I have known you, I have not seen you this determined. It makes me very curious of the secrets in your crystal."
"Curiousity like that could get you into more trouble than you know my flat headed friend. If you value your health, do not speak of it anymore." A tense silence hung over the two until darkfall, when Blitz stopped his horse and began to dismount. Jessica watched him for a moment, thinking that he was merely looking for something in his ruck again. Till he turned around with a small disruptor in his hand.
"Do you feel like threatening me now? Hmmmm?.........I thought not." Blitz moved towards Jessica slowly. "Perhaps if you give me the gear I will not kill you."
"Blitz, you just signed your death warrant. Perhaps if you put down that gun I will make it quick for you."
"I will not allow a miserable female to threaten me !" shreiked Blitz, in an instant fury. "I have put up with your insolence for many cycles Jessica Hunter, and have humored you long enough. My employers have decided to collect their property and finish the search themselves. Now give me the crystal."
"Who are you working for Blitz? How long have you been double crossing me you miserable worm!" Jessica tensed up slightly, and activated several cybernetics systems laced throughout her body.
"My employer's identities are of no concern to yo........"
Jessica rolled off the horse with a burst of blinding speed, her senses and reaction times enhanced well beyond human capabilities. While Blitz fired at where Jessica had been, she closed the gap with one huge leap and fell upon him.
Several swift kicks and one painful stomp later, Blitz laid sprawled in the desert sand without his disruptor, several teeth and a small amount of blood which oozed from his three nostrils.
Hundreds of light years away, a comet which had traversed millions of light years in it's lifetime, became ensnared in the gravitational pull of a small airless planet. It impacted the surface with no sound, and slammed a 3 mile wide hole into the surface of the cold barren world. If someone had been there to witness it, they would have found a strange shape which had been partially uncovered by the impact.
As light began to trickle across the surface of the partially buried object, the dull grey color began to shift. Blue and green swirls soon danced across the surface of the object, and after several hours of this the ground surrounding it began to crack and slough off. Shortly thereafter it climbed into orbit around the planet and commenced a scan of the surrounding systems.
Several systems on the Pegasus became aware of the scans, but since the memory banks of the ships A.I. weren't complete anymore, they couldn't realize the significance of the occurance. Nevertheless, it contacted Jessica to inform her of the strange eminations.
"What do you mean unknown?" she asked, quite preturbed to be interrupted in the midst of her exercise." Is it the Kalpurnians again? Or has someone else began looking for us too?"
"The source and intention of the scans are unknown Jessica, it is unlike anything I have encountered since my reactivation."
This gave Jessica reason to pause from the boots she had been delivering
to Blitz, and start to worry. Perhaps it was just paranoia, but she doubted
it. Rook had to be found and quickly, or else she could lose everything.
As she began to collect up Blitz a sound made her turn around in time to
see a large club coming at her head.Jessica didn't even think anything
before she faded into unconsciousness and the world of dreams.
--M.D. Halperin
The dark mist cleared and Jessica found herself looking into the yellow cat eyes of one who could only be the Rook. His voice was like velvet, "Humans are so fragile." Jessica tried to sit up. "When I get up from here." she growled, "I'll show you fragile."
He flashed his white fangs, "So mouthy too." He helt out his fur covered hand. "Come, Hunter. Blitz tells me we have business to discuss." Jessica's head felt like it had been in a ion storm, but she got unsteadly to her feet without his help.
"Blitz tells me you have a Rat'chatan data crystal."
"Blitz has a big mouth." Jessica snarls.
--whisper
"Placing your boot there several times certainly helped make it that way, but yes he had a big mouth prior to that." Rook walked over to where Blitz sat, and handed him another towel from his pack.
"She doesn't need your encouragement Rook, now get the crystal from her and lets be done with this."
"Quiet Blitz, or I will allow her to finish what she started. Now Hunter, I understand you seek something from me."
"Perhaps, but I will not discuss it in front of Blitz. His credibility has faltered in my eyes somewhat."
"Blitz is of no concern.."
"What!" sputtered Blitz, "The components are rightfully mine! If you hadn't interfered.."
"You would be dead, or wishing that you were" finished Rook "Now shut up while I finish negotiations with Hunter"
Rook turned back around to find Jessica standing behind him, and he felt
it was quite unsettling that he hadn't heard her.
--M.D. Halperin
Jessica was so angry she was having trouble keeping it under control. What she'd really like to do was shoot them both full of holes and leave, but she knew there wasn't another who could read the Rat'chatkan symbols for a million light years.
Slowly she took the data crystal out of her blouse, she didn't miss the look Rook took down her shirt. She vowed silently to hurt him badly for that.
He helt out his hand waiting patiently for her to hand it to him, and she handed him the crystal with a great deal of mistrust.
He studied the symbols, "It reads: The steps to the stars begins with false starts."
Blitz snored, "And what does that mean?"
Jessica was disappointed, she'd hoped it would tell her where the other units and data crystals were or how to get the information from the one she had.
Rook went in to his tattered tent, Jessica and Blitz fallowed close behind. He still had the crystal and Jessica wasn't about to let it out of her sight.
He dug around in what looked like a pile of assorted junk. When he turned back towards Jessica, she gasp in surprise.
In his hand he helt another unit and data crystal, Jessica could tell it was also Rat'chhtkan.
He smiled at her dismay, "I found this in a pawn shop on Crilius 9. The shop keeper didn't realize what it was."
Jessica wanted to ask him what his data crystal said on it, but she
didn't have time to ask. He turned his crytal over in his hand done
something very quickly and the crystal begain to unfold.
--Whisper
The image above was provided by John Hicks.
