Chapter 11. Removing the Link.
P.A. Amst.
A single cruiser jumped out of hyperspace into empty area. No planets, stars or moons, nothing. A second later it jumped back and disappeared. On board, a female Mellis was losing her temper.
“How much longer is this going to take?”
“Not much longer m’lady, we can’t narrow the trace down to much more than a couple of hours. It can’t be much farther.”
“I hope not, for your sake. The Queen can get very angry if she doesn’t get what she wants.”
“Understood ma’m. We’ll jump out again in a minute.”
Amst sat down and rubbed her smooth temple, where perspiration had gathered. They needed to find that beacon before it returned to the Undrux Eese on Undhom or else things could become very difficult. She had never supported the agreement made between the Queen and that thing and would never trust it, but if it could save the Empire it was worth it. A shudder announced the jump but it was short lived as they jumped back almost immediately.
“Excuse me ma’m but may I ask why we are following an empty beacon?” asked the subordinate.
“That is only known to me and the Queen, and it is going to stay that way.”
“But if you could tell me what frequency the message was on we could find the message much quicker.”
“Don’t concern yourself with that, the trace will be sufficient.”
“But the trace...”
“Silence” commanded Amst “It is not in your interest to know the contents of that message. If you speak out of turn again, I will have you thrown out of the airlock.”
The disgraced pilot turned his ashamed face back to the controls. Amst immediately regretted shouting at him. He was only curious and that is natural for all beings to have a certain level of interest, but a male pilot had no business to talk to the Queen’s PA. Another shudder rippled the ship.
“Got it ma’m. Activating the tractor beam now to pull it in.”
“Good, I will go down to Hangar Three and you will accompany me.”
He silently rose and followed behind the half a dozen of guards that surrounded Amst. Despite their many advantages, female Mellis would never be as strong as the men so they were deemed certain military positions, but even the highest commander would never outrank a civilian like Amst, not by a long shot. Their long spears were only to threaten and intimidate their enemies; the guards relied on the powerful wisouric ability that resided within all members of the Mellis to fight off any attackers to protect their holy Empire.
The doors to Hangar Three slid wide, where in the centre of the wide space, the small messenger pod waited with another dozen guards at the doors. Amst hurried down the steps and stood a few inches from the heavy pressurised doors, whilst the eighteen guards and captain surrounded her in a wide semicircle so they could channel the energy through her. They glared at her to encourage the wisouric to infuse her. She closed he eyes so she could prepare herself then suddenly stared straight at the door to the escort, which immediately crumpled under the strain. After just a few seconds, holes began to punch through and link up until a large portal shape appeared as it melted through the door, sufficient to allow access. The surrounding man gasped with the relief but Amst breathed calmly, having a significantly reduced effect of the strain from focusing wisouric. She led the procession through, followed by the pilot and her six guards. Inside the pod, it was cramped but they could just fit in when two of the guards voluntarily left. The walls were a plain sterile white with only one small desk and two chairs which Amst and the shaking captain took. Almost immediately a small cylindrical like shape appeared in front of the latter that looked to Amst for instructions. She nodded and he placed his smooth hand inside the shape. He grunted as words appeared on the smooth transparent desk “Scanning occupant” and then “Friendly detected. Access granted”. A thin female AI rose and spoke in a definitive male voice.
“This is a message from Undrux trade Cask, formerly on mission to oversee construction of Crystal palace from Homeosapien Allied Community planet designated “Earth”. At approximately 9:43 local time a UFO came into contact with the Armed Humanitarian Defence forces. When the object in question left I pursued and am following it to its point of origin. This beacon contains directions to my recent path as I will continue to drop guiding beacons every five standard minutes of my journey to guide you if I do not return. Cask out.” The AI relaxed her appearance but straitened up when she saw the Mellis.
“Ah, Lady Amst if I may call you that. What business do you have in this craft?”
“We came across this pod and boarded it to find its contents” she relied.
“Thank you for being concerned but I assure you, this craft is fully equipped. You should not have come across it, unless you were looking for it?”
“Certainly not. I want to have the directions to the first beacon where we may find and rescue your master.”
“I apologise m’lady but protocol states that only the Commission may access such information. I would not waste your time trying to sway me; I am a mere hologram of my actual unit and have no independence from my orders.”
Amst frowned and announced “You will give me those codes, even if I have to tear this ship apart.”
However the computer merely chuckled and said “Do not try and intimidate me m’lady. Your psychic abilities have no effect on a mere AI such as me and hostilities will not be tolerated if you try to take them using force. Now please return me to the Eese.”
The defile hologram infuriated Amst further so she dramatically sighed and said “So be it. Soldiers tear it apart and get the engineers to hack into the system.”
Before they could move more cylindrical shapes appeared and attached themselves to the arms of the shocked males. They protested and pulled but the grip remained firm. She looked to the pilot for answers but he was too busy pulling on the device attached to his limb. Padc merely laughed “I warned you but you refused to listen. Initiate self-detonation sequence in ten seconds.” Amst ran from the craft shouting for the crowd to get back and all complied despite the growing concern for those left inside and their sobs. The explosion was larger than expected and knocked all the Mellis in the hangar off their feet. When they turned around a smouldering crater was all that remained of the group trapped inside. Amst rose and hurried to the ships intercom system.
“Co-pilot, get us back to Melly. The Queen needs a report. Things just got a lot more complicated.”
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