CH18

“WHAT. IS. GOING. ON?!” The shout rolled through the hall packed with technicians. Neither them nor the usually omniscient AI knew the answer.

“High Disciple, it looks like they are preparing to access the gate…” One of the staff members dared to say.

“I can see that, you idiot! But why are they doing this?!” The High Disciple retorted angrily from his station above the technicians’ heads. “They should have found us by now! Teo knows about the signal! Something must be wrong!”

This time none of his lessers tried to argue with him. Something was definitely wrong.

According to what the AI was showing them, Teo’s vessel appeared in the system almost half a cycle ago. Earlier than the High Disciple had expected them to come, but that was not the reason of his agitation. No, the reason he was losing his mind was far more complicated.

Teo was did not contacted them in any way so far. Instead, he rushed through the system like mad, not bothering with the signal from the facility. What was he thinking? The High Disciple had personally recommended him for the mission, not only because Teo was one of his kind, mighty Sa’der, but mostly because of his reputation.

Teo and his circle could be relied upon. They were professionals and traditionalists; their words were strong. So was their greed, true, but who could blame them? The relic would have appealed to anybody. And they were Sa’der. It was part of their nature to desire.

Could that be the reason of their strange behavior? Did they plan to stain their words with treason?

But that made no sense! Why would they even be here, if that was the case? They could have run away with the ship right when they got it! Why would they be here and act like that? Was that the female’s doing…?

So frustrating!

“My lord, the ship has vanished from the system.” Announced AI’s masculine voice.

What should he do now? Should he send a message to the council? That would take too long. What could the High Disciple tell them? He knew nothing!

“No, they didn’t! They’re still here!” A lesser member of his own circle notified him. “We still have the signal from the ship, even though the radar shows nothing… They must have cloaked themselves!”

Another mystery. What was this about? Unless…

“Someone’s chasing them,” the High Disciple whispered.

Yes, that must have been the case. Teo wanted to deceive his pursuers. That was the only logical explanation. If there was another cloaked ship in the system, it would be reasonable to approach the gate.

And who could that be? And why?

Imperials? Unlikely. If they knew the truth, the whole fleet would have been mobilized by now. Besides, Teo’s mission was not strictly illegal.

“Is it moving? The signal?”

“Yes, High Disciple. They are slowly coming towards us.”

Good. The ship was still too far from the planet to establish any kind of reliable communication and, if there were intruders in the system, opening a proper channel would be out of question anyway.

“Go back to your duties,” he told the technicians. “But be prepared. We may need to evacuate this facility soon.”

For now they had to wait.

“Here,” Eclipse pointed at the 3D screen. “The facility does not seem to be a terribly complicated structure, but I would guess the bigger part of it is lies underground. Unfortunately, the only way to confirm that would be to send drones to the surface of the planet. Do you wish me to proceed with that plan, captain?”

“Hmm, what?” I snap out of my thoughts. “Of course not! Why want to stay hidden, remember? No scouting without permission.”

“Understood, sir.”

Now, that we were done with the easy part, we had to decide our next move. Fight or flight?

“For me it looks like normal sand dunes. You sure this is what we’ve been searching for?” Draco asked unconvinced.

We were all on the bridge again, trying to make sense of the images the AI has been showing us.

“I am. And this is precisely the reason why. This region of the planet is supposed to be constantly troubled by sand storms, and yet, when I compared the images I had taken when we first arrived with my current input… Those “dunes” are in the exactly same place. The signal comes from a place almost three kilometers away. Close enough for a base, I believe.”

“Great. You found what you wanted. Now let’s get out of here.” Ilmine was never a fan of this plan.

And I was ready to agree with her and call it a day. To descend down there, to attack whoever they were, would be an action of a desperate man. Even our famous recklessness had some limits. Maybe if I was alone… With Draco and Blaze on board I could not risk everything just like that. And I knew they would not let me go alone.

“Sir, I just received a transmission from the surface!” My train of thoughts was cut off by the alarmed voice of our AI. “It is not a simple wide-range signal. The message was directed straight at us! It… it seems that their using the standard machine language, but if I translate it literally, the result may not be of the best quality...”

“It means they know we’re here!” Ilmine panicked. “Quick, we must get out of here!”

Miss Anthropologist’s creepy eyes became wider than usual. The girl was scared as hell.

“And we’re fucked.” Blaze added quietly with her usual bored expression.

“No!” I shouted.

If only it was that simple.

“What are they saying? What do they want?”

“I cannot-”

“Ilmine!”

“Oh, fine! We can end this here,” she took out the translation device and laid it on the console. Even then her moves were methodical and focused. “You need to pass the signal through my module, it should help convert the machine language into English as a default… Done. Eclipse?”

“Thank you, Ilminerelitore. The translation is complete,” the AI was much more calmer this time. Apparently the guy did not like to lose control over the situation. “I would also like to copy the software of the device, so there will be no need to inconvenience you in the future.”

Ilmine just waved her hand, declaring she had nothing against the idea.

“What about the message?” I was impatient to see its content.

Without a word, Eclipse projected a new holo.

Mission status report Readiness to leave the ship report Prisoner status Danger pursuers (?)

“What the hell…?”

I could understand the first part, but the rest? Did they want us to leave the ship? And the rest was even more incomprehensible.

“Can somebody tell me what is written there?” Ilmine sounded a little annoyed. Right, I forgot our genius could not read.

My explanation made her look even more uneasy.

Wait a minute…

“Prisoner… Are they talking about you?” That would change some things.

“Probably. Does it matter?” She shrugged.

And in it that moment I realized it really did not. We had no time for that. Those guys down there were far more important than whatever game Ilmine was playing. What should we send them back? Maybe it would be better to stay silent…

“We need to act fast,” Draco said as if reading my thoughts. “We must look damn suspicious and if we leave now they can just blow the shit out of this place and we’ll never find them again. Any ideas?”

He was right. That was an opportunity we could not waste.

“Eclipse, can’t you just hack them?” I asked, hoping for a miracle. “You’ve been gathering informations about Earth from the orbit, the distance shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“Not at all, sir. But on Earth I was able to access the Internet free signal that covers the whole planet as well as a few satellites. The internal network of this facility is out of my reach. I would need a direct connection to their hardware to forcefully gain access or the facility’s AI permission. Both options seem unlikely.”

Fuck. FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!

That was not good.

“So if we could wire you up to their junk, you would be able to rummage through their files and find the way back to Earth?” My voice was much calmer now.

“That is the case, captain. Theoretically.” Eclipse said slowly.

Theoretically. Great.

“Then send them this: Landing site requested." I turned to my siblings. "We’re gonna take a walk.”

Status update: Desperate.