Utr Zarya

I once told myself that I'd love to travel and enjoy space if I had travelling companions. I had many of them that my ship had started to become crowded, especially with another one joining us.

After I declared George fit for travel, the rest decided to start traveling again. To help Arcturus's father in his own pursuit, I let him stay in contact with the Arkari colony's leaders. I convinced the leaders that Andrates was not delusional and was telling the truth, though I knew no one would just believe that Andrates and his comrades were fighting against a threat that even they had no idea was. It was a huge gamble, so I hope it paid off.

The only thing that Andrates was worried about was the situation of the generator that sealed the planet in the first place. Andrates told me and Arcturus about the Exodus Plan, a final resort plan that used Vyrn as a bait for enemies where they would be sealed for at least a thousand years or so. Vyrnians built things to last, but it would not last forever if it was being tampered with. The planetary shield could fail at any moment, especially when no one was ready. So, they could either try to find a way to strengthen the shield, or find a way to combat the threat.

"Before the planet was sealed," said Andrates. "There are many attempts to research the Eye. Many of them were aware of the Exodus Plan and chose to start it somewhere outside the planet. Some of them were the heart of the colonies itself."

Knowing what he was talking about, I remembered reading about the ongoing project in Orlonel of planet Amurlun. Amurlun was known to me even before I met Arcturus and George, as I had traveled there a couple of times due to the high variety of healing herbs growing naturally on the planet. Unlike Arkari, Amurlun was a planet we once called 'mostly water', but to make things easier to describe, Amurlun was 'Earth-like'. Like Earth, Amurlun had more water than land, with rainy weather and docile wildlife that could be exploited. However, there was a reason why the founders of the Orlonel colony called it Amurlun.

Amurlun is the Vyrnian word of 'Lush', and is part of the word Virdil Amurlun, which is translated to 'Lush Green'. It was obvious why this planet was called the 'Lush Green Planet'; it was a rainforest planet. From orbit, most of the land mass of the planet was covered with green, though development of several major colonies had clearly made a mark on the planet, though not severe enough to cause major environmental problems. The colony of Amurlun was established as a research colony researching on the information that was left there by earlier Vyrnian colonists, possibly dating back to even before the Exodus as Andrates said. It was also a good place for a relaxing holiday, even if it was a little bit too green. Vyrnians could live in practically any type of climates except in the extremes of temperatures, though we preferred dry climate. Amurlun had more humidity than it was comfortable for a desert raised Vyrnian like me. My reason in visiting Amurlun often, however, was for their herbs. Around 75 percent of herbs growing in the equatorial rainforest region could be used as potent medicinal herbs.

Following that suggestion, and the fact that Amurlun was already a planet Andrates suggested we check, we departed Lekan colony towards Amurlun. The planet was only half an hour away from Lekan, slightly closer than Arkari was.

As I waited for the permission to land, I turned towards the main ship area to check on the rest of the group. Sel did not seem to be doing anything other than relaxing, but George seemed rather set in teaching Kilkaja many things. George persuaded me to take Kilkaja along so that he could see the planet since George felt a sense of sympathy to the former slave. Well, I was driven by that sense, too, so I let him do what he wanted. It felt strange to see a pre-space alien teaching a space-faring alien what space was, but I once asked the young Nuoevan of his knowledge of space, and he had practically none.

"I...wasn't allowed to see the stars," he said to me once. "They don't want me to have that idea of escaping."

Nuoevans were as cruel as their powers, but I never thought they'd be that cruel to someone of their own kind. I really wanted to try and change them, but it wasn't my place to do this. It must be done by the Nuoevans themselves. Still, Kilkaja was in good hands, and it showed in George patiently teaching him many things.

"They look like brothers, don't they?" commented Arcturus. He had been my co-pilot and navigator ever since the start of our travel together. Despite of being an old-fashioned Vyrnian out of time, he learned much faster than I initially thought, possibly because Vyrnians were more technologically advanced in the past.

"Yeah, they do," I said. "They're like brothers from different mothers."

"And worlds," said Arcturus. "Which is a quality that I like from George. He's a kind, open-minded person who ironically came from a pre-space world. I am glad to have met someone like him in my exile. Otherwise, things might be hard for me."

"Or you might not even be awake."

"I guess so. Still, as kind as he is, he can be the cunning one, so be careful if he asks you for anything in the future, alright?"

I did not understand what Arcturus meant then, but I was later told that it was because of George asking Arcturus to be his partner in return of being a guide, which was something that Arcturus did not know given that he was from another world. While it was not a malicious intent, the fact that George helped for a favor showed that even a kind person could be cunning, and that made things interesting. For me, at least.

I heard that characteristic 'ping' sound indicating that I got permission to land on the colony, so I proceeded to execute the landing program and let the on-board ship computer to do the rest. All I had to do was supervise the procedure. It was made easier by the landing guidance system installed on the Amurlun colonies, which for me was an indication that this was not a frontier planet.

We landed on a relatively less forested area of the planet, near Orlonel, which was a Vyrnian word for 'Origin'. The name was fitting, given that this was the site of the original Vyrnian colony on Amurlun. We parked the ship on the outskirts of the colony and walked towards the main area, where we quickly found ourselves in a relatively modest center platform area of the colony.

It felt so weird seeing three small-sized aliens walking around in a Vyrnian colony, given that unlike Arkari, this place was no trade center, at least unlike the other colonies on this planet. I wanted to ask them to stay near or around the ship, but they refused and decided to walk around the colony, claiming they knew their way back to the ship. Still, I did not want them to act like tourists here, so I asked them, especially George and Sel, to help find anything relevant in the colony's public library, more specifically anything with relation to the events leading to the sealing of planet Vyrn. Meanwhile, Arcturus and I would negotiate with the colony, as per our (well, more specifically, Arcturus's) attempt to help gain support for his father's efforts.

I had thought that it would be hard to convince the colonists of Orlonel, most of which were second-generation Okthaipans, to join Andrates's cause. They had known Amurlun as their birth planet, and thus would not even consider a desert planet like Vyrn to be a home planet, or even Arkari for that matter. Vyrn was a relic from the past used as a prison to be forgotten, so I'd understand if no one ever heard of it.

It turned out not to be the case, as the colonists of Orlonel were in fact intrigued by our proposal. They could not readily accept that fact, of course, knowing that declaring the Exodus happened because of an unknown enemy sounded like the words of a rambling mad Vyrnian who became desperate. However, they knew we were not trying to scam them, especially after Arcturus showed them a holo-drive recording with details about Vyrn and the Exodus Plan, which he pulled from the Lekan archives in case he needed something to convince them. They then introduced us to the one in charge.

Her name was Eshdar Xilna, the project leader of the Orlonel archaeology team, who was in charge of excavating and studying the site near the colony. She was rather young for a project leader, maybe around the age of 60 or 70 (if we're talking human age length, she was around 30 years old). She scales were of a vibrant emerald color, matching the color of the leaves native to planet Amurlun, with parts of it colored brighter along with some brown-colored stripes on her wing-arms and a generally lighter brown wing membrane color. Her wings were pretty much cream-colored and covered by sleeves. From the look of it, she had used her wings rather frequently despite of the planet's tall rainforest trees, as evidenced from the rips on parts of the wings I could see. Those were indications of damage due to collisions, not age like most Vyrnians. Our wings would slowly degrade by age even without damage because it was nothing more than a thin leathery membrane and a part of our arm's extension.

She was the first to greet us after hearing the recording Arcturus provided, and readily talked to us about the purpose of the Orlonel project and the presence of the ancient colony.

"The colony had been on this planet for approximately 600 years, but was made fully automatic around 500 years ago," she said. "However, we cannot enter the facility due to the sealed entrance. With the tropical climate around this part, the deterioration of the exterior should have given us access, but we could not."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" said Arcturus.

"We want to try and access the interior to check if there's anything's left in there," said Xilna. "The database on Lekan could give us the key necessary."

"We can start with that," I said. "We can make a call and let them help."

"Thanks. So, tell me something. You claimed to be dealing with something involving Vyrn and the Eye. Why do you think there's a danger involved? And please don't tell it's because your father said so, Domel Arcturus."

Xilna's question was the same with me. Andrates had not given us an answer of what we were dealing with. He only told us about his own experience, the Exodus, and the fact that he wanted to save Arcturus from being framed a couple of days before the Exodus. There were no proof of them actually happening except the Exodus. The story could be easily spun to suite the past. It was hard for me to trust someone who just woke up and claimed to know things we did not know. It was just far too risky.

Arcturus, however, already had the answer.

"Because I wouldn't be put in a cryosleep and exiled to a backwater pre-space planet if it wasn't for a real danger, right? He's still a sane Vyrnian. Zarya can vouch for me."

"Wait," I said. "I never said anything about your father's mental state."

"You still trust him."

"Not entirely. If there is a chance that he's lying..."

"Then I'll admit my fault," he said.

I really wish it took more than that to convince me, because I trusted Arcturus's words before when he claimed to be 3500 years old.

Xilna, who listened in, then sighed and said, "Well said. I knew Lekan from the books dating back before the Exodus, so I know it's a place we can start. I just did not realize that it was already taken over by the Nuoevans until you took care of them."

"No one? Not even one of your scientists?" I said.

"That's...a good question," said Xilna, pondering. "I thought it was risky since the place was practically abandoned and could become a hideout for criminals. An abandoned star system is a perfect place for this."

"Either everyone thinks it's not worth it, or...someone is trying to discourage it. Someone other than you," I said.

"If that's the case, then our old enemy is still out there, lurking in the shadows," said Arcturus. "Waiting for the perfect moment to strike."

It sounded like Arcturus was being paranoid, but he got a point. His father and his allies would not ask us to go to Orlonel for nothing. Arcturus was the victim of the Exodus as much as those who actually experienced it. Even worse, he was forced to sleep a dreamless sleep for 3500 years (cryosleep did not induce dreaming state). I still had my doubts at this point, but I knew things would get bad soon after, especially after we found that the threat was real.

Even then, we decided that the sealed colony was a key point and decided to relay this information to Andrates. Thanking Xilna, we walked towards the central platform of the colony and meet with Sel, George, and Kilkaja, who had been working on some books they borrowed from the library. They had been borrowing and downloading a couple of books about the colony's history and even the pre and post-Exodus histories of the Vyrnians, which could potentially had a big amount of volume and a whole more lot of translating for the three of them, something the tablet I borrowed would take a lot of time processing and a lot of memory space.

"Don't you think it's time for you to buy the current model?" I said. "I lent you that old tablet since you need to understand how things work out here. There's no way that tablet will be able to translate the whole volume for a human, a Felinian, and a Nuoevan to read."

"We might," said Sel. "But we'll just borrow your ship's AI. That way, we'll save money."

I was impressed. Given that Sel had lived in poverty, she would've known how to save some credits. Guess being a pirate did not mean quick credits, after all, huh? I even found myself smiling.

"The ship can handle translation better," I said. "Do whatever you want."

Sel smiled and nodded. The three of them then walked back into the ship. That left me and Arcturus in contacting Andrates with a nearby comm hub. Once there, I said, "Should Arkari be worried?"

"About what?"

"About your enemy. It's not the only colony on the planet, I know, but Arkari is an open colony. Vyrnians from all over the galaxy visit the place. I am more worried that the people I have known since childhood will end up getting involved, so I am worried. It's a place I call home."

I knew Arcturus had no answer to that. Even he was a victim. No one did. In fact, we did not know what we were up against.

"I remembered hearing about that ancient colony back when I first woke up from cryo," said Andrates after we explained what we found here. "Whatever's in there could prove useful in our efforts but be wary of traps. There is a reason why it was sealed."

"We'll try," said Arcturus. "Do you happen to know the keycode for the colony's door?"

He turned away from the comm's camera to talk with someone off-screen, before he returned and said, "We'll get it for you as soon as we get the specific colony. I suggest you ask anyone in charge of the place to evacuate the area."

"Isn't that a bit excessive?" I asked.

"Like I said. Be careful of anything in there. Nothing good comes from a sealed place. Keep vigilant."

"We'll talk to Xilna about it," I said.

"Alright. I know that you won't try to be reckless. Here's the most recent keycode we've found. Use it, but only after you're sure that you are prepared."

I really wished that Andrates was just exaggerating. It was much easier to understand exaggeration than it being an underestimation.

We proceeded to tell Xilna about it. She seemed rather glad that her research went somewhere. Still, we knew what Andrates said and told her to make the colony safe first. Knowing her, she would agree that safety must always be considered.

"I agree," she said. "We'll relocate non-essential personnel and keep the security."

"Also, we can't risk everyone rushing into the colony," said Arcturus. "A small exploration group is enough to minimize risks."

Xilna once again nodded.

Our involvement in this event seemed to disrupt the colony's normal workings a bit, but from what I gathered, everyone who was in Orlonel was involved with the sealed colony, anyway, so they wanted to see what's behind the sealed place. Was it worth studying? Anything important that could be salvaged? Or maybe the colony was sealed simply because it was made into a time capsule. I really hoped the last part was not the case. It would be very underwhelming.

It took at least 2 hours to get the non-essentials to safety, leaving only a handful of scientists, anthropologists, and security guard waiting for the door to be opened. I gulped. What if Andrates did not exaggerate? What's inside could kill all of us and we would not even have time to call for help. I did not want to die. I was scared and was rather visible about it. To my comfort, Arcturus grabbed my shivering and whispered, "I'm scared, too, Zarya. But I know things are easier if we are together."

I wanted to say something about that remark. I had a feeling that he was trying to tell me something, but I could not think of anything other than trying to calm myself while holding Arcturus's hand. I turned to him and see his face. He looked so calm even after he confessed his state of mind.

Then someone said, "Done" and I turned towards the door. There was a series of clicks, each of which made my heart jumped a little. I wanted to stay strong. I wanted to see this through.

As the final lock clicked open, the door started to creak open, letting out a sound that indicated its age. The loud groaning sound did not help the tension, but it was only for a moment. The door had been opened, and it's time to start exploring.

Of course, that would happen later, because I felt a sense of dread. It was as if a dangerous evil had been sealed inside the colony, and we just opened it for everyone to be exposed to.

However, despite that feeling of dread, I could hear Kilkaja's voice, with George asking him what's wrong.

"There's something in there," he said, looking towards the dark space beyond the door. "It's coming."

From within, a figure, vaguely Vyrnian, walked forward into the light. It was covered in dark, coated in something organic, but not really. It was gooey and rather viscous, like a slightly heated gel.

Everyone quickly became alert and backed away from the figure. It looked around, assessing the situation. Part of what was the Vyrnian's wing-arm had become a tentacled appendage that flailed around it.

Then without warning, it attacked. We had anticipated this, but we did not expect the tentacle to be that fast. The trained security officers ducked at the right moment, but the tentacle hit one of them, stabbing and impaling him like a stake. He was being raised on top of everyone's head as he was thrown to the ground near a group of the Vyrnians. I quickly rushed towards him to check his condition, but I was doing this without assessing the condition. I almost got myself attacked by the tentacle if it wasn't for George blasting the tentacle off with his sword's energy gun.

I checked the Vyrnian's condition. He was in critical condition, but that tentacle attack left a massive wound that effectively destroyed his abdomen. It was a fatal wound. Of course, I tried my best to minimize his suffering as he died. It was my duty as a healer, after all.

He was, however, not the only casualty. Several other Vyrnians were either killed or injured by this monster, and we were quickly overwhelmed. Even Arcturus's energy conversion ability could not hold the monster's attack.

We really got ourselves in quite a pickle here.