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Chapter 10 part2

 
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PostPosted: Sun May 18, 2003 10:32 pm    Post subject: Chapter 10 part2 Reply with quote

"You were true to your word Afain…although at first I had doubts but #0 Physician Shearah was not about to give up. Once they were able to scan me they found the problem almost instantly. I'm feeling more myself now; you couldn't have known how horrible it was not to be able to see yourself in a reflection. Now you'll be able to see me completely." Lyja gently felt her paws, for once again she could see them.

Afain was glad that Lyja was feeling better but that still didn't answer her question. "Now I guess that Cleo has informed you why it was we came to see you."
"Oh yes, I've already been in touch with Minister Garan and have explained to her that I am at the Emperors service and yours. There is only one other small detail that needs to be addressed. Minister Garan has to take care of a small problem that I have. Then all will be ready."
"Oh?" Afain watched as Lyja came in close to her.
"With the Minister's help I am about to be released from my family unit but I cannot stay free for I am underage; therefore I need a new family unit or become a ward of the government." She shivered at the thought of her own dysfunctional family unit and how they bitterly protested when their source of easy income was about to be lost to the Empire. She again shivered when she thought of becoming a ward of the government which was infinitely worse.

Lyja was close now that Afain could clearly make out her eyes, they were swirls of rainbow colours and very intoxicating. She also noted her clothing, it was transparent along with Lyja.
"Your clothing its transparent like you." Afain commented in utter amazement.
"Oh yeah, most fabrics that contact my skin will turn. It's an interesting side effect."
"It is indeed." Afain couldn't shake the feeling of being awed.
Seems Lyja was indeed a very special Zargozian. Afain also knew what she was asking, emotions stirred within her. Before, she never thought that she would ever have her own family unit, now they were four strong. Now this one, out of the blue; she wondered if this was the right decision. Thinking about it wasn't going to change things, if Lyja wanted to be with her then it was to be.

It was awkward Afain found for Lyja had very little ears if you could call them that so instead Afain nipped her shoulder. "I welcome you to our family unit #2 Engineer Lyjaifortia. As Lyja moved back Afain could see she was clearly crying and shaking slightly. So she did the only thing she could think of and embraced her in a loving hug.

A few days later Afain went home. She basked in the sun's warmth and sipped her tea, an herbal blend that Shearah ok'd "in moderation" she had stated. It was a beautiful day and she had time to reflect a bit. She rubbed her abdomen and smiled for two hatchlings now resided inside her. She had also grown quite a bit, much to her distaste. She felt like a water blotcha (hippo). Although it had a positive effect upon Kira, seems that her pregnant body turned her on. She grinned, this surprised her but she enjoyed reaping its benefits.

Afain found it amusing to find that Kira liked the fact that she- or they- now had three youngsters under their wings, so to speak. As Lyja got better she solidified into a startling thing of beauty, "shone" was the word for her appearance. Having no fur it was her skin that was striking in magnificence. It reflected almost every colour with every turn from her head to her toes. She had a very stubby tail and her head had not a hair to speak of. Her eyes sparkled with a life of their own, she was truly a thing of beauty; one that had caught Kira's eye that was for sure. In that light they were going to have a little chat.

School had not gone well for Tolare and Shearah the first couple of days but the third had surprised her when they talked about it. Each had found a new friend, with which they had found a commonality to share their lives.

Afain felt some relief in that fact, friends their age or new ages were going to be the helping hand they needed to adjust to their new world. Now the only thing that had Afain worried was that Kira and Lyja had taken off to see that old ship by themselves. She wanted to go but Cleo had insisted that she rest, certain chemical levels were rising in her body and she needed to stay calm today. She relented, knowing that she was going to have to save her energy for next week. Seems the council was going to meet, the organic that Kira had picked to do the job of translation was a special one that the scientists and engineers didn't want to let go of. They had made such a fuss that the Emperor called most of the council together and they were to meet next week to discuss the issue. This wasn't going to be an easy fight; she took another sip of tea and sighed.


Hanger 1518

Cleo had left a drone with Afain, she assure it she be fine with its company and to go. Kira had asked if Cleo could accompany them on this trip. The old world ship had remained untouched by order of the Emperor. The only ones allowed to view it were Afain, Kira and anyone who accompanied them. Since Lyja was feeling better she ought to see what she was getting herself into, plus she too was curious about this old craft.

The ship itself was on the other side of the planet in area not traveled much, it was a perfect place for it.
The hanger was huge, it could have contained several ships of great size. It was used for the great airships that flew almost continually around Tarra. They did need maintenance once and awhile and this is where they did it. There were many hangers like this spread all over Tarra, this just happened to be one of them and it wasn't in use at the moment so the military commandeered it. As Kira and Lyja approached they were awed by the shear magnitude of the structure, it towered over everything near it. Which wasn't really saying a lot since it was in the middle of a field surrounded by an empty desert landscape.

Suddenly Cleo began to glow blue, the next step Kira took was right into an invisible wall.
"Oooph!!! What the…?" Kira said rubbing her poor nose.
"WARNING YOU ARE ABOUT TO ENTER A CONTAMINATED AREA. Safety precautions will now be engaged." Kira suddenly felt tingly all over then it subsided."
"Cleo, what the heck is going on?" The voice Cleo used didn't sound at all like her, it had to have been an automated response. She still hadn't recovered fully yet from banging her snout, it hurt. She gently rubbed it making it worse still.
"The whole area is saturated with Theilong Radiation. It also seems that my shield will not surround Lyja."
"Are you sure? What's the source?"
"The old world ship."

Kira thought why would the old ship be leaking? Then she shook her head it was obvious because it was old, sigh what a stupid thought. "Are we in danger?"
"No I have erected a force shield around you that will disperse the radiation; however prolonged exposure could become a problem. I am unsure about Lyja though since I cannot provide her protection."

"Don't worry Cleo, Shearah explained that almost all forms of scans or waves of radiation do not penetrate or are dispersed by my skin aura. I believe I will be fine but I think it would be wise if we didn't stay too long." She looked at Kira, her guardian, who nodded.
"Ok, then we will make this short. Cleo, scan for others around here?"
"SCANNING… there are 40 Zargozians present. I do not know their state of health, we will need to be closer."
"Ok …lead the way." Kira had always had a knack of finding trouble and this was no exception.

Cleo began mapping the Radiation's expansion and began to form a picture so it could easily be seen. It looked on first pass like most of the harmful levels were still inside the structure but it was leaking far beyond its walls; approximately 20 meters to be exact.
"I have located the guard's station, we should be able to alert someone there." Cleo's soft voice said.
"Good." Kira said as she ran."

The guard's quarters were small but it seemed to have soldiers moving in and out quite quickly. As they entered they were greeted by a tall blue guard, her insignia on her tunic showed that she was a commander.
She was surprised to see them, no one had visited this station…ever. "Yes how can I help you citizen?" She said masking her surprise.

"You have a big problem here, everyone will have to be med lifted out of this place immediately." Kira said quickly. From the look on her face this was going to be a problem. Military personnel did not like taking orders from civilians.
"First off who are you? Secondly what is this major problem you are speaking of?" Her expression left nothing to the imagination.

"My name is Programmer #2 Kira I represent the Emperor in matters of the old world ship. We have detected radiation leaking from it; you have to get away from this place as quickly as possible."

The old world ship was under guard from the Emperor herself, no common civilian was going to order an Imperial guard off her post without proper identification.
"Show me authorization of your claim to be of the Emperor's service." She knew this would stop this trespasser and was poised to arrest her.
Kira made a signal to Cleo, the A.I. became a small flat rectangle hanging in mid air, it took a moment but the face of the Emperor soon appeared on its surface. Then her image spoke, "The bearer of this device has the authority of the Empire, any orders coming from this person will be obeyed with haste. You may protest at a later date to Minister Garan. Be warned penalties will apply to this breech of my official decree."
The face disappeared and Cleo became a sphere again.

The guard looked somewhat pale now. "Your name again?"
"Programmer #2 Kira, this my charge, #2 engineer Lyja."
She nodded. "What is it you would have me do Programmer #2 Kira, I am and my guards are at your service."
"Good, to hear." She struggled to read her rank.
"Captain Hurst." She said to help Kira.
"Well Captain, the first thing to do is alert some med teams and get them here. Then start to pull back from this place about half a kilometer that should be a safe enough distance."
"Understood and yourself?"
"I'm going to head inside with my companions to make sure everyone is out, I have protection from the radiation which others do not."
"Then if you'll excuse me Programmer #2 Kira I have things to do."
"See you soon Captain."

Kira and Lyja quickly left to allow the Captain to start moving the troops. Alarms began to sound as they watched troops scurry everywhere, it quickly became a nightmare. "Cleo can you..." The sound of the alarms dampened. "Hey, that was cool."
"I was able to alter the harmonics through the shield." Kira looked at Lyja who wasn't as fortunate.
"You're good, now I need an expert on Theilong Radiation, think you can contact one?"
"I will try."

The sphere became silent again as Kira and Lyja walked in to the hanger. Guards were moving all about her taking not much notice of her. Maybe Kira thought they had been informed of their presence. It didn't take long to get into the hanger area itself; and there before them sat the ship.

It was a magnificent sight, something that everyone should be able to see. Even though ancient beyond its years it still showed the majestic lines and the pride of the Dynasty. Before Kira could get too far Cleo's voice interrupted her journey forward.
"I have someone on the line, transferring." Cleo said as it transformed again to the small screen. An elderly Zargozian suddenly appeared and seemed shocked to see Kira's face.
"Who are you? This is an official Empire Channel you should not be on it."
"I do represent the empire I……"
"How dare you disturb my slumber!" The old one spoke then broke the connection.
"Damn, she hung up!" Kira said in anger.
"Shall I try again?" Cleo asked without emotion.
"No, it won't work, the old one needs to see a political figure on her screen. Patch me through to Minister Garan's office, let's see who we get."
"TRANSFERING…"

Lyja moved closer to the large vessel and she watched as guards moved across the wide open areas of the hanger. One she saw came running towards Kira, she could hear clearly what she was saying even from this distance.
"You must leave the hanger it is not safe in here." The guard panted.
"I have a radiation shield, thanks for the warning now you get out of here yourself."
"One moment…" The guard turned and spoke softly into her mike, then in a moment turned back around. "It seems you are authorized to be here, don't stay too long though wouldn't want to see a young Zargozian hurt like yourself." She winked then ran off.

Kira just stood there stunned, that guard had made a pass at her. 'Well it seems I still have it' she thought. Her thoughts were interrupted as Cleo's screen came to life.
"Yes can I help you?" Came the voice of a very young servant, she looked very sleepy.
"Yes I need to speak to Minister Garan immediately."
"She is in her bed chambers and will not be available till tomorrow. Please call back then."
"Cleo show her your authority." Cleo did and the servant bowed. "I will wake the Minister." In a quiet voice she said, "For your sake this better be important." She was gone the next instant, all they could do was wait. It seemed like eternity before the Minister appeared but finally she did. She looked very tired and Kira felt horrible that she had to raise her out of her slumber. "Yes this is Minister Garan, Kira?? "What is going on here?"
"I apologize for getting you out of bed Minister Garan but there is an emergency situation dealing with the old world ship." Her eyes opened wide, that ship was her responsibility and if anything happened to it …she shuddered to think the worst.
"Speak!"
"The ship is leaking what we think is harmful doses of radiation."

This was horrible news, "What has been done so far?"
"I've told the guards to evacuate to a safe distance and to get medical attention as soon as possible."
"Good, good, Kira and what about the radiation?"
"Cleo is not sure exactly what constitutes as harmful in this case. We tried contacting an expert in the field but she cut us off in mid sentence before we had a chance to explain the situation."
"Hmmmf." Garan growled, "Give me the name and I will contact this individual. We will meet you there as soon as possible." The emphasis was on we, it seemed that this individual would not hang up on Minister Garan or else.
"We will be expecting you. Again my apologies for waking you."
"It's not your fault, no harm really done. In fact I need to thank you for alerting me to this threat to our people. Now get yourself out of there, immediately. I will be in contact soon, Garan out." The screen went dead leaving them alone with the old ship.
"Seems we have our orders Cleo, I take it you've been mapping the area?" She was sure the sphere had been.
"Affirmative, I'm also taking scans of the ship, to locate the problem area."
"How much time do you need?"
"A few minutes."
"Am I safe for that much time?"
"Oh yes perfectly, the shield will hold." Then Cleo said something that Kira found out of place for a machine to say. "Trust me." Most organics had conversational skills but they were boring to talk with, mono toned voices and straight to the point but this statement meant that Cleo was learning the art of being with people and learning their manners. To what extent she didn't know, all she did know was that Cleo was learning very quickly.
"One last thing."
"Yes?"
"Keep in touch with Minister Garan, she wants to meet up with us."
"Already done, I'm in touch with her flight craft, it's warming up and preparing to depart. Seems it has complete priority, it wasn't hard to find."
"Heh…I bet that's right." Kira chuckled.

Kira found Lyja sitting and staring at the ship. "Well what you think?"
"They don't make them like this anymore."
"Yeah, isn't it something?"
"Oh yeah…what a piece of junk."
Kira did a double take. "Huh!! Lyja this is a part of our history, isn't it beautiful."
"Guardian Kira, this beautiful thing is leaking radiation and has probably compromised all the ships internal sensors!! If you get it to drop its seal, it will promptly try to fire up its reactor and probably blow us all into little bits."
Kira wasn't sure she had heard Lyja correctly, "You're saying this thing is a bomb?"
"Yes, if we do our job incorrectly. I see I also have another problem, I cannot see what type of power coupling that this thing requires. The hatch is sealed."
"Hmmm…can't you open it?"
"Sure and have its systems reactivate and we go poof."
"Not a good idea."
"No…not a good idea." Lyja looked around the ship some more, taking in this enormous behemoth. She found a few more scrapes and bruises the ship had taken over its journey; then she saw the crack. "Found it!" She shouted.
"Found what?" Kira said looking but not seeing anything.
"The crack."
"What crack??" She didn't see anything.
"Oh sorry, I forgot I can focus better than most. There is a fine crack between these two plates." She pointed to the hull but Kira couldn't see anything.
"I'll take your word for it."
"Probably ruptured one of the power conduits, if that's all that's wrong that's easily fixable. The contamination, that's going to be a lot harder."
"Oh?" Kira looked at her time piece, they had been in here a half an hour already. "Maybe it's best that we vacate and talk outside in the safe zone."
"Yeah, I got what I need to know and I have Cleo's scans to go over." The small sphere had been buzzing all around the ship while they had talked.
"Cleo…we are leaving, continue scanning the ship until you feel you have enough information for Lyja."
"Affirmative." Came the reply, they watched the small sphere, small in comparison to the massive ship fly about as they retreated to their ship. Cleo returned shortly after and moved the ship out of the radiated area. As they landed Cleo activated a signal locator.


Landings

The Royal Personnel carrier landed nearby and as it settled out stepped Minister Garan. Not long after, another small craft landed as well. From this one stepped an older Zargozian who walked to the Ministers side. It was time to find out what was going on Kira thought.

As Cleo, Kira and Lyja came closer it was easy to hear the conversation taking place.
"…again my apologies Minister Garan I had no idea she was a representative of the Emperor herself."
"We'll talk later on this matter, seems we are to be updated on the situation." Said Garan in a warning voice. She was tired and wanted this over as quickly as possible.

"Minister Garan, it is good to see you." Kira made the proper hand gestures, to try and make up for waking and getting the Minister out here at this late hour.
"Thank you Programmer #2 Kira, I would like an update of the situation as it is now."
"Yes Minister, the guards have pulled back and are now out of danger. A perimeter had been set up and no one is allowed to enter, without your permission."
"Good and how far has this radiation spread?"
"It is best that I show you, Cleo?" The sphere became a viewer and showed the area in detail and mapped out the spread of the radiation in a florescent green. It was easy to see the path now the radiation had taken. "As you can see Minister the radiation is not confined to the hanger, it has spread well beyond its walls."

"I see." Garan scratched her chin then looked at the older Zargozian. "Well Kalbore, can we contain this…oh many pardons. Programmer #2 Kira this is Kalbore, she was a Scientist 0 and taught for many years, but is now long since retired." Kira nodded and again gave the hand signals of respect, one who attains the high rating of 0 should be respected. It is a difficult task to get that far and many do not achieve that distinction. "Now Kalbore, can we contain it."
"I need to know its wavelength."
"4.87 metracycles per second."
"Ah…that is good."
"Good, how?" Garan asked.
"The higher the frequency the less lethal, the radiation here is not as harmful as first thought."
"But it still is harmful?"
"Oh yes Minister….it just takes longer for it to do the damage. Soon this area will become uninhabitable, if something isn't done."
"Well what can we do then?"
"We can use collectors, they should solve the problem."

The minister knew what collectors were, she had taken many a science course. They were mostly used on the colonies where they were teraforming or mining. They kept nasty radiation levels down and some cases non-existent. However there were none on Tarra that she was sure of. She needed access to the network, "Cleo, to me."
Cleo was still in small screen mode and still displaying the map; it gently glided over to the minister. "Access my files in the ALLEON archive under my name password 13690hm.
"Accessing…connected!"
"Scan the archives for anything related to radiation collectors."
"Scanning...2 entries have been located." Cleo displayed them for the minister to read.
"Damn, these are orders for the movement of collectors to Signess, this past month."
"Scan the off world data base for same."
"Scanning …158,990 entries have been found under that category."
"Narrow to inventory of collectors closest to Tarra."
"Scanning…there are 109 collectors on the Trus moon awaiting transport."
"Good, Cleo estimate the number of collectors needed to clean this mess up."
"Will source of contamination remain?"
"Yes."

There was a pause then Cleo spoke again, "83 collectors will be needed if source remains, 32 if source is removed within the next 16 weeks."
"How long for a ship to retrieve them?"
"This may take some time." Cleo said almost apologetic.
"Understood."

Brazil: Rainforest
Situation: Rock and a hard place.

"You're thinking again, I can tell." Alison directed her thoughts from within her confined space.
"Yeah, trying to figure out how to kill that bastard."
"What!" Alison said shocked.
"You don't think he's going to keep us around do you? Our presence here surprised him for the moment and his tiny brain went into overload. Now that he's had time to think over this situation …we're jungle chow."
"He won't kill us."
"Sure he will."
"Why do you say that?"
"It's what I would do."

Alison began to worry, at first her being awake and alive was wondrous, full of new sensations. Now as time had passed things were changing, her perspectives were rearranging themselves. For one she knew things that Mother didn't and for now she wanted it kept that way. Another thing she had to be careful of was the fact that she now could roam around in Mother's mind and what she found there horrified her.

After seeing into Mother's seemingly confused and psychotic mind things began to organize for her; she now had most of the pieces to a very complex puzzle. She knew that she was going to have to explain things to Mother soon but for now she kept silent. She only hoped they lived long enough to actually tell her.

The tent to her looked like an aircraft hanger; she guessed it had to be due to Jacob's great size and their relative small stature. To her it was enormous. As she entered, she could see Jacob sitting in a hanging chair with his huge gorilla feet on a nearby crate.
"Come in, find a seat…I think it's time we talked."

Mother knew she had to play this right or they were indeed as she put it 'jungle chow'. "About time, three days to think about me, isn't that a bit much?" There wasn't much to sit on but she found a sack of something that was soft and put her furry butt down.
"Yeah…I suppose so, to you at least; I needed more information but it has caused more questions than answers."
That she didn't like hearing, Jacob wasn't an idiot, in fact he had a good sense of things and that worried her even more. "Ok what have you got?"

He smiled, "Still in control I see. Seems you're a big mystery, you didn't arrive at any ports around here. Someone would have noticed you, that's for sure." The small yellow creature smiled back at him. "So I assumed you were here with your team but you're not." He eyed her for a reaction. "Your team was destroyed over three months ago and your whereabouts hadn't been determined…until now."

So that's what happened, three months! "Ok so?"

He knows, Alison thought. Now we're in big trouble, why is mother tempting him so, she shouldn't aggravate him. He's in control not us, or maybe we are?

Jacob roared with laughter, "You are Mother! Only she would question me from that position!"

His laughter was getting on her nerves, "I'm listening… I take it were not going to become plant food."

"That is entirely up to you, you are far from home with no one to call. The reason for your presence here still eludes me but it does not matter. All I need are two things from you and I will send you and your unborn home." His eyes locked on her for a reaction.

"Two things huh." Mother used the one paw that was free to scratch an itch behind her left ear.

"One is that when you leave here you will leave me in peace." He took his finger and began to pick at his long sharp teeth.

"And the other." Mother prompted.

His eyes were cold and black and Mother knew they were not getting out of this jungle alive. "I need you to kill someone."


End Of Chapter Ten.

"I should have taken that left turn at Albuquerque."

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