Chapter 27: Family Reunion

The ship smelt damp and musty with a hint of oil and stale alien sweat thrown in for good measure. Mark thumped the main console as the nav screen flickered out for the umteenth time. The jump engines were charging, and as the small three berth scout ship drifted in interstellar space it creaked and groaned like an old fashioned wooden sailing ship. Most of their money had been spent on a decent ship for Arron and Minara. They had left the station several days ago to search for their young son and Theasa over a large area of space. He had just to get to the core worlds to find Nora and Varna then get them away to a frontier world on the empire rim where they could trade this current bucket of old bolts for something better.

Minara had assured him that Varna could afford a good ship with the funds she would have stashed away. Once they had the ship, Mark had agreed to meet up again at the ICorp base, where Varna could get her teeth fixed before they all returned to the core worlds of the Grojan Empire.

The nav screen flicked back to life in response to his well placed blow and he checked the final coordinates in the nav computer. He had decided that the best thing to do would be to follow his mother's wishes and try to contact his great grandfather. He knew it was a long shot that presented a high risk, but it was the only thing he could do.

The jump engine charge indicator flicked from red to green and he punched the activate button. He swallowed down the familiar lurch in his guts and a sun appeared outside his front view port. He took a deep breath and contacted traffic control.

Many hours later his ship came to rest in a remote section of the main Ucroria spaceport.

Mark slumped in his seat, the nervous sweat that had been soaking his shirt now cold on his back. He took a deep breath and exhaled through pursed lips. "Thank fuck for that!" the first part of his plan had passed off without too much trouble. His false identity had got him past the Ucroria security and customs, which being a core world was still efficient and thorough.

With a sigh he rose, walked back to the living quarters of the ship and had a shower. He dressed in some of the clothes Minara had purchased for him and emerged from his cabin as a well-off middle class Grojan.

He pulled out his handy com and switched it on. Once it had synced to the Ucroria network he punched in the identification number his mother had left him and held his breath. The handy buzzed several times then a click as the call was picked up. "Hello?" a gruff male voice answered in audio mode only.

"Is that Luirlan ... Luirlan Rmaxis?"

"Who wants to know?"

"My mother told me to contact you should I ever need help." Mark did not want to give too much away so he had decided to be cagey in his replies especially as the person on the other end of the call was also being cautious.

"Your mother?"

"Yes, she gave me your contact details."

"Ancestors! This is my private number, very few people know it ... Do you know the city, young man?"

"No sir."

"I am just going to send you a location, are you at the main spaceport?"

"Yes, sir."

"Do you have money and a thumb chip?"

"Yes."

"Go to the main gate, hire a taxi and show him this address." The handy pinged and an address flashed up on the screen. "Get out of the taxi there and wait for further instructions."

Mark did as he was instructed and found himself standing at the junction of two busy streets full of vehicle traffic and pedestrians on the sidewalk. He waited for a few minutes, looking at how surprisingly ordinary and similar it was to a human city. His handy com buzzed he brushed the screen with his thumb. "You look Grojan."

"Yes, it was necessary." He looked round to see if there was anyone nearby using a handy, but he could not see anyone.

"Turn to your left then follow the street to the next left, turn down it and follow the street until you come to a 'red' door." The word red was in Human Standard, which Mark thought was clever, as far as the Grojan were concerned Standard was now a dead language and almost no Grojan spoke it. "The door will be unlocked, step inside and wait."

Again Mark did as he had been instructed. He found the red door after a short walk, pushed on it and stepped into a small apartment, empty except for a couple of lounge chairs. He walked over to the one facing the main door, sat down and waited.

A short while later the door opened and an old Grojan male stepped through and pointed a pistol towards Mark, who stiffened and made to stand. "Stay seated!" the old Grojan barked.

Mark shrugged and settled back in the chair.

"What was your mother's name boy?"

"Verina."

"Your father's name?"

"Umm..."

The old man waved the pistol at him. "I need to know your father's name now!"

"Andrew Fuller."

The old man visibly relaxed, tucked the pistol out of sight inside his jacket, walked over and sat in the chair opposite.

"Are you Luirlan?" Mark asked.

"Yes, your great grandfather." The old man sighed. "You took a chance coming here, Mark, but I have to say your disguise is very effective." He smiled. "But to make sure you are who you say you are, do you mind if I conduct a quick test?"

"No, of course not."

"Please hold out your hand."

Mark leant forward and held out his hand as Luirlan requested, and the old man slipped a grey ring over his finger and pulled a small device from his pocket that looked like a handy com. "This is old Grojan technology that has been forgotten. Your mother found it for me on one of the old planets." He adjusted a dial and frowned in concentration for a moment. He made another adjustment then broke out in a wide smile. "You are half human, it is confirmed." He waved the device in his hand and removed the ring, returning both to one of his jacket pockets. "You can't be too careful these days." He stood up. "Now, Mark, I want you to come with me please."

"Where are we going?"

"To my private residence of course, where you will be safe and we can talk."

Mark frowned. "Why would your residence be any safer for me than here?"

"Ah, I can see you don't trust me."

"I don't trust any Grojan, nothing personal."

"Your mother was Grojan, young man."

"I was very young when she and father left us, I don't remember her."

Luirlan shrugged. "It makes no difference, my boy, the only way forward for you is to accompany me."

Mark clenched his jaw, he had come this far and the old man did not appear to be a threat. "All right." he rose and followed the old man out of the apartment, along several busy streets until they reached a small nondescript ground vehicle. They climbed in and Luirlan drove steadily out of the city. Once they reached the outskirts he pulled into a covered area by some rundown industrial looking buildings.

Mark gazed around. "This isn't your residence is it?"

With a snort, Luirlan shook his head. "No, it is just a convenient place to change vehicles."

"You're joking?"

Luirlan raised an eyebrow. "No, it's to confuse anyone tailing us."

"Bloody hell, it's like a James Bond movie."

"What is a James Bond movie?" The old man asked.

"My grandfather ... sorry, from my father's side." Mark hastily added at Luirlan's confused expression. "Used to collect old films from our past, James Bond was a spy from a couple of centuries ago, and actions like this featured often in the films I watched with him."

"Ah I see. Well although I practically own this whole planet, you can't be too careful." He led mark to another ground vehicle. "This is just a random vehicle purchased by an agent for this one task and untraceable." Mark nodded to humor the old man, not believing that it would fool a serious intelligence group for one minute, but the Grojan state being run by bickering families it might just be enough. He sighed as he settled in the new vehicle and Luirlan eased it from the covered building.