Chapter 11

ONTEROM

TALISMAN

FEBRUARY 7^TH, 2135 HOURS EST

“ ... detected us Dehov?” Delnash asked. His eyes were focused on the massive main monitor which gave them an up close view of Onterom even though they were still more than an hour away.

“No Chief Elder.” Dehov answered. “I brought us in behind the coreward moon. The Lycavorian ships are on the other side of the planet and will not be able to detect us unless either of them moves from its current location. They seem to be maintaining an ecliptic orbit above the Science Station.”

“Why?” Delnash asked.

“Less time to reinforce those on the surface and easier communications.” Sashan spoke from where he stood beside Radra and Lorendo.

“Why do we not have more information on these Lycavorians Lorendo?” Delnash asked turning to look at Lorendo. He remained silent, surprised at the question, so Kasdan stepped forward from one of the Science stations.

“We have volumes of data Chief Elder.” He replied. “However ... no one has reviewed the logs.”

“Well ... why not?” Delnash snapped.

Kasdan looked at Lorendo and saw he was going to get no help and he moved closer to continue. “The sensor probes we seeded within the Alpha quadrant were only designed to activate once every fifty years for a one week period. They would monitor and record any events happening within their established parameters and then transmit the data back to the Central Hub for that area of space. Once that was complete then they would shut down. Contact with all of the Central Hubs was lost when the homeworld fell Chief Elder.” He explained. “We only have data from before the...”

Delnash held up his hand. “Yes ... I understand.” He said softly. “Thank you Kasdan.”

“Our probe detected it.” Sashan spoke.

Kasdan nodded his head. “Yes ... because our Series Twelve Probes are newer and linked to our Central Hub network on Artaaya. It takes longer for the information to transmit, but it is much more secure. And to save room for more thorough scans, they are programmed to trigger only if they detect our technology activating within their sensor radius.”

“The VORTEX Cruiser.” Dehov said.

Kasdan nodded. “Yes.”

“Well if that is the case then they have only had control of the Avatar for a short time.” Delnash said. “Weeks at most.”

“I’m afraid that is not the case.” Kasdan spoke.

“Why?”

“The two ships are using systems based on our technology Chief Elder.” He replied. “Given the level of technology we have seen so far...”

“What?” Delnash asked.

“I estimate that they have had access to our technology for at least two decades. Probably more in order to build a ship of that type out there. Our technology is not simply added on as we first thought. As we have gotten closer and I have been able to fine tune our sensors with Avatar 27’s help, I have discovered it is integrated into many of their systems. Even as reworked as our sensors are I am still unable to fully penetrate their hull because of this unknown metal without a full active scan. Which they will detect the moment it begins.” Kasdan said.

“Two decades!” Lorendo spat. “That isn’t possible! The probe only activated weeks ago Kasdan! It would have detected anything before that just as it did the VORTEX Cruiser!”

“And it did detect something Elder Lorendo.” Kasdan spoke. “And it transmitted the data back to the Central Hub on Artaaya just like it was designed for. That was twenty-seven years ago. When I brought it to you, you told me it was a glitch in the system.”

“The probe had been hit with an anti-matter pulse of some sort!” Lorendo snapped. “It acted strange for several hours before settling down! All of our experts agreed!”

“I am not attempting to lay blame anywhere Elder Lorendo...” Kasdan told him. “I am simply stating fact.”

“Wait!” Delnash spoke. “This probe has sent information like this before?” He gasped.

Kasdan looked at him and nodded. “Yes Chief Elder. It could very well have been a glitch in the particle transmitter ... Elder Lorendo is correct that it was hit with some sort of anti-matter pulse, but since we did not recall the probe for a diagnostic ... we never found out the real reason for what caused the initial activation. It...”

“What data did it send?” Delnash asked.

Kasdan looked back to Lorendo and watched him step forward. “The information was not accurate Delnash.” Lorendo spoke. “The anti-matter pulse caused a complete reboot of the probe’s main sensor array. I correctly activated the repair protocols on the probe and dismissed the data as per our established procedures. It never resent its transmission, which told me the problem had been fixed and the data we received initially was wrong.”

“What did it send?” Delnash asked again.

“Twenty-two seconds of very blurry images and unreadable data.” Kasdan replied.

“Can you bring it up on the main monitor?” Murano’s voice asked now.

They all turned to see him enter the bridge and stride toward them calmly. “What for?” Lorendo asked. “It is worthless!”

“Worthless to you perhaps. You are not an intelligence operative or a military officer.” Murano said evenly as he came up beside his brother. “Perhaps not so worthless to their eyes Elder Lorendo.”

“Chief Elder this is pointless!” Lorendo hissed. “I reviewed the imagery with two others on my staff besides Kasdan. Both of whom have a military background. We all concurred that there was nothing of importance there.”

“The two men you speak of have never served even single a day on a warship Lorendo.” Murano spoke. “They were assigned to you by Elder Sashan from the ground forces.” Murano looked at Sashan. “Is that not correct Elder Sashan?”

Sashan nodded. “Yes ... but they are fine officers.”

“I do not doubt their ability.” Murano said. “Only their expertise. Kasdan ... can you bring up the footage?”

Kasdan nodded. “Yes.”

“Chief Elder...” Lorendo began.

Delnash held up his hand. “Indulge me.” He spoke.

“We should be moving for the planet to keep them from using our technology for other purposes!” Lorendo spat. “Not chasing sensor ghosts!”

Delnash looked at Kasdan ignoring Lorendo. “Do as Murano asked Elder Kasdan. Bring it up on the main screen here.”

Kasdan moved back to the Science Station quickly and worked the controls. The large screen that had been showing the planet and moon suddenly changed to that of a very grainy and dark image. In the back ground of the image was a large, greenish colored planet. Murano moved up next to his brother as the others moved closer and they stared at the image as it moved for exactly twenty-two seconds across the front of the planet before vanishing in a wall of white static. Murano held out his hand and pointed to the object as the image recycled.

“Is this a ship?” He asked.

“It seems to be moving.” Commander Dehov spoke now, his eyes trying to get a better angle.

“I told you!” Lorendo spat anxiously. “It’s useless!”

“It’s definitely a ship.” Murano spoke.

“There is no way to be sure!” Lorendo exclaimed. “I had my officers review it for hours. They could not determine what it was! For all we know it is nothing more than a large piece of rock!”

Murano looked at him with disgust on his face. “A large rock that is maneuvering out of the atmosphere Elder Lorendo?”

Dehov nodded. “I agree ... it is definitely a ship.” He stated. “I can’t make out what type or who it belongs too however.” He leaned back. “The Scourge!” He hissed softly.

Murano shook his head quickly. “The Alpha Quadrant is too far out of their way.” He said. “If the time stamp is correct ... most of their forces had returned to the edges of Scourge space by this time.”

“It’s a City Ship!” The female voice spoke causing all of them to turn and see Mari moving through the doorway onto the bridge with Kesyla and Daron.

Delnash looked at his younger daughter. “Mari?” He questioned her.

Mari nodded confidently and moved up beside her father. “Look at this bow portion of the ship father. It curves back inward. That was unique to the Series Nine City Ships. And the beam is significantly larger in the center ... see.” She traced the image as it moved on the screen. “Then there is the main stabilizing wing here on top in the rear of the ship...” Mari leaned closer. “May I?” She asked Kasdan.

Kasdan nodded. “Of course Lady Mari.” He stated.

Mari leaned over and tapped on the control console quickly. She looked up at the image, stopped it from moving and isolated it. She rotated it in several directions until she nodded once more. “Yes ... it’s a Series Nine City Ship.” She spoke confidently.

Lorendo laughed gently. “Two experienced officers within our military viewed these same images for hours Lady Mari. They could make no determination.” He spoke. “You view it for a few seconds and you claim to know what it is?”

Mari met his gaze. “I don’t claim anything Elder Lorendo. I know what it is.” She stated looking at her father. “The last nine months of my schooling was in the model of a City Ship father. A Series Nine City Ship model. We had to learn how to take apart and rebuild the entire Quantum Engine Matrix.” Mari pointed at the image. “That is most definitely a Series Nine City ship.”

“That’s ... that’s not possible Mari.” Delnash spoke. “When this image was taken ... no more of our City Ships survived. The Scourge had destroyed them all.”

Mari shook her head. “Not all of them father.” She stated quite confidently. “It matches the parameters exactly. And look...” She stepped forward closer and adjusted the controls. The image moved forward in slow motion. “You can just begin to see the activation of its main Quantum Fusion drive right here!” She froze the image and traced the rear of the picture. “This outline of light ... it’s the beginning of a jump. You can tell by the Phase Inducers and what position the venting is taking place. In this case ... it’s firing straight back. That means they were engaging the main core when this was taken.”

Delnash looked at his daughter. “Mari ... this is very important child. You are absolutely sure about what you are saying?”

Mari smiled. “Father ... I did finish first in my class.” She boasted without a trace of arrogance in her voice. “I’m positive ... yes. You can have the Engineering Officer come up and confirm my conclusions if you like.”

Lorendo shook his head. “Chief Elder ... I realize that Lady Mari is your daughter and the most promising Quantum Mechanics student we have had in four millennia ... but she is a child. Will you take the word of a child over senior military officials?”

“I am not a child!” Marti snapped looking at him. “Can you describe the steps leading up to the firing of a Quantum Drive core Elder Lorendo? Each and every step that takes place? There are one hundred and nineteen and all of them happen within six tenths of a second! Can you name even one? Can your military officers?”

Murano stepped closer to his niece with a smile on his face and gripped her arm gently before his brother snapped at her. “Mari ... mind your station child.” He said kindly. “Do not give Elder Lorendo two individuals in this family to dislike.”

Mari looked up at her uncle and smiled brilliantly, her blue eyes shimmering in the light from the bridge. Murano smiled back down on her, feeling his heart jump a fraction at the face she gave him. She reminded him of himself at that age.

Delnash turned to Kasdan. “What sector of the Alpha Quadrant was this image taken in Kasdan?” He asked quickly.

“Sector twenty-nine Chief Elder.” He replied. “Just as they recording says.”

“And what habitable planets occupy that sector of space?” Delnash asked.

“There are several dozen Chief Elder.” Kasdan answered. “The most prominent are the homeworld of the vampiric species, Uzu Ozeib 7, and the second is...” He stopped talking and looked up. “By the spirits of our ancestors ... the second is Lycavore. That is the Lycavorian homeworld!”

“The same species that the Science Convention used so liberally to seed many different worlds.” Murano spoke with a small nod and grin. “And now the same species that has control of a Series Nine City ship as well as a VORTEX-Class Heavy Cruiser. Apparently they are not so primitive as we first thought.”

Delnash looked at his brother, glad that he did not begin to rant about how this Praetorian he thought he felt with Sumar’s blood was a Lycavorian.

“We do not know that for sure!” Lorendo snapped.

“Is there another explanation we have not thought of?” Murano asked. “Apparently they have evolved enough to learn how to take control of two of the most advanced ships we have ever built and adapt that technology into what they have built themselves.”

Delnash looked at him. “They are still barbaric by their very nature Murano. Warlike and violent.” He stated evenly. “We only used them to seed worlds because of their adaptability and survivability.”

Murano nodded. “Yes I know. Perhaps you should have thought about that before going forward with it. It seems they have survived and adapted quite well.”

“I will not questions decisions made over forty millennia ago!” Delnash snapped.

Murano nodded his head in agreement. “I do not wish to revisit them either brother but perhaps the time has come where we need to.” He said calmly. “One of those decisions is now occupying one of our Science Stations and they obviously know how to work everything or else they would have left already.”

“This information only lends weight to my contention that we should just destroy the station from orbit!” Lorendo barked. “We don’t know what they want or what they are doing there!”

Murano looked at him. “And you have no interest in discovering this?” He asked. “You as a scientist have no interest whatsoever in discovering how they did this or why they are here?”

“I have no desire to interact with a species that is beneath us!” Lorendo spoke.

“You assume we are their betters. That has always been the mentality of those within the Science Convention and it is wrong.” Murano said. He looked at his brother. “This man serves our people? That is the same train of thought that began our downfall Delnash and you know it!”

“This is not the time for a philosophical debate Murano!” Delnash hissed. “We can determine these things after we have completed our primary mission!”

“Which I will reiterate is a grave mistake.” Murano spoke. “We know nothing of how far they have advanced as a species as Kasdan has already stated. All of the records we had are gone. The probes we have seeded since coming to Artaaya are not as wide spread as those before the war. And at Kasdan’s own admittance ... they were not programmed to monitor events within the Alpha Quadrant as the others were. We don’t know what we are walking into Delnash. They could be powerful friends to us, especially if...”

Delnash held up his hand. “Don’t say that!” He snapped stopping him. “We can not conduct ourselves on your feelings Murano! Praetorian or no! We can only do what we must with the information we have at hand.”

“The information you have at hand is ancient and most likely wrong brother!” Murano snapped. “At the very least ... reach out to them. Try to communicate with them!”

“Communicate with primitive barbarians!” Lorendo barked.

“They might view us in the very same fashion Lorendo.” Radra chimed in now moving closer. “Chief Elder Delnash I have to agree with Praetorian Murano on this. Given everything that we know ... which is precious little from what I can see ... we should be using far more caution and diplomacy.”

“They are animals!” Lorendo snapped. “You have seen the reports on our Seed Missions using them!”

Radra looked at him. “Yes I have seen the reports Lorendo.” She stated. “All of which were successful in doing what we sought! Seeding life to dead worlds.” She turned back to Delnash. “Chief Elder Delnash ... I am a medical doctor ... this could well be the first contact we have ever had with a race of beings we helped to seed across the galaxy. In essence ... they are our children.”

“Children?” Lorendo spat. “We are talking of a species that can change into animals! Lethal animals! Our Research missions to this Lycavore showed that they preferred to move and stay in their animal forms! That does not speak to me of great intelligence!”

“The Research Missions took place centuries before we began to use their species to seed worlds.” Murano spoke.

“So what?” Lorendo said. “None of what we have seen so far shows us they are any more advanced or intelligent than what we experienced before we chose them!”

“Elder Lorendo does have a point father.” Daron spoke moving closer. “If I may Chief Elders?”

Delnash looked at Radra and Sashan who nodded. He turned back to his son. “Speak your mind Daron. Young ideas are always welcome.”

“Elder Lorendo is stating fact.” Daron spoke. “Yes ... we do not have current information on this species ... but should we not act based on what we already know?”

“We don’t know anything yet Daron.” Mari stated quickly looking at her older brother. “Everything we know is millennia old! Things could have changed.”

“Your naivety is charming sister ... but could have does not help us now.” Daron said seeing Mari bristle at his derogatory comment towards her. His eyes turned away before he saw his uncle squeeze her arm once more and keep her from responding. “This is a seed species we are talking about. The very basic of species that we used to seed dead worlds. We chose them for their endurance and ability to adapt. Not for their intelligence. They were supposed to be the beginnings of life on new worlds ... not the end result.”

“Your statement smacks of knowledge and experience you yourself do not have Daron.” Murano spoke evenly seeing him turn to look at him in surprise. “You are barely more than a child yourself nephew, compared to the lives and experiences in this room. You may agree with Elder Lorendo in his assessment ... but what you both are dismissing is our influence. Not just with what we have discovered so far ... but in everything we have done in the past. Our arrogance brought much of our woes upon us.”

“The Praetorian Xaxon did that!” Lorendo muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

Delnash turned quickly to stop his brother from becoming angry again but surprisingly Murano simply looked at Lorendo. “Xaxon was responsible for the bulk of it yes.” Murano said. “However ... how did he become that way Lorendo? He was no different than you in much of his thinking ... that our technology and society is superior simply because it is. It is a dangerous path to walk, as Xaxon proved, and trillions of our people paid for his arrogance. Do we wish to travel down that road once more?”

“These Lycavorians are animals!” Lorendo snapped. “They are no match for us!”

Murano nodded. “Perhaps ... but we don’t know that for sure.” He said. He turned back to Delnash. “Opening a line of communication with them does not hurt us brother.”

“I agree.” Radra said.

“This is ridiculous!” Lorendo barked. “We should...”

“Very well.” Delnash spoke firmly.

“What?” Lorendo gasped.

“I will attempt to contact them.” Delnash spoke.

Lorendo looked at Sashan. “Sashan ... say something!” He stammered.

“If we ... if we contact them Chief Elder ... we will have lost the element of surprise.” He stated. “We may not be able to complete all our goals.”

Delnash looked at Murano. “I understand.” He stated. “However, I have many questions and these Lycavorians may be able to answer some of them. And I have full confidence in our ability to subdue them when the time comes.”

“Chief Elder...” Lorendo began.

“I have made my decision!” Delnash hissed. He turned to Dehov. “Commander ... can you tap into the Central Communications Array for the station?”

Dehov nodded his head. “All of the station security protocols have been changed and we are locked out completely, but I believe we can let them know we are trying to contact them.”

Delnash nodded. “Do it.” He said. He turned to Sashan. “Embark your soldiers Sashan. Deploy in the transports to the planet. Murano ... go with them.”

“What are you doing brother?” Murano asked.

“Insuring that we are successful.” Delnash spoke. “I will distract, talk with them, while Sashan and you secure the facility. Once we have them in custody we can secure their ships and sort all of this out...”

“I told you I would only act as an observer Delnash!” Murano hissed angrily. “What you are doing is wrong!”

“You are a Praetorian and will do as I tell you as Chief Elder of our people!” Delnash barked causing heads to turn towards him from all over the bridge. “I will tell you a last time Murano ... I can not make decisions based on your feelings! I have to think of our people! If you will not take part in this then yes, I will put forth legislation to have your authority as a Praetorian revoked completely. I will not have discourse filtering among our ranks! Not now!”

“Father!” Mari declared in shock.

“Mari ... stay out of this! It is not your affair!” Delnash snapped. “You will return to the engineering section and continue with your tasks.”

Murano stared at his brother for a long time. “Delnash...”

“Are you refusing Praetorian Murano?” Delnash barked angrily his patience finally at an end.

“Your actions take you towards a dark path brother.” Murano stated. “No ... I will go with them. I hope you are prepared for the blood that will be on your hands however.”

“I have seen plenty of blood in my life brother!” Delnash hissed.

Murano stepped closer to him and shook his head. “No brother.” He said softly. “You have seen a fraction of the blood that lies down this road. You have seen nothing to compare to that. No one here in this room has seen anything to compare to that. Not like I have seen.”

“Your past experiences have no bearing on what is happening now Praetorian Murano!” Delnash barked seeing his brother’s eyes go wide at his dismissive statement. “Now either do as I command of you or remove yourself to your quarters and we will handle it without you!”

Murano’s face suddenly became void of any emotion. He bowed his head quickly to Delnash. “As you wish ... Chief Elder!” He stated evenly.

Delnash watched him turn abruptly and strode out of the doorway onto the bridge. His eyes turned to see Mari and Kesyla staring at him in shock, Daron with a smug look on his face. “Kesyla ... you and Daron will accompany Elder Lorendo as my representatives. Mari return to engineering immediately!”

“Father you...” Mari began to protest.

“Do as I tell you child!” Delnash barked. “Now!”

Mari’s eyes were wide and she spun around angrily and marched off the bridge even as Kesyla and Daron followed her with looks of astonishment and arrogance respectively.

Delnash turned back to look at Dehov. “How long Commander?” He asked.

“Two minutes to adjust our transmitters Chief Elder.” He answered instantly.

Delnash nodded. “Very well.”

ONTEROM

SCIENCE STATION ZERO ONE FIVE

“ ... gonna take a break some time this century?” Wayonn turned at Martin’s words and saw him standing beside him at the main computer station.

He was standing there with his arms crossed over his broad chest and a smirk on his face. It was a look Wayonn had become accustom to over the past weeks and months. Sumar had similar quirks in his expressions and Martin was certainly taking after him. Helen was also beside him, her outward appearance having surprised almost everyone, but it was quickly accepted among the crew. There were very few who did not know who she was and that she was not that old, so her appearance change was something that fitted what was known of her. He knew his granddaughter was very skilled; she had to be in order to harness and use the knowledge that Canth had passed to her. She fit the role of Paladin Mage very well. He knew she and Martin were very close to begin with and had been since he first returned to Earth, but he did not truly see it until they fully accepted the roles they were to play. His Pralor and wolf blood both sang with happiness as he saw them and how they blended so easily together. Just like he and Sumar had.

Wayonn sat back in the chair. “We can learn so much from the logs here Martin.” He said finally.

Martin nodded. “No doubt ... but having to pick you up off the deck because you worked yourself to exhaustion is not something I want to do.”

“Nor I grandfather.” Helen spoke.

Wayonn smiled again. “You will have no worries in that regard.” He said.

“You’re looking for information on what happen.” Martin said softly. “People you knew when you left?”

Wayonn met his eyes as he and Helen drew chairs over to his computer station and settled into them. “In a way I suppose.” He said. “I’ve been able to crack through about a third of the encrypted logs so far. There isn’t much information from before the end, but a great deal after they established themselves on Artaaya.”

“How many survived Wayonn?” Martin asked softly.

Wayonn looked at him. “Barely a million.” He answered in almost a whisper and shaking his head slowly. “Five hundred and fifty trillion lives extinguished over the course of roughly twenty-five thousand years.”

“That long?” Martin asked aghast.

Wayonn nodded. “We didn’t know it when we returned the first time, before settling on Lorent, but the war began within a century of us departing on our Seed Mission. When we were able to repair the transport ship and return, it was already well into its seventh century. It is too much to even fathom really.” He looked at them. “We were the harbingers of our own doom Martin. Our arrogance gave Xaxon the influence he had in thinking the Scourge were somehow inferior to us when we first encountered them. That is why he struck the first blow. We then empowered his mentality and that is why he went off and created his horrific monsters and cross breeds. That only fueled their hatred of us and everything related to us. We never tried to understand them.”

“It’s not your fault grandfather.” Helen spoke.

Wayonn looked at her. “In a way ... yes it is. It’s all of our faults.” He spoke gently. He took a deep breath. “That is the past however, and my wolf blood does not allow me to dwell on the past. Sumar told me once, shortly after your grandmother turned him, he told me this was our future now. Through our descendants we would live on. He fully accepted his wolf blood then, all of us did. It became central to all that we were. I worshiped my mate ... her scent was like sweet vanilla and I embraced it. Since that first day with her, I have embraced it. I am Pralor yes ... but I am more wolf now than anything and I am so very happy about that.” He looked at the computer screen. “Sitting here though ... it brings back memories.”

“I’m sure it does.” Martin said.

“The odds that anyone I knew from that life are still alive are infinitesimal.” Wayonn continued. He smirked. “That does not include Lorendo unfortunately.”

Martin chuckled. “Roaches tend to survive everywhere.” He said.

Wayonn nodded with a smile. “Yes they do.” He said. “Numbers aren’t specifically given mind you, census results were never important to us, but I estimate from some of the logs that their population now is in excess of forty million now. Probably closer to fifty or sixty if I include the other two planets they settled in the cluster.”

“You think they were planning to expand here?” Helen asked.

Wayonn nodded his head. “It’s possible.” He said. “These Svorag may have altered that plan somewhat however. They haven’t been to this station in nearly half a millennia. My guess is they just decided to remain out of this area of space.”

“Which means these Svorag are probably more abundant than we have seen.” Martin said.

Wayonn nodded. “More than likely.” He answered. “Given what Anja and Duewa have discovered about the ones we killed ... they appear to be nomadic at least. The logs for this quadrant of space list nearly a dozen planets within two or three jumps from Onterom that could sustain life. I’m guessing they didn’t pick those because of the Svorag.” He told them. “It might also explain why they discovered Lycavorian DNA in the one we killed. This area of space may be where we used Lycavorians to seed a dead world. The station logs and star charts do not list that information, but it is possible.”

“Why wouldn’t they go to those Lycavorians for help?” Martin asked him. “If they seeded them on a world in this quadrant, then they would have known where they were. Why not join forces.”

Wayonn shook his head. “When we began to seed worlds with new life we had several edicts that we followed religiously. One of them was to never interact with the species we were using as seed life. Namely ... Lycavorians. It was very taboo. We feared that our advanced technology would somehow alter the normal evolutionary scale of the species if we interacted with them.” He looked at Martin. “It goes back to that arrogance I was telling you about.” He said with a smile. “What we did on Lycavore ... Sumar, me, the others, it would not be viewed positively I assure you.”