Untold Stories of a Galaxy - Kysaek: The Beginning

That it could one day be as it was now: in freedom and not in captivity, celebrated and not feared. Hunter and not the hunted - Kysaek had taken a big step, thanks to the support of the consulate. ’Thank you for letting me sit in on the interrogation, General Akaro,’ she said as Kysaek walked with the General, Tavis and Wolfgang to the cell block where she had resided some time ago.

‘You’ve earned it and I promised you,’ Quin replied gratefully. However, the personal tone was no longer solely due to the victory over Neo Solaris, although the general could not express himself in public as freely as a father should. ’And you saved Troop Supervisor Akaro. That makes me personally deeply indebted to you.’

‘So Galaen is still stable?’ asked Kysaek. Her own shoulder injury from the night before had been treated and she was reasonably fit.

’Yes. The doctors say that she would not have survived without your intervention and that the worst is behind her. Just a little later on the operating table and she would have...’

Kysaek almost left the Palanian woman lying there, but she didn’t bring that up and the general apparently didn’t know. ’Let’s not talk about that. It didn’t turn out that way.’

’Yes, it didn’t ... Thank you,’ said Quin, relieved.

‘General, I don’t want to interrupt your joy,’ Wolfgang assured him. He hadn’t come along primarily because of the interrogation. He was driven by a different curiosity. ’And I’m glad that your daughter survived, a really hard-working girl. But when can I have a look at it?’

‘We’re still storing it and want to make sure that the remains haven’t caused any contamination in the tower,’ the general replied. ’Incidentally, I thought you were more of a man of practical applications, in science. Bright steel and sophisticated technology, moulded into deadly weapons. Then why the interest in this creature?’

’I want to understand. What you understand, you don’t fear, or fear far less, and even if I suspect from previous sightings that it is very likely a bioweapon, it is still a weapon. An extremely dangerous weapon.’

‘And one that no longer exists,’ Quin emphasised with a raised finger. ‘I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.’

This time, Kysaek really believed it. ‘A forreign currency for every time I thought the same thing...’ she joked wickedly. ‘And we don’t know if PGI doesn’t have more of them, or if it was always the same thing in the first place.’

‘That’s why I have to research it,’ Wolfgang affirmed emphatically. Rila had destroyed every atom of the PGI monster on the roof, but there were still enough remnants of it left inside the tower that had been collected. ‘If there are more of them, valid data may be a lifesaver and essential.’

‘That’s fine with me,’ Kysaek agreed. ’If there are more, we need more effective and faster ways to deal with these things. After all, we don’t always have an Eporanian with nearly five thousand years of prismatic experience with us to deal with them... or a pipe full of toxic fuel.’

’I’d say that might be an incentive for you to develop your skills, Dorothy. But if I had to choose my method or yours, yours would be ruled out before my decision.’

‘Thank you for your immense trust, Doctor.’

‘And if the Doctor fails, we still have the tried and tested method,’ Tavis commented. ‘The running away.’

‘There’s no such thing as failure in science,’ Wolfgang wrinkled his nose proudly. ‘There’s only ruling out ways that don’t work.’

‘Excluding ways that don’t work,’ Kysaek repeated. It was a saying she wanted to internalise. ‘I’ll remember that in case I mess up again.’

‘That wisdom only applies to research and experiments, not daredevils.’

‘And what excuse counts for daredevils?’

‘Will you find out for yourself or do I look like the genie from the lamp who grants wishes?’ Wolfgang raised his hand dismissively and waved it away. ‘Find a genie and he’ll make your life easier, but only because he has to.’

Quin allowed himself a fleeting Palanian smile at the lively conversation and led his companions to a better guarded, underground area of the cell block.’ Here it is,’ said the general. An unoccupied surveillance and data processing room was the destination.

Kysaek was puzzled by the emptiness. ‘Didn’t you say something about company?’

‘No need to worry,’ the general replied habitually. ‘If my confidant is late, it’s usually for an important reason or he’s forgotten us.’

‘Forgot us?’

‘Yes. He tends to forget meetings and appointments, but otherwise he’s absolutely reliable.’

‘Strange combination.’

‘More a consequence of responsibility,’ said an unusual voice at the entrance to the room. It was hard to categorise, neither really male nor female, but there was a kind of watery, hollow echo in it. ‘I rarely forget appointments with the General, though.’ It was a Fugian who came through the door.

‘Ah, Shank’Wuk’Ulth,’ Quin greeted. ‘Do you have any new information about Neo Solaris?’

’Indeed I do. I have initial reports,’ replied the Fugian.

He was a member of the only known intelligent and space-travelling plant species. Its rather small body, suspended in the air, was supported by two angled stilts. Similar to those of insects. However, the Fugian’s legs first went from the ground upwards, roughly at Kysaek’s eye level, and from there back down again at an approximate 45 degree angle, where Shank’Wuk’Ulth’s torso hung, roughly at hip level. However, his shell, which resembled a misshapen conch shell, was not entirely plant-like . It looked more like a hard piece of tree, with a healthy, crisp brown colour and overgrown with moss. But there were no hands, fingers, hair, nose, mouth, eyes or anything else on this dark surface. Just nicks and angular corners.

‘Good news?’ Quin asked expectantly.

’Certainly for us. For Neo Solaris - no,’ said Shank’Wuk’Ulth rationally. He was honouring the Fugians’ best-known characteristic, because no other species had as much on their minds as they did. This was due to their biology and way of life. ’I’m still waiting for a second confirmation, but if the first report was correct, Neo Solaris has lost nineteen per cent of its total power and resources against us. No authority in the galaxy has ever achieved such a success against this terrorist organisation.’

‘This will please both our people and our politicians and could significantly reduce tensions with Central.’

‘At least the chances of that are not exactly slim, but shouldn’t we devote ourselves to the reason we are here?’

’Yes, it’s time, but first: Elaine Kysaek, this is Overeye One, Shank’Wuk’Ulth,’ General Akaro introduced the Fugian. ’He heads our intelligence service and is responsible for all kinds of information. Procurement and defence.’

’Intelligence, then? My pleasure, Shank’Wuk’Ulth,’ Kysaek greeted with a gentle wave of her hand.

The Overeye was at first at a loss for words and instead revealed his true self, his literal inner self. Its shell split horizontally down the centre and the upper part soon resembled a hat, under which a single, stretchy mass rose. It was like a kind of rubber and so the Fugian grew a little taller. However, the exterior of the yellow faded surface was not completely smooth. Blue growths, similar to extremely thick veins, could be found all over the mass. At the top, in front of its cap shell, hung hundreds of thin filaments that constantly swirled in front of a toothless, vertical opening and were a welcome fixation point when looking at it. ‘I return your greeting with respect,’ Shank’Wuk’Ulth replied, and as he spoke, the growths pulsed and glowed brightly. ‘And for a person of your stature, Ulth is quite adequate.’

‘Ulth then,’ Kysaek said, introducing her people. ‘This is Tavis Ciran and Wolfgang Schaefer.’

The Palanian remained politely reticent, but the scientist just stuck to the former. ‘Doctor Wolfgang Alexander Schaefer,’ he corrected, squinting to the side. ‘Among Fugians, it’s polite to introduce yourself by your full name.’

‘I didn’t know that and I haven’t internalised your full name yet,’ Kysaek sighed.

‘But you could if you read more publications, novels or generally more things that sharpen your mind,’ Wolfgang said, shaking his head. He was so disappointed. ’Forgive her Ulth. Dorothy is still learning.’

‘Shank’Wuk’Ulth, for you,’ the Fugian lectured the man rather emotionlessly. ’I did not offer you this personal privilege. However, if you disagree, I suggest a physical examination of your ear canal.’

Wolfgang knew nothing to say in response, but to Kysaek, his rebuked and aggrieved expression was priceless. ‘Ulth - why are you here with us?’ she asked. ‘The general has been tight-lipped so far.’

‘A necessity, but it was worth the wait,’ Ulth asserted before trying to use the available hardware. Without hands and fingers, however, this was difficult and so small bumps formed all over the stretched body mass. First there were four, then eight and finally twelve of what could be described as ropes, loops or tentacles. Something that was an extension of Ulth and allowed him to manipulate the buttons he used to call up data packets on the screens. ’Perhaps this could be used against PGI, but its success is doubtful. Others have had better evidence and failed. For you, however, it could be an opportunity and for us it was reason enough to board Douglas Phonor’s ship, confiscate it and imprison the entire crew.’

‘As long as your people showed him properly,’ Kysaek hoped fervently. ‘The bastard desperately needed a big spoonful of his own bitter medicine.’

’The commander surrendered without resistance, and our goal was to minimise casualties anyway. Knowledge is and remains power and revealed this to us,’ Ulth said. Sometimes his fingers became less and sometimes even more, depending on what he needed. He showed the transcript of a conversation between two communication ports, with the participants pictured.

‘Sir, I’m afraid we were too late,’ reported the right hand of Douglas Phonor, the lieutenant commander. ‘The prisoner transport was ambushed by Neo Solaris and our target was abducted.’

‘Is she still alive?’ asked Skarg Peeks, in person. ‘Or have the terrorists done us a favour?’

’As I said, sir - Kysaek and her people were abducted and, judging by the data from the transporter, they were still alive. Commander Phonor suspects that Neo Solaris wants to collect the new bounty. Recently, all the living prices have risen far above our dead sums.’

‘I’m getting tired of this old man,’ Skarg complained, disappointed and more than irritated. He looked more like an angry Hishek than an elegant Calanian. ’In the beginning, Phonor was the perfect choice, good publicity and a useful tool in his blind fervour. Even for the separate missions whose true purpose he didn’t know. But months have now passed and he is not producing results on his actual mission. Kysaek flees from us several times and then interferes with my business with Reed. Reed doesn’t tell me and attacks her escape location on his own and then can’t bring himself to kill her. Now she’s cost me Trayden, but she was finally captured and Neo Solaris beats us to it?! What’s so hard about killing this woman?!’

’We can still do it, sir! Our scouts were able to trace Neo Solaris’ path! There’s a good chance we know where Kysaek is!’ said the Lieutenant Commander. ‘Please give me the command and it will be done!’

’I don’t want to take any more risks. It’s already taking far too long,’ said Skarg indignantly and thoughtfully. ‘If I gave you command, what would you do?’

’Simply and efficiently try to make contact with Neo Solaris. We simply offer them a much higher sum for an immediate kill.’

’Your reputation is confirmed once again Lieutenant Commander. You’re thinking, but in this case you’re thinking wrong. It’s too risky. What if Neo Solaris takes our forreign currency and doesn’t carry out the order? Just to resist me, an alien,’ Skarg surmised. However, the Calanian had a certain integrity. ‘Apart from that, Neo Solaris has already done me some harm in the past and I despise this group deeply.’

‘With all due respect, sir, your dislike should not be an impediment and I do not believe the organisation would resist, even if you are not human, sir.’

‘Even if I disregard that - what if Kysaek reveals her story to Neo Solaris so she can live?’ feared Skarg. He wasn’t afraid, but it was a tricky situation and a deep concern was definitely driving him. ’The xenophobes could use this against me and our problems would be even bigger. Yes, Kysaek might even join those bastards, just to escape with her live again.’

’Why would Neo Solaris believe this woman? And join her? She’s travelling with aliens and she’s never exhibited any racist behaviour, nor are there any reports of it in her dossier.’

’The Disciples of Dealith weren’t exactly a normal mercenary group either and she joined them. I think that slimy Nyrnka really would do anything to survive.’

‘So you’re ordering a targeted neutralisation by my unit?’

’No ... ’ Skarg replied firmly. His black eyes narrowed and he clenched one hand. ’I want one last exercise. Send Project SZ.’

‘Who?’ asked the lieutenant commander. He couldn’t make any sense of the name. ‘Who or what is SZ?’

’Your recently collected a package from Tebarax Three. Its field test is actually over and it has done a great job. It’s a reliable weapon of destruction that can adapt to different situations, but against Kysaek ... SZ failed twice. I want that flaw corrected.’

‘I don’t quite understand, Mr Peeks,’ the lieutenant commander replied more formally. Although he appeared to be the Group Chief’s confidant, he didn’t seem to be in the loop on this one. ’What kind of weapon are we talking about here? Is it a bot? Does it need to be remote controlled? Is it autonomous?’

’SZ combines many elements. That’s all you need to know and I won’t even go into detail about a secure communication link,’ Skarg said clearly. As before with Neo Solaris, the Calanian was gripped by emotion. However, it was now a question of pride and the urge for perfection, coupled with disappointment and anger. ’I want the package to do it! No one else! It has done every given target so far without a hitch, like the leadership of the Echo Cartel or the family of one of my biggest rivals! Only Kysaek has inflicted defeats on SZ... that’s over now!’

‘I understand, sir,’ the lieutenant commander nodded obediently. ‘What exactly do you want me to do?’

’Link the container to your communication systems. The rest will take care of itself ...’

‘The rest is the orders that were transmitted to the ship,’ Ulth explained. That was all he had to show. ‘We intercepted this message just before the attack on the enemy base began, but we couldn’t decode it quickly enough.’

’It was definitely about the monster. That could be a stroke of luck,’ Tavis said confidently. ’What does this message say? Do you have any evidence?’

’Nothing conclusive. The commands only contained code words and were sent from an external server. We only have the decoded message, but what Skarg says in it is open to interpretation. We’re currently searching the confiscated ship, but I doubt there’s anything of value there.’

Wolfgang agreed. ‘Pawn sacrifice.’

‘I think so too.’

’But wasn’t that too risky? Why take such a step?’ asked Kysaek. Of course, Skarg was offended to a certain extent by her twofold success over Project SZ, but she still thought the Calanian had been negligent with this action. ’Skarg knew where Phonor’s ship had docked. Why would he take the unnecessary risk of sending a message that could be intercepted? Why did it have to be this beast that shouldn’t even exist?’

’He seems to have a real obsession with you. Is it true love?’ Tavis interjected with amusement. But it was just as incomprehensible to him. ‘Somehow, Skarg seems to be convinced that you’re a huge danger to him, for whatever reason.’

’Like you said, he must just like me and why wouldn’t he? I can be nice.’

‘Nice, like so many things, is relative,’ Wolfgang added, sharing a more plausible idea. ’This move was extreme for PGI, we agree on that. Hubris also seems to play a role, or perhaps fear has switched off Skarg’s mind. Perhaps he has long feared what happened at the consulate, because so far his-Kysaek is the bad terrorist-shtick has worked everywhere. But here it was different. This is a safe haven.’

‘There’s something to your reasoning, Doctor,’ Kysaek agreed approvingly. ‘He may have played into our hands with this mistake.’ Her experience in the military, short as it was, paid off, because she was suspicious of one thing. ’This lieutenant commander. He was already there during my interrogation and behaved strangely, and why is Skarg talking to him of all people? The order of precedence would be Commander, Executive Officer and then Lieutenant Commander, depending on the type of ship and crew. He must have a special position.’

‘The expertise of the Luna Alliance speaks from you,’ Ulth noticed. Without operating the buttons, his fingers had evaporated again and his guffaws closed. ’It’s part of the reason we showed you all this recording. My analysts and I came to the same conclusion.’

‘I rather wonder what the separate missions are all about,’ Wolfgang added appraisingly. The scientist was not a man of intelligence, but he was naturally perceptive. ‘They’ve apparently already been dealt with, but they could be equally important leads and this commander probably knew about them to a certain extent, while Phonor was used more.’

‘So let’s go after the commander during the interrogation,’ Kysaek suggested, as if she were in charge and not the general or Supervisor One. However, she personally wanted to deal with Douglas first so that she could give him a good smacking and she didn’t hide that fact. ’Although I would prefer Phonor. His face will be priceless.’

‘That’s not the point,’ Ulth replied calculatingly, and he wasn’t alone in his opinion. Everyone around him showed that they disagreed.

‘You don’t like the man, that’s clear,’ said Tavis, but he didn’t mince his words either. ‘That doesn’t get us anywhere, though, because Phonor is probably just an ignorant puppet and we can’t dwell on your personal vendetta.’

‘Who’s talking about revenge?’ Kysaek justified herself. ’Surely a little satisfaction after all this trouble isn’t too much to ask? Haven’t I earned it?’

‘Is that the real question?’ Wolfgang intervened, and even though he meant well and revealed a romanticised idea, there was still a touch of know-it-all in his words. ’The question for you should rather be what is best for all of us, for the truth. Good leaders are not selfish. They put their needs at the back of the queue or even do without them altogether.’

‘But I want-’

’I don’t want to, but to help you get over it, look at it this way - Phonor is sitting in and stewing in his own juices and the knowledge that he has lost to you. Isn’t that what you told the Consulate soldiers about Neo Solaris?’

’Mh, yes. I like that,’ Kysaek nodded. That made it a little easier for her to subordinate her desire for confrontation to the good of all. She realised that it wasn’t appropriate, although she would still have liked it all too much. Now, however, other things counted as priorities. ’The lieutenant, then. What are we waiting for?’

‘Nothing, but for the sake of order, we’d like to show you all this extra,’ Quin replied and took over calling up a new video. ’We got this from the Neo Solaris base. It’s the underground lift in the hangar.’

The footage showed a burning shaft with dead Neo Solaris soldiers lying in it. Suddenly a huge chunk of crates fell on them, the monster from PGI, and a huge explosion briefly blinded the shot. The bright flash faded, but there was almost nothing to see but the fire and the flaming remains of the monster’s enlarged body. Nothing else happened on the video at first, until Quin fast-forwarded it a good while and suddenly something burst out of the lump’s belly - the sickly variant seen in the tower, which ran away in the recording.

‘The mangled body was much more burnt out later,’ Quin confessed, concerned. ’My troops and I assumed that the beast was destroyed and this was just the remains, which we removed immediately. We only saved this footage a few hours ago because we wanted to understand how the beast could have survived.’

‘Pretty clever,’ said Wolfgang eagerly. ‘Now I want to examine the remains all the more.’

‘It practically used its huge body as a shield,’ Kysaek marvelled, but at the same time she wasn’t interested. ’But not another word about it, please. I’ve really had enough of this SZ or whatever it was called.’