The View From Above

[Googlie]

Background

This is the "N" part of my CMN role with the Democracy Game. Some of this early chapter will be familiar to Spartan Chronicles and Progenitor tales readers from a couple of years ago, as i have shamelessly plagiarized what I have written earlier.

But much is new, and from now on most will be new material, as the ACDG unfolds.

***********************************

Chapter One

DFSF2
Tau Ceti Star System

‘Tlotl yawned.

‘This job is so boring,’ he resonated softly to himself. ‘And to think it was sold to me as a scientific research project.’

He was staffing the Deep Sensor Flowering Search space station on the outer fringes of the Tau Ceti star system. Theirs was an early warning service, designed to pick up with their delicate resonance sensing equipment the first mutterings of the Manifolds if they commenced the flowering emanations. His job was to look at the screens and react if there was the slightest disturbance in the resonance field monitored in their quadrant.

He was at the middle of his shift, and he yawned again, and waggled uncomfortably on the couch. He scanned the screen again, and adjusted the resonance detector download yoke around his neck and shoulders more comfortably.

He wondered if he dared play some of the deep-res crystal he’d smuggled aboard. All the others would be asleep for at least three hours. It would help pass the time, and although the deep resonance pulsing through his body would mask all but the most blaring signal of commencement of flowering by any of the Manifolds, really, what were the chances of that happening on his watch, this day when he had the deep-res running after it not happening for sixty years. None.

‘Tlotl reached into his personal kitpouch and pulled out the player and the small collar attachment. He popped in the disc and activated.

The deep-resonance group was The Ninth Manifold, and they were the hottest thing on the Rim Systems just now.

‘Tlotl leaned back in the couch, and let the waves of resonance wash through his bones and tusks, and relaxed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He thought dreamily of the last furlough, when he was back on Rim Delta and had attended the concert given by The Ninth Manifold. It had been held at the Sensitorium, a building uniquely designed with baffles and angles to capture and redirect and amplify the resonances and alterations in many subtle ways.

An all-purpose building, used for lectures, cultural events, sports and concerts, it held about 3000 beings when seated, or 5000 standing.

The Ninth Manifold concert was standing room only.

‘Tlotl had arrived just as the warm up group were finishing their number. A frag-res kind of group, their resonances were disassociative and disjointed, staccato bursts of resonance that grated on the bones and tusks and didn’t let the audience capture or alter or augment. They had their own loyal adherents, but ‘Tlotl didn’t much care for it.

Then the Ninth Manifold had begun, and ‘Tlotl was enthralled.

His whole being responded to their pounding insistence and the vibrations began deep inside him. The waves of resonance that washed over the audience were captured in fragments by each, and altered, and the fresh harmonics blended with the still driven wave from the group to form a counter cadence that set up the secondary, deep resonating, in his bones.

The disc was playing that number now, and ‘Tlotl bared his teeth in a feral grin as he recalled the evening those days ago on Rim Delta.

As the waves grow stronger, the crowd began to shift and waver....become a shadowy semblance of what it was before......levitating those closest to the source slightly.....

And the beat grew, and deepened, and the crowd took it and cupped it, catching it in their flanks and reshaping and altering, and the levitated bodies rose higher, borne aloft by the awesome power of the resonance.

The power grew, and those carried aloft caught it, and in turn they shaped it, turning it and sending it on, and in the act of turning their bodies slowly revolved, getting faster as the resonance deepened until those at the apex were twirling and spinning like tops

‘Tlotl resonated softly, internally, “I must try this,” and with that he leapt into the midst of the inferno of whirling bodies. He was carried aloft, borne by the resonance wave, and aware of it breaking all around him, as the power grew yet stronger and amplified deeper.

He in turn caught the waves with flanks and limbs, clumsily at first, so that he tossed above the crowd like a shipwreck in a storm, but eventually he gained some mastery.

And he caught, and deflected the waves, to begin a slow torquing, then grew more adept at cupping and catching, altering and sending on so that he began to revolve and propel himself forward above the crowd.

The beat became more insistent, and faster, and the resonance deepened still more, and ‘Tlotl found himself having to put more effort into the shapings and deflections. But now he was propelling himself as one of a group, above the crowd, revolving individually and circling the crowd as they surfed the waves of resonance.

Then the pitch altered, and the harmonics changed, and ‘Tlotl fought for control as he ceased the revolutions and was let gently down back into the crowd beneath.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He sat back in his couch as the crystal recaptured that moment from his memory, and the alterations changed the tone and the mood.

He sighed, and opened his eyes.

And sat bolt upright.

A tiny flicker in the corner of the monitor screen had caught his eye.

He watched and waited.

There.

The blips were faint but distinct.

Resonance activity.

Emanating from Manifold Six

*****************************************

‘Tlotl settled back on his haunches, and adjusted the recliner carriage to a more comfortable position. His mandibles quivered slightly in agitation as he tried to digest what he had been reviewing.

Reaching towards the screen with a hooked talon, he motioned a small circle and the resrec crystal rehomed to start.

He had annotated those portions of the resonance recording that he wanted slowed in the re-run, but already he had drawn some exciting conclusions. Mentally enumerating them, he pondered:

A huge resonance blast right at the perimeter of Manifold Six’s sensory field, followed by a gradual strengthening of signals from nine emanators, then, judging from the sensor activity, on manifold Six’s surface itself, seven small and one larger final resonance bursts, and a few moments later a much stronger burst.

What did it mean?

He reran the resrec at high speed, pausing only at the significant places he’d identified.

That first blast – right at the outer reaches of Manifold Six’s sensory field. He’d only seen something similar once before, when a Usurper battle cruiser exited the Harmony wormhole with significant drive damage, and the caretaker defenses had taken it out before it had been able to broadcast its Mayday message. That explosion had produced a resonance blast right off the charts, and ‘Tlotl was convinced that had the emergence of the current anomaly been closer to Manifold Six it would have been of a similar magnitude.

So … was this a case where either a Usurper or a Caretaker scout ship stumbled across Manifold Six – whose spatial co-ordinates had for so long been lost, a casualty of the Secession Wars? And been destroyed by some long lost defensive system the Ancients had left in place around the manufactured Manifold?

And what to make of the slave resonances? Escape pods – or colony ships, making landfall on Manifold Six? And if so, which faction?

He’d better have his hypothesis ready for Base Commander H’rvath – she’d expect it – but ‘Tlotl was sure that this would go all the way to the Emperor himself. And if this indeed were to be a find by either Maar or H’minee’s factions, then Emperor Go’og would be most displeased that the information was not shared.

But what if the emanations were alien in nature? Some other sentient race who had developed spaceflight, and unwittingly stumbled onto Manifold Six?

H’rvath would know ………. And that was her, shuffling along the synthsteel floor of the space station corridor now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So – what’s so urgent that I had to be awakened?” H’rvath resonated grumpily, jowls shaking in mock indignation. Of course she knew – to be shaken awake with no explanation would be cause for instant retribution.

‘Tlotl could hardly contain his excitement.

“Greetings, Superior One,” he altered, then continued … “I have taken the liberty of identifying the appropriate sections of the resrec so as not to waste your time”

“Good, then let’s begin at once” came the counter alteration from H’rvath, as she settled comfortably into the second’s chair.

‘Tlotl set the resrec crystal to engage, and sat back to watch his superior officer take it in.

When the screen went blank, he looked expectantly over at her.

“Is it Maar or H’minee?” he resonated interrogatively.

She turned her tusks to look at him, gazing with troubled eyes.

“No,” she altered softly. “The resonance signature is not of Progenitor origin. Emperor Go’og must be informed. Manifold Six has been discovered by an alien spacefaring race - while we ourselves are ignorant as to its location.

“But we must collect more data. The sensors will be working overtime now. Have you been able to activate the Nexus?”

“Nexus?” ‘Tlotl squawked. “What is this Nexus?”

H’rvath looked at him pityingly. “Don’t they teach you anything at cadet school now? Each Manifold is controlled by a Nexus, which is the resonance focal point for the array of monoliths that encircle the Manifold. It also co-ordinates the orbitals and the deep space sensor array. We have been receiving these emanations only because the Nexus is still operating. And it will still be transmitting. I have asked Harmony and the Rim Systems for additional crews, as we will need to triple the resonance surveillance.

“What other assets do we have in the area?”

“Assets?” ‘Tlotl altered helplessly.

“Don’t just repeat everything I utter,” H’rvath snapped. “Do we have any identifiable orbitals or on-Manifold assets other than the monolith ring?”

“How would we know?” altered ‘Tlotl. “If we don’t even know where Manifold Six, then how do we know if anything is close?”

“The Ancients were meticulous,” H’rvath murmured. “they labeled everything – except the co-ordinates of the manifolds themselves. Let’s see then …”

She moved a talon across the screen, and it lit up again.

“Display Sensors and Orbitals for the Manifolds” she commanded

The sequencing began, as the library system ran through its inventory of assets for the six Manifolds. It stopped at Manifold Six, indicating ongoing extraordinary resonance activity.

H’rvath looked closely, then harrumphed. ‘Tlotl looked expectantly over at her, and coughed interrogatively.

She pointed with an unsheathed talon at two or three spikes being displayed from the readouts.

“Some of the Manifold Six monoliths have been visited by these intruders” she resonated softly. “They have activated their psych-boost elements.

“All leave is cancelled for the foreseeable future. Emperor Go’og will expect a full report every turning. Arrange your schedule with your current crew and integrate the newcomers.

“I will present this first report to Emperor Go’og personally.”

She rose, and gracefully exited the Communications Command Center

*******************************************

Immunity
Harmony Orbit
Tau Ceti Star System

Emperor Go’og wandered slowly towards the Communications Nexus situated at the other end of the gardens, deep in thought.

He knew what H’rvath was going to transmit and discuss, of course. The Emperor’s spies were everywhere. If truth be known, he knew almost as soon as ‘Tlotl had finished his initial review of the resrec, and certainly before H’rvath herself.

But he would let her have her moment in the sunlight. He owed her that.

But he was damned if he was going to let Maar and H’minee renew their festering rivalry by mounting a race to find Manifold Six.. An uneasy truce had reigned for over 120 turnings now, brokered by the Emperor himself and maintained somewhat sketchily by the Praetorian Guard. It didn’t need this revelation at this point in time, when both factions had rebuilt their battle fleets and replenished their treasuries.

As he shuffled across the dusty grass, talons digging into the hard synthetic soil, he thought fondly of his ancestral home on Harmony, second planet from Tau Ceti itself, and clearly discernable from this vantage point in orbit around it. He wondered if ever things would normalize to the extent that he could return, and resume residence, but knew that the time was not now. The uneasy truce survived only because Immunity had an arsenal of ballistics aimed at Harmony and each of Maar’s manufactured asteroid bases in the Rim Systems had a Praetorian Battle Cruiser adjacent and ready to execute the Emperor’s will immediately.

But the faction leaders were growing stronger by the turning, and if either were able to harness the power of the Manifolds, then ……..

Go’og shivered, mandibles clucking as he fought to banish that murmur from his inner resonances.

He had taken precautions.

Knowing that resonance emanations could – and would – be traced to their source, he’d had his ‘mole’ in DFSF2 alter the data ever so slightly. Now if Marr or H’minee – or both – went chasing to the presumed source, they would find themselves several galaxies and many turnings away.

And if that did happen, the time might just be right to return to Harmony and reclaim the Emperor’s lands and palaces.

He brightened at the thought, and entered the Nexus, making his way to the Holovid Council room.

The technicians fussed around him as his personal guard clicked to attention at his shoulder. Slumping in the recliner, he waited as the baffles were arrayed, and the Holovid equipment readied, then at a signal he leaned forward authoritatively and the session commenced.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DFSF2
Tau Ceti Star System

H’rvath settled into her comfortable couch, with young ‘Tlotl sitting erect beside her, as the old Holovid equipment flickered, then caught.

She appeared to be sitting opposite the Emperor himself, flanked by Judaa Maar and Lular H’minee, each of whom had a small bevy of advisors and sycophants in attendance. At one end of the conference table sat the Domestic Advisor to the Emperor, S’toth, while at the other sat the military brass, headed by Admiral Ka’a himself.

H’rvath inclined her neck and bowed in the ritual obeisance to the Emperor, who acknowledged it with a curt “Begin”

She nodded, and then activated the crystal, giving a running commentary as the salient points were displayed, and finishing with the comment:

“And these signals are continuing to be forwarded to us, indication a sustained level of resonance activity, not of the amplitude of the original display, but growing in magnitude as the turnings pass, indicating increasing activity on the surface of Manifold Six.”

The Emperor nodded sagely, and seemed about to alter, but Maar intruded, his harsh alteration reverberating even before the echo of H’rvath’s tones had dissipated.

“We must investigate immediately – send some of our fastest Scoutships to the area and deal with whatever threat these aliens represent. We Usurpers are ready, and ….. “

…… he consulted a tablet that lay on the table before him …………

“……. we have assets in an adjacent galaxy that could be there before the threat becomes significant.”

H’minee leaned forward on her chair, visibly agitated, with her mandibles quivering in rage.

“This is not proper,” she thundered. “We too are a spacefaring faction, and were it not for the effective blockade that the Emperor has in place” – and here she inclined her neck and bowed towards Go’og, who nodded amusedly – “we, too, would have assets ready to deploy.”

There was a chorus of assent from her advisors, interspersed with grunts from the cadre of Maar supporters.

Go’og leaned forward, and drew a forelimb across the table in front of him, talons unsheathed.

Immediately the hubbub died down, the echoes dissipating, as they waited for the Emperor’s words.

‘Tlotl leaned forward excitedly in his chair, as he prepared to hear the Emperor’s pontifications.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seldeth H’rvath was perplexed. She knew that these co-ordinates were altered, but didn’t know how, and couldn’t recall the original ones. All she knew was that the sector of the universe that Go’og was purporting to be the home of Manifold Six wasn’t one that had been apparent when the transmissions first came in. And the source couldn’t have changed. Therefore they were coming through a filter, that the Emperor himself seemingly had imposed.

To what purpose?

Go’og was resonating …

“And so each of your two factions shall raise a battle fleet – your newest warships and fastest scouts. Split into two battle groups, each with representation of both your factions.

“One group to go to Manifold Six, to investigate, contain and, if necessary, eliminate this threat to the Manifolds. The other to go to the homespace of the aliens. When you get to Manifold Six, communicate with and extract from these aliens the whereabouts of their home star system, then proceed to conquer it.”

H’rvath was transfixed. Go’og was sending the cream of the Usurper and Caretaker battle fleets on a phantom mission to where? ……. she strained to catch a glimpse of the star systems that were holigraphically displayed above the table where Go’og sat …………….. Epislon Eridani.

That surely was not from where the resonance emanations came. What was the Emperor up to. She continued listening.

“As to the safety of your home systems should the Aliens have the capability of tracking us to here, my Praetorian Guard will assume responsibility for their defense.”

Ah, she thought, that’s it – a counter-coup, by the Emperor himself

She mirthed inwardly, taking care to bottle the resonances just itching to get out. She felt ‘Tlotl looking at her, and just turned to him and bared her fangs in conspiratorial fashion.

He looked away.

The emperor was concluding his remarks:

“And I will deploy some of our remote probes to examine the nearspace of the known Manifolds – so do not be perturbed if you get reports of increased activity on the part of the Praetorian Space Corps – in fact I have already authorized the redeployment of several probes in anticipation of this joint venture.

“Meanwhile we will continue to monitor the resonance emanations from Manifold Six, and let us convene in this fashion again in, say, ten turnings. By then of course you will both be on your way there, so I can update you on the latest intelligence we have.

“Fare you well, till we meet again. This session is over.”

The general Holovid faded, and H’rvath and ‘Tlotl started to rise, when it re-activated, with just the Emperor himself.

“Station Commander H’rvath – would you stay and discuss some details with me – I’ll make this channel secure. Be alone.”

She inclined her neck, then motioned to ‘Tlotl to leave, and settled down again to hear what her Emperor had to say.

[Googlie]

Chapter Two

DFSF2
Tau Ceti Star System

I settled back in the couch and looked across the table at my Emperor. Go’og seemed so real, that it seemed strange that this was a Holovid I was viewing. He was idly toying with one of the rank rings dangling from an upper tusk, and his eyelids were drooping as if he were lost in thought, pondering just how to begin.

I waited

Finally, as if he’d made up his mind, Go’og leaned forward and in his soft, sibilant style – the one we fondly called his “BroodMaster tone”, he resonated:

“Seldeth. We go back many, many turnings together, do we not?”

I inclined my head in assent.

“Then tell me. Does your loyalty lie with your Emperor, or with H’minee?”

He sat back, eyelids once again drooping, as he waited my altering.

I paused. Of course he knew I was of the Caretaker faction – all on the Deep Space Sensor Station were drawn from one of the two factions, with a sprinkling of the Praetorian Guard for security purposes. ‘Tlotl was of the usurper faction, that, too, I knew. But we had all sworn an oath to the Emperor, and it was on the basis of mutual collaboration that we were allowed to continue with our research.

I pondered my reply carefully.

“You know that I am of the Caretaker faction. As such, in your absence, I would fight and die for Lular H’minee before I’d see Judaa Maar assume power. But he is not, and so long as you or your heirs live, my loyalty is to the Emperor.”

Go’og looked at me, his eyes searching mine, almost as though he really were sitting just across the table from me.

“Then pledge your fealty anew, before we proceed,” he continued.

I raised my right forelimb, and letting the talons unsheathe, brought it to my neck. Feeling between the scales of the carapace I found the soft, tender flesh and wincing slightly dug in the talon to draw blood. I brought the bloody talon to my lips and licked it, intoning the oath:

“My blood is yours to command, my Emperor..

“What would you have me do?”

Go’og settled back once more.

“Thank you, Seldeth H’rvath. We can resonate freely now. You have a great role to play in the future of the Progenitor race. It goes without resonance that what we are about to discuss cannot be divulged to any other save we three – yes, I count three, as you will now invite my agent to join us.”

I inclined my neck in compliance, and motioned to the door, which irised open to reveal a young technical assistant standing there.

He entered.

“Aren’t you ‘Voth?” I resonated interrogatively.

He nodded in assent.

‘Voth was a young, eager-to-please, mechanic for the Sensor Station, often the butt of jokes by the other staff. But he took it all in good stride.

Go’og looked at me.

“Do not be misled by his apparent youth and gaucheness,” he commented. “he is one of my top operatives in my Praetorian Covert Corps and his presence on DFSF2 illustrates the importance of this research and underscores the delicacy of the mission you are about to embark upon.

“He will brief you on the recent events on Manifold Six.”

‘Voth sat down at the conference table with me, and began.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“For many dozens of turnings we have been monitoring increasing resonance activity from a quadrant of space that was visited by our forebears some hundreds of thousands of turnings ago. Comparatively recently – maybe the last 100 turnings or so – activity has been frenetic, and finally in one of the inhabited planets in that sector we detected numerous nuclear explosions.

“To avoid undue panic, we decided to take our closest Sensor Station – Five - out of commission, and cloak their transmissions to us, and, of course, try to explain the residual resonances that were being detected by the other stations as anomalies or as equipment malfunctions”

H’rvath gasped. She remembered now those explanations. The sudden apparent loss of DFSF5, the high readings at her own station, explained away as old, faulty equipment – which was feasible given that they were many thousands of turnings old and indeed the technology to manufacture them and send them to deep space had long since been forgotten.

‘Voth continued:

“So we continued tracking and monitoring that activity, wondering perhaps if there were an unreported Seventh Manifold, and that perhaps a Flowering had commenced. The then Emperor – Go’og’s brood Sire – authorized a deep automatic probe be sent, and this entered the Sol star system a few dozen turnings ago, and recorded some interesting data.

“There is a sentient race inhabiting a planet orbiting this star, and in less than eighty of out turnings had evolved from hugging the land into powered flight and ultimately into space travel. It is they who have made an appearance on Manifold Six.”

H’rvath gasped. Eighty turnings. That was incredible. It had taken the Progenitors many thousands of turnings to emerge from the interfactional chaos to this point in time, and little new had been discovered by way of technology. Indeed, little was understood concerning the technology that was in use. Sure, the Starships had faster-than-light drive, but no-one now could replicate their building, so the handful that had survived the war were precious, and held only by the Praetorian Guard.

Similarly, although the Battle Cruisers had Graviton torpedoes, and a few had String Disruptor cannon, ordnance was finite, and thus hoarded jealously. Most of the Battle fleet was resonance-bolt equipped.

‘Voth was continuing ……

“Our remote probe then documented what we believe to have been a major war developing on this Planet, followed by the exodus of a fusion-powered starship or battle cruiser, which headed towards their closest star system – that of Alpha Centauri”

H’rvath was astounded. “Fusion drive,” she altered. “The dream of our Progenitor scientists for hundreds of turnings, and this hatchling race had discovered it in less than a hundred!”

“Indeed,” ‘Voth replied. “And there is the nub of the matter. Is this race to be feared, or welcomed? Normally we could just ignore them until our paths crossed, but as evidenced by the triggering of our automatic Flowering Sensing System, it appears that they have stumbled on to Manifold Six. Their spacecraft malfunctioned upon entering the star system, and what your sensors detected was its break-up, and the subsequent jettisoning of escape colony pods as well as hundreds of smaller seed pods that probably contain vehicles, weapons and other colonist equipment.’

Go’og interrupted

“And what we must fear is that this ingenuity, creativity and thirst for knowledge that they exhibited on their home planet will untap the secrets of the Manifolds themselves, and make them as Gods of the universe.

“My dilemma is – are they to be befriended, so that we may grow with them, or destroyed, before they develop the means to defend themselves from our currently superior weaponry.

“I have bought time by sending the Maar and H’minee battle fleets on a phantom chase 180 degrees from Manifold Six.

“I have diverted two of our precious remote probes to its vicinity to obtain finer resonance readings.

“But I need to dispatch a manned spacecraft to ascertain how great this threat is, and to report to me regularly on their progress. At the same time, any and all information on manifold Six itself will be vital in helping me make my decision.

“I want you, and ‘Voth, to man that probe.”

H’rvath pondered.

“But if they are that sophisticated, then they will surely be forewarned of our coming, and with their spacefaring capability will either destroy us – or neutralize us – when we arrive in their system?”

‘Voth resonated in reply: “We can hide there. Our preliminary scans show that there is an asteroid field orbiting the Manifold. We can park the scout there, and even set up some sensor arrays on an asteroid or two.

“And we will arrive undetected, as our scout probe will be cloaked.”

H’rvath looked from ‘Voth to the Emperor.

“But if I understand correctly, only one Progenitor vessel has cloaking capability – your Emperor’s Scoutship”

Go’og inclined his head.

“That is right. It is a measure of how important I deem this surveillance mission to be.

“There is one drawback, though.”

H’rvath waited for Go’og to continue ……….

“The scoutship is unarmed and unarmoured. However, it does carry two Gnats, so you will not be defenceless”

“When do we leave?” H’rvath asked.

“The scoutship is on its way to you now. You and ‘Voth will board it in just over one turning. ‘Voth will be Mission Commander, and you are the Chief Technical Officer. You will meet the gnats’ crews when you board.

“Fare you well, till we meet again, my loyal Seldeth. Report every second turning.”

The Holovid faded.

******************************************

DFSF2
Tau Ceti Star System

‘Tlotl relaxed by the sweeping window of the observation deck of the Space Station, gazing out at the broad expanse of stars, and imagining that he could see, in the distance, the cluster of the Rim Systems.

He liked to come here, both for the exotic drinks available as well as the occasional interchange of greetings and gossip with a traveling Usurper who stopped in for a refreshment. The vidres screens were active, but he hadn’t bothered to rent a yoke for the full sensory experience, content to let his mind wander and glance occasionally at the screens to see what was happening elsewhere.

The channels were united in their presentations – whether Usurper, fed in from the Rim Systems, or Caretaker, from Harmony – why even the feed from Immunity was carrying the Harmony signals. They were all about the preparation of the battle fleets, their provisioning, discussion about the likelihood of finding anything worthwhile on Manifold Six, and endless grunting snouts pontificating about the meaning of the Manifolds and the significance of joint Caretaker-Usurper operations. Pundits were expounding on Epsilon Eridani, and were resonating their theories as to why the Ancients would have chosen that star system as the home for the Sixth Manifold.

He wondered idly what H’rvath and the Emperor had discussed after he had left the conference chamber – it sure had set H’rvath in a tizzy – he hadn’t seen the old coot bustle since ….. well, since as long as he’d known her.

And he pondered the cryptic comment the young assistant engineer, Voth, had made when he said in passing “If I were you I’d get ready to leave here when the new crews arrive” What by the Systems did that mean?

A flickering from the window caught his eye, and he turned to look. One of the cargo gantries from a docking bay was swinging out into the void, and he puzzled as he saw a pressurized walkway begin got extend also. Then he blinked in astonishment as the view distorted, shimmered, then solidified as a Scoutship materializing before his eyes and hooking up to the snaking gantries.

But not just any scoutship. He saw the insignia, and the name proudly displayed:

Eminence

This was the Emperor’s own starcruiser. Was the venerable Go’og visiting the space station? Was this why H’rvath was so jittery?

He finished his drink and rose quickly, and hurried out of the observation deck heading for the docking bay, almost colliding with ‘Voth as he swept round a corner.

“Oh, I see you have your activation orders,” resonated ‘Voth

‘Tlotl’s blank stare was a giveaway.

“Oh, you haven’t,” ‘Voth altered. “Then why are you ………….. oh, I see. Just curiosity. Well you’ll have enough time to satisfy that as you – and I – are leaving later this turning on the vessel.”

‘Tlotl’s eyes widened. “We are? … Why us? …. What for?…. Who else?” … he stuttered in staccato bursts of resonance.

“Scouting mission,” ‘Voth altered in return. “To investigate those strange emanations you recorded those few turnings ago. Grab your personal belongings and I’ll meet you on ship.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

H’rvath shuffled slowly along the walkway, heart heavy. This seemed so much like an exile to her. Oh, yes, there would be a wormhole to the Alpha Centauri star system, but by the Emperor’s tone she’d be there for many turnings, perhaps hundreds even. And might she even be asked to meet with and deal with those aliens? Learn their squawking language perhaps?

As she neared the ship, she suddenly felt a tremor run through her mind, and an unbidden inward resonance:

”Disturbed ….. . why not joyous? … Mission to achieve greatness! … Glory song to sing ……….. “

She stopped.

It had been countless turnings since she had experienced that.

The presence in her mind of a Gnat communicating with her empathically.

She hesitated, trying to recall how she used to induce the trance-like state that let her weak empath skills flourish and communicate with the Gnat in return. At least the Gnats were masters at it, so she could be as halting and hesitant as she liked, it would understand.

” .. I am leaving a place I love, perhaps never to return. My heart is thus heavy. But it is strengthened by your presence. Do I know you?”

”I am ‘Aqila ….. bonded to Sartir …… brood hatchling of ‘Motra … memories of you … H’rvath

Tears welled in H’rvath’s eyes, and she blinked rapidly to suppress them. Those memories…………………………………………….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

H’rvath stood silently beside S’oth, her broodmate, his forelimb draped comfortably across her shoulders as they watched the miracle unfolding before them.

‘Motra was standing beside the egg, now cracking, anxious to assist in the birth of his offspring, and silently grieving the death of his mate who had perished giving birth. Her Glory Song still resonated in his heart. His time would be soon, as S’oth was now unable to bond, and no-one else could be trained. He would instruct the hatchling for a few turnings, but then it would be time for him to take that final flight, spiraling into Tau Ceti.

Then the crack deepened, as the small head popped out, body straining to follow, pushing out, then standing proudly in the wreckage of the shell, she unfolded her wings and gave a small screech:

’Aqila ……. I am

H’rvath let out a long suppressed sigh, and felt S’oth’s grip tighten around her. She hated this part of the ‘dance’, as it portended disaster, and the imminent loss of her loved one. For once a Gnat lost its pilot, for whatever reason, deterioration set in until it would be unable to soar – and there always needed to be enough left to leave Harmony’s gravity and seek the solace of the star. In a few turnings ‘Motra would do just that, taking his goodbyes of his pilot, S’oth, and friends, then rising majestically, unridden, to the stars to seek the death spiral of its sun. And S’oth would be heartbroken. And would memorize every syllable and nuance of the Glory Song as ‘Motra would sing himself to his fiery grave.

But the cycle was almost complete.

They glanced towards the entrance to the Gnat Brood Pen, situated high on a craggy cliff by the edge of Harmony’s eastern desert, to see an older Progenitor approaching, talons linked, with a young female. She was a hatchling herself, little more than 3 turnings old, but trained from hatching for this moment, for the bonding with the Gnat. She would be her pilot for as long as either lived, and no other could fly, or be let fly, than with one another.

H’rvath felt the almost palpable internal resonance as the older Empath communicated with the young Gnat

‘Aqila. We are honored to make your acquaintance. This is Sartir, your bondmate, trainer and pilot to be. Get to know one another.

The tentative empath probe from the young Progenitor was felt by all around - diffident, shy, hesitating, almost fearful……..

I am Sartir

The hatchling Gnat let out another squeal, and rushed over to the young Progenitor, and stopped short, unfolding her wings and wrapping them around Sartir. The Gnat, even newly hatched, was almost three times as large as Sartir, which discomfited her somewhat, but she soon succumbed to the embrace and in turn placed her head against the Gnat’s shoulder.

H’rvath turned away, tugging S’oth with her. They headed off to a small deck at one end of the Cliffside.

“Come, this is their moment now. Let us spend time with ‘Motra and comfort him.”

‘Motra sensed the empath link with his old pilot, and with a last projection to his young offspring turned too.

With a majestic full spread of his wings he soared from the cliff edge, turning, and almost stopping in mid air. H’rvath dimly sensed a communication between Gnat and pilot, then she saw ‘Motra shimmer against the sky, and disappear from her sight, only to reappear, seated with folded wings at the cliff’s edge where they were heading.

“Cloaked” resonated S’oth. “Close enough that my signals still register with him, even although I can no longer fly. Let us go and discuss his Glory Song”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And then she heard it, as fresh as the day it was sung, in her mind, projected softly by ‘Aqila:

To Live .. to Soar ..to Fight ..
that we have done
together ….
To Die…that is my right
To seek my Sun
And bond forever….

Tears welled again in her eyes as she entered the Eminence

“Thank you, ‘Aqila she resonated softly, Thank you

[Googlie]

The Eminence
DFSF2
Tau Ceti Star System

‘Tlotl had to stoop as he entered the hatch to The Eminence and almost stumbled over an equipment bag lying to one side as he moved inside.. A stern-looking Praetorian Guard waved him along the corridor with a gruff resonance:

“Your quarters will be the sixth on the right”

He passed down the corridor glancing into the various small cabins on the way, saw H’rvath unpacking her gear in one of the better furnished rooms, then stopped at the next, one of the most opulent rooms he had ever seen, and ran a reverent talon across the nameplate on the door. He sensed the quiet resonance internally .

Emperor Go’og

Inside he saw ‘Voth laying a tunic on a couch and stowing personal belongings in an undercouch drawer

He coughed discreetly ….

“Won’t you get into trouble taking this cabin?” his interrogative resonance reaching ‘Voth, who stood up and grinned at ‘Tlotl

“No” he altered. “This has been assigned to me.”

“Why you?” altered ‘Tlotl. “Because you were the last one assigned to the team?”

“Well, could be” came the alteration in reply. “Probably more so as I am one of the Emperor’s offspring – and actually am Mission Commander for this venture”

‘Tlotl saw for the first time the rank rings on ‘Voth’s tusks – two layers of them on each of the two lateral tusks. He stuttered, the resonances delivered in staccato bursts, dissonant and disjointed:

“But …. How could … by the Systems …”

he racked his mind quickly to see if he could remember making any traitorous remarks in ‘Voth’s presence, then relaxed somewhat as he realized that his interchanges with ‘Voth had been few and far between, and mostly of a teasing or bullying variety.

Then he began to sweat again …

“I mean …..”

‘Voth grinned.

“No problem,” he resonated softly. “You weren’t one of the worst. And I endured all the hassle on my Brood sire’s orders. In fact, I asked specifically for you, as being someone I could work well with. You are a talented researcher, ‘Tlotl.”

‘Tlotl stammered “But you have H’rvath. I’m nowhere near as venerable or qualified as she is”

“But you have imagination,” ‘Voth altered. “She is now too hidebound in her ways. She’ll be good for classic interpretation, but with a newly emerging sentient race to research, your lack of traditional methodology of interpretation will be crucial.

“But I see that you are perplexed. Dump your stuff in your cabin and come back to the Chartroom – next on the right. We’re meeting there to see what the latest findings are from Manifold Six”

As ‘Tlotl moved further down the corridor, he became aware of a tingling in his mind – a feeling that just wouldn’t go away ……. that he was being watched – or listened to, perhaps. And is strengthened as he neared his assigned quarters.

He almost bumped into her, so engrossed was he with trying to determine what was in his mind.

“Oh, sorry,” he blurted out in a sharp, almost painful resonance.

He felt the soothing in his mind, with an almost palpable “Don’t worry – it happens all the time” thought emerging from his sub consciousness.

‘Tlotl looked up at the apparition before him – the most desirable female he’d ever seen. A Caretaker, to be sure, but the beauty of her carapace, the flawless arrangement of her tusks – still forming – and the pheromones she was releasing – she desired him too. But she was young.

She bared her teeth in a smile of greeting and resonated audibly:

“I am Sartir, bondmistress of the Gnat ‘Aqila. And you are …. ?”

“Junior researcher, ‘Tlotl,” he stammered in reply. “Are you an Empath?”

Sartir bowed her neck gracefully in acknowledgement.

“Yes,” she altered. “That is how we bond with the Gnats.”

They were interrupted by a short resonance burst informing them of the imminent commencement of the planning meeting.

“Are you on your way there?” Sartir asked.

“As soon as I dump these in my cabin,” he replied – I’ll see you there.”

Sartir nodded and moved off down the corridor.

‘Tlotl found his quarters, slung his pack in on the small couch there, and hurried back after her, but she’d already disappeared from view into the Chartroom.

He entered, and looked around. Seven Progenitors were lounging around the small holotable, with an empty couch beside Sartir, to which she beckoned him.

He shuffled over, as ‘Voth began to resonate.

“Welcome all. Our newest arrival is ‘Tlotl, one of the key researchers here at DFSF2 and the scientist who first detected the emanations from Manifold Six”

‘Tlotl nodded to the seated crewmembers as he took his place beside Sartir.

‘Voth continued.

“And I am ‘Voth, Mission Commander. But those from here know me just as ‘Voth, so continue referring to me in that way. At my right is the Station Commander, H’rvath, who is also senior researcher and will fulfill that role in this mission. At my left is ‘Psat, of the Praetorian Guard, who will command the ground forces we have in the event we land on Manifold Six. ‘Psat is our Security Officer. Across the table sits Admiral Rr’ark, the ship’s captain, and to his right is Fal’on, Chief Xenobiologist from Harmony, and assigned to this mission for the eventuality that what we are seeing might in fact be a premature Flowering of Manifold Six, and not the alien colonization we have hitherto presumed it to be. And flanking ‘Tlotl, our newcomer, are Sartir and D’oss, who pilot the Gnats ‘Aqila and Phraek respectively.

“Our mission is to penetrate the inner space of the Alpha Centauri star system, and commence detailed surveillance of Manifold Six. We currently have 2 probes in close proximity, streaming data, but we assume that this alien race either has, or will in a few turnings develop, space travel, and we shall need then to remove our probes and operate ourselves, hidden and cloaked.

“We have already cast off, and will shortly be seeking the wormhole to the Alpha Centauri system, but in the meantime, perhaps H’rvath can brief us on the resbursts from the probes and try to make sense of them.”

H’rvath began:

“Well, since our probes reached their locations a few turnings ago we have had several streamed resbursts that I’ll replay for you now – just snippets, as there is an almost full crystal of them.”

She waved a talon across the table top, and a faint Holovid began to shimmer before their eyes – that of a planet suspended in space, a mottled russet, brown and blue color, streaked with swathes of white, presumed to be clouds.

“Here is Manifold Six,” she resonated softly.

The chartroom was hushed as all reverently gazed upon the handiwork of their forebears.

A manufactured planet. Self developed sentience. Progressing towards Flowering. And now invaded by an alien species. An aggressive, warmaking species. And one whose research rate was a hundredfold that of the Progenitors.

“Here’s what our sensors picked up,” continued H’rvath, “on the electro-magnetic spectrum”

A series of staccato pulses flashed in the space where the planet hung – no pattern, seemingly random, although from time to time ‘Tlotl thought he detected a repetition of segments.

They looked at one another. ‘Voth asked:

“And what are these emanations?”

H’rvath shrugged.

“We don’t know. I haven’t encountered them before. But when I mentioned them at the earlier briefing P’sat became adamant that enough of the old 3-pulse armor kits be available for any potential land forces we might have with us.”

‘Tlotl coughed discretely.

“Well,” H’rvath glared. “You wish to share a resonance?”

“The emanations are a binary code,” he altered. “Your aliens are probably robot research and discovery machines, communicating with each other in binary. It is how our Ogres receive and process instructions. I thought everyone knew that.”

H’rvath glowered at him.

“Everyone doesn’t. And if what you surmise is correct, then they are “researching” and “discovering” much, as these strings of gibberish are endless.

“But that’s not all.”

She waved a talon across the space and the crystal jumped to a new sequence.

The signals were weaker, as the probe was at its extended audio wavelength range. They seemed to emanate from a structure mostly underground, with just the hint of a surface profile.

Again incessant, always the same pattern, but a veritable profusion of them

Fal’on snorted. “Pollution. That’s what those are. Evidences of the Aliens’ disregard for Planet and its workings. Multiple pollutions.”

‘Voth took the floor again:

“Well then,” he resonated. “That will be our focus when we first arrive. ‘Tlotl, you focus on these bines” – that was one of ‘Voth’s most irritating habits …. cutting his resonances short and expecting his audience to decipher what he meant – “see if you can decipher what they mean so that we can interpret what they are communicating.

“And Fal’on. Find out what you can about these Polls”

Note to any readers out there - this is an "in-joke" from the AC Democracy Forums

[Googlie]

The Eminence
DFSF2
Tau Ceti Star System

‘Tlotl had to stoop as he entered the hatch to The Eminence and almost stumbled over an equipment bag lying to one side as he moved inside.. A stern-looking Praetorian Guard waved him along the corridor with a gruff resonance:

“Your quarters will be the sixth on the right”

He passed down the corridor glancing into the various small cabins on the way, saw H’rvath unpacking her gear in one of the better furnished rooms, then stopped at the next, one of the most opulent rooms he had ever seen, and ran a reverent talon across the nameplate on the door. He sensed the quiet resonance internally .

Emperor Go’og

Inside he saw ‘Voth laying a tunic on a couch and stowing personal belongings in an undercouch drawer

He coughed discreetly ….

“Won’t you get into trouble taking this cabin?” his interrogative resonance reaching ‘Voth, who stood up and grinned at ‘Tlotl

“No” he altered. “This has been assigned to me.”

“Why you?” altered ‘Tlotl. “Because you were the last one assigned to the team?”

“Well, could be” came the alteration in reply. “Probably more so as I am one of the Emperor’s offspring – and actually am Mission Commander for this venture”

‘Tlotl saw for the first time the rank rings on ‘Voth’s tusks – two layers of them on each of the two lateral tusks. He stuttered, the resonances delivered in staccato bursts, dissonant and disjointed:

“But …. How could … by the Systems …”

he racked his mind quickly to see if he could remember making any traitorous remarks in ‘Voth’s presence, then relaxed somewhat as he realized that his interchanges with ‘Voth had been few and far between, and mostly of a teasing or bullying variety.

Then he began to sweat again …

“I mean …..”

‘Voth grinned.

“No problem,” he resonated softly. “You weren’t one of the worst. And I endured all the hassle on my Brood sire’s orders. In fact, I asked specifically for you, as being someone I could work well with. You are a talented researcher, ‘Tlotl.”

‘Tlotl stammered “But you have H’rvath. I’m nowhere near as venerable or qualified as she is”

“But you have imagination,” ‘Voth altered. “She is now too hidebound in her ways. She’ll be good for classic interpretation, but with a newly emerging sentient race to research, your lack of traditional methodology of interpretation will be crucial.

“But I see that you are perplexed. Dump your stuff in your cabin and come back to the Chartroom – next on the right. We’re meeting there to see what the latest findings are from Manifold Six”

As ‘Tlotl moved further down the corridor, he became aware of a tingling in his mind – a feeling that just wouldn’t go away ……. that he was being watched – or listened to, perhaps. And is strengthened as he neared his assigned quarters.

He almost bumped into her, so engrossed was he with trying to determine what was in his mind.

“Oh, sorry,” he blurted out in a sharp, almost painful resonance.

He felt the soothing in his mind, with an almost palpable “Don’t worry – it happens all the time” thought emerging from his sub consciousness.

‘Tlotl looked up at the apparition before him – the most desirable female he’d ever seen. A Caretaker, to be sure, but the beauty of her carapace, the flawless arrangement of her tusks – still forming – and the pheromones she was releasing – she desired him too. But she was young.

She bared her teeth in a smile of greeting and resonated audibly:

“I am Sartir, bondmistress of the Gnat ‘Aqila. And you are …. ?”

“Junior researcher, ‘Tlotl,” he stammered in reply. “Are you an Empath?”

Sartir bowed her neck gracefully in acknowledgement.

“Yes,” she altered. “That is how we bond with the Gnats.”

They were interrupted by a short resonance burst informing them of the imminent commencement of the planning meeting.

“Are you on your way there?” Sartir asked.

“As soon as I dump these in my cabin,” he replied – I’ll see you there.”

Sartir nodded and moved off down the corridor.

‘Tlotl found his quarters, slung his pack in on the small couch there, and hurried back after her, but she’d already disappeared from view into the Chartroom.

He entered, and looked around. Seven Progenitors were lounging around the small holotable, with an empty couch beside Sartir, to which she beckoned him.

He shuffled over, as ‘Voth began to resonate.

“Welcome all. Our newest arrival is ‘Tlotl, one of the key researchers here at DFSF2 and the scientist who first detected the emanations from Manifold Six”

‘Tlotl nodded to the seated crewmembers as he took his place beside Sartir.

‘Voth continued.

“And I am ‘Voth, Mission Commander. But those from here know me just as ‘Voth, so continue referring to me in that way. At my right is the Station Commander, H’rvath, who is also senior researcher and will fulfill that role in this mission. At my left is ‘Psat, of the Praetorian Guard, who will command the ground forces we have in the event we land on Manifold Six. ‘Psat is our Security Officer. Across the table sits Admiral Rr’ark, the ship’s captain, and to his right is Fal’on, Chief Xenobiologist from Harmony, and assigned to this mission for the eventuality that what we are seeing might in fact be a premature Flowering of Manifold Six, and not the alien colonization we have hitherto presumed it to be. And flanking ‘Tlotl, our newcomer, are Sartir and D’oss, who pilot the Gnats ‘Aqila and Phraek respectively.

“Our mission is to penetrate the inner space of the Alpha Centauri star system, and commence detailed surveillance of Manifold Six. We currently have 2 probes in close proximity, streaming data, but we assume that this alien race either has, or will in a few turnings develop, space travel, and we shall need then to remove our probes and operate ourselves, hidden and cloaked.

“We have already cast off, and will shortly be seeking the wormhole to the Alpha Centauri system, but in the meantime, perhaps H’rvath can brief us on the resbursts from the probes and try to make sense of them.”

H’rvath began:

“Well, since our probes reached their locations a few turnings ago we have had several streamed resbursts that I’ll replay for you now – just snippets, as there is an almost full crystal of them.”

She waved a talon across the table top, and a faint Holovid began to shimmer before their eyes – that of a planet suspended in space, a mottled russet, brown and blue color, streaked with swathes of white, presumed to be clouds.

“Here is Manifold Six,” she resonated softly.

The chartroom was hushed as all reverently gazed upon the handiwork of their forebears.

A manufactured planet. Self developed sentience. Progressing towards Flowering. And now invaded by an alien species. An aggressive, warmaking species. And one whose research rate was a hundredfold that of the Progenitors.

“Here’s what our sensors picked up,” continued H’rvath, “on the electro-magnetic spectrum”

A series of staccato pulses flashed in the space where the planet hung – no pattern, seemingly random, although from time to time ‘Tlotl thought he detected a repetition of segments.

They looked at one another. ‘Voth asked:

“And what are these emanations?”

H’rvath shrugged.

“We don’t know. I haven’t encountered them before. But when I mentioned them at the earlier briefing P’sat became adamant that enough of the old 3-pulse armor kits be available for any potential land forces we might have with us.”

‘Tlotl coughed discretely.

“Well,” H’rvath glared. “You wish to share a resonance?”

“The emanations are a binary code,” he altered. “Your aliens are probably robot research and discovery machines, communicating with each other in binary. It is how our Ogres receive and process instructions. I thought everyone knew that.”

H’rvath glowered at him.

“Everyone doesn’t. And if what you surmise is correct, then they are “researching” and “discovering” much, as these strings of gibberish are endless.

“But that’s not all.”

She waved a talon across the space and the crystal jumped to a new sequence.

The signals were weaker, as the probe was at its extended audio wavelength range. They seemed to emanate from a structure mostly underground, with just the hint of a surface profile.

Again incessant, always the same pattern, but a veritable profusion of them

Fal’on snorted. “Pollution. That’s what those are. Evidences of the Aliens’ disregard for Planet and its workings. Multiple pollutions.”

‘Voth took the floor again:

“Well then,” he resonated. “That will be our focus when we first arrive. ‘Tlotl, you focus on these bines” – that was one of ‘Voth’s most irritating habits …. cutting his resonances short and expecting his audience to decipher what he meant – “see if you can decipher what they mean so that we can interpret what they are communicating.

“And Fal’on. Find out what you can about these Polls”

For the benefit of any readers out there, the Polls are an "in-joke" from the Democracy Game Forums

[Googlie]

The Eminence
Tau Ceti Star System


“Theory into Reality” H’rvath resonated to no-one in particular. “We’re the test tube hatchlings for the scientists to discover if their elegant theories work.”

’Voth altered “Of course they work. Or at least they did four millennia ago – no reason why they won’t work today. You have to trust science.”

H’rvath grunted mirthlessly, the dissonating resonance echoing off the command console surfaces and grating to the receptors of the others. “Trust the scientists? Look what they did when we trusted them before. Destroyed complete star systems and almost cost us our own. Never again must they…..”

Rr’ark’s interruption resonated sharply, insistently, cutting H’rvath off in mid stream:

“Singularity approaching – need attention”

H’rvath subsided into her couch. This discussion would be continued at a later time. Right now was coming up one of the most crucial parts of their mission.

’Tlotl was giving Rr’ark the readouts as they approached the wormhole. To the naked eye, gazing ahead into space, there was nothing discernable. But to the instrument sensors, the gravitational distortion was intense, represented on their screen by a series of colors. Rr’ark was piloting by sense now, the resonance radar picking up and returning the echoes of the variances in the magnetic field surrounding the singularity.

“Going in” he resonated softly, as The Eminence entered the outer fringes of the gravitational distortion.

The ship bucked, and tossed as it was drawn deeper into the well of the wormhole. The viewing ports turned black, and H’rvath was seized again with the nauseous feeling that she always had in these situations – using psi-gates between the Harmony cities always gave her that same feeling when she was Planetside

The antigrav dampers were working full blast as Rr’ark wrestled with the controls, aligning the course from the Tau Ceti to the Alpha Centauri star systems. Even in a wormhole it would take them well over a turning to cross the just over one light year separating the two systems.

As the g-forces built up, H’rvath gave up the fight and relaxed into the antigrav bed that the command couch molded round her body.

And slept.


Immunity
Harmony Orbit
Tau Ceti Star System

Emperor Go’og lounged in the Boardroom, idly drumming his talons on the tabletop, oblivious to the scratches and dents he was causing.

Banned

That was the expression that his Chief Scientific Officer had used.

How could one ban an Emperor?

All he had done was to try and communicate with the Eminence while she was navigating the wormhole. Just a short, harmless resbursts, containing some data uploads that he’d found of this alien, human, race, all the better to identify them if they would happen to meet on Manifold Six.

But Chief Science Officer M’ing had stormed in and cut the telemetry and res baffles from the subspace generator so that he was cut off for the period when the ship was wormholing, resonating loudly about illegal uploads, being against the “rules” and on and on incessantly. By the Systems, Go’og’s head hurt.

There was so much he wanted to tell ‘Voth, as well. He had prepared a voluminous crystal’s full library of hints about commanding, dealing with the crusty Admiral Rr’ark and the venerable H’rvath, setting out rules of engagement for conduct on Manifold Six, if it came to that, managing the decision-making process on board The Eminence itself, and lots more.

Now he was waiting like a common Progenitor drone for M’ing to lift the ban and let him go about his Imperial duties once more

‘Ah, well’, he thought – ‘at least I can review the mission plan’

he turned back to the table, and with a wave of a forelimb brought up again the resburst Holovid of the Mission discussion of a few tenthturnings ago, and settled back to study these weird emanations from Manifold Six, and the suggestions of the Mission participants as to what they should do when they entered the planet’s orbit.