Darkworld: Earth

45.

The party was under full swing. Thanks to the interconnectedness granted to them by the technology that the Yonohoa had imparted to them, all of the crew members from Earth were aware of the successful retrieval of the final drone and the salvaging of its data.

The patients receiving treatment on planet Totola whooped and slapped each other on the backs as they worked with the staff of their hospital to throw a party utilizing the strange food that the hospital provided. The Yonohoans were eager to oblige them, throwing out their own version of celebratory foods for the the Earthlings.

Aboard the Seeker , there was a palpable sense of relief. With the success of the science mission, a significant weight was removed from their shoulders. They still had to get the data back to Earth for analysis, but now that they had secured the payload they had less pressure to conclude their diplomatic mission urgently. Rather, they could continue to take their time and evaluate all of the options before them.

Aboard the Keeper , the exhausted crew through a party using cakes and drinks that were synthesized using the ship board food forge based on samples provided from stores taken from the Seeker . Despite the fact that it was their work that led to the success of the mission, the crew of the Keeper was the most subdued, with many of them reflecting on the cost of their success.

It was during the celebration, while she was sipping on a mocktail made with the finest of juice that they could simulate, that Captain Moon received a connection request from Eolai.

The icons indicated that it was a secure request, with an icon for important or private topics to be discussed displayed as well. She quickly excused herself and made her way to her private cabin.

“ Keeper, please engage diplomatic mode for this room,” she requested. The ship beeped to indicate that it was complying before she accepted the connection request.

“Yes, Eolai? Something important has occurred?”

“I regret to inform you that I have become aware of a sacred duty which I must perform as a son of Eodar. I have received a distress call which requires me, personally, to answer it. In many ways the timing is serendipitous, for if it had occurred before you had completed your mission I would have been forced to abandon you prior to the success of your mission. I will meet you back in the Totola system.”

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Captain Moon asked.

“You could allow me to return Rajesh to your ship so that I do not need to worry about his safety,” Eolai admitted. “I must confess that I am about to enter a dangerous situation. I must bring my brother with me to teach him his sacred duties. However, I would not put another Earthling at risk in this situation willingly.”

Captain Moon swallowed. “I’ll order the Keeper to prepare to receive him,” she said. “How do we make the transfer?”

“I shall simply shoot him out of the airlock in your general direction. The safety features of the Toormonda will automatically retrieve him,” Eolai assured her.

“Oh. Have you run that past him yet?” she asked.

“He is most emphatically screaming at the top of his lungs in protest,” Eolai admitted. “However, I have instructed the Topokan to force the matter, and they are performing admirably. He is being carried to the airlock at the moment.”

“This is happening right now?” she asked nervously.

“The matter is truly urgent, Captain. Even this much delay is broaches me shirking my duty,” Eolai informed her.

“Very well. Thank you for your assistance, Eolai. I will instruct the Keeper to prepare to receive Rajesh.”

“Thank you, captain,” Eolai said, and the connection ended.

Moments after she ended the call, the ship informed her that the safety system had detected a human who had been ejected from their escort. The Keeper requested her instructions, and Captain Moon promptly instructed the Toormonda to retrieve her wayward and unwilling spacewalker.

Almost as soon as he had been removed from the flagship, the flagship vanished into a FTL translation with a ripple.

~~~~~~

“How long until we get--”

“We have arrived,” Eolai said, interrupting Diego’s question as they returned into normal space only moments later. “We traveled at the ships maximum speed. We have traveled eighteen lightyears.”

“Okay. So exactly what is going on? You said that this was a rescue mission?” Diego asked.

“My systems detected a connection request from a secure Rocktala system,” Eolai explained.

“Okay. That’s weird since we’re out in the middle of nowhere, but what is so urgent about --”

“A secure Rocktala system, Diego. Not the toys that we give our children, but a message from a device that dates back to the time when Rocktalas were still in military use,” Eolai explained.

“Oh,” Diego said. “I thought that Rocktala’s were obsolete and insecure as far as the military was concerned.”

“They remain useful for bridging the gaps between networks. It is very similar to the handshake protocol which required the use of your original equipment from the Seeker in order to complete your mission. There are ancient Rocktala repeaters throughout this galaxy. Only a few forces continue to monitor them. The Yonohoah are one of the forces that does so.

“Something caused a very, very old relic to wake up and perform a connection request three days ago. We are searching for that ship,” Eolai explained.

“This has to do with the war, doesn’t it?” Diego asked.

“It does,” Eolai agreed. “Sometimes, in the wake of a battle, the soldiers were not always recovered. They were placed into stasis pods, and their locations were lost. I believe that something has woken one of those ancient life pods and caused it to reach out for rescue. As the son of Eodar, I am obligated to come to its aid, no matter who sent it.”

“Do you think that whoever is inside is still alive?” Diego asked.

“If the power remains to send a rocktala message, then perhaps enough power remains for a stasis field generator,” Eolai admitted. “It will be dangerous. I must request that you enter your room and enter stasis.”

Diego blinked in surprise. “You don’t want my help?”

“You are not prepared for this yet, Diego. Honor dictates that since we are both available, we must both answer. However, as your elder brother, I must protect you. Your stateroom is a secure area which should survive the destruction of the rest of the ship if the stasis field is engaged. It will serve to keep you alive in the event that the occupant of the lifepod is hostile,” Eolai explained.

“I’ve never been in stasis before,” Diego confessed.

“It will be over in a blink,” Eolai assured him. “Please return to your room.”

“You won’t leave me frozen for years, will you Eolai?” Diego asked.

“I will remove you from stasis as soon as this ship is once more safe,” Eolai promised.

“Okay. I’m going to trust that you know what you’re doing. I’ll see you in a moment, Brother,” Diego said, and he turned and ran to the stateroom where he had been sleeping.

He looked around nervously, waiting for some sign that something was about to happen. It happened in between one breath and the next.

Suddenly Eolai was before him, lying on the ground, bleeding on the floor. His left arm was missing. In the hallway outside the room were six Topokans, who had died defending the door to the stateroom.

Training kicked in and Diego knelt down to examine Eolai’s injuries. “Eolai. Eolai, what happened?”

The Yonohoan man opened his eyes and smiled sadly.

“Our father walks through the light of this universe once more, my brother,” he said, “But he does not know himself, and to him his deeds have not yet happened. He is lost in time, locked in a battle that was lost eons ago. I tried to help him come to understanding, but he is still feral. He attacked me, and the crew is dead. Only you and I survive.”