For The Greater Good (closed for FeistyLilOne)

[Baelnorn]

The air was already humming with the busy motions of hundreds of smaller and larger aircraft buzzing through the early morning sky above Ishtar’Rol. The capitol was slowly waking from its nightly slumber, its skyscrapers and arcologies still sending their light beams into the gradually brightening sky. In the far distance, a thick blanket of heavy clouds hung over the metropolis’s outskirts, now and then being pierced by soundless streaks of white lightning.

Kalar took a deep breath, feeling the thin air of his home world rushing into his lungs, and enjoyed a few more moments of the first sunrays of this new morning softly caressing his face. The gentle warmth of the old star soothed his racing thoughts, and spread a bit of calm through his mind. Recalling the discovery that he had made the night before in the Water caste’s archives still sent a shiver down his spine. He needed to talk to the Elders, urgently. Hearing the terrace door behind him slide open, the young Ishtari opened his large eyes, and started to turn around.

“Ishtar’Va’Atol, Kor’Vre Kalar.”

Kalar recognized the voice before he saw the man. Quickly he bowed his head and raised his right hand to his left shoulder, returning the formal greeting. Kalar had known the Ethereal in front of him for over a decade now, and while they would not call each other “friend,” they had become good acquaintances in this very short time span.

“May the Greater Good guide you, too, Aun’El Meris. Thank you for personally responding so quickly to my request for council.”

The elderly Ishtari smiled, and nodded softly, extending his hands towards Kalar to welcome and invite him into the Temple of the Ethereal Council. Kalar quickly accepted the gesture, and followed the Ethereal into the impressive building, staying to his right and two steps behind as the formal protocol demanded.

“Now, what have you found in the archives? You sounded quite agitated in your message, Kalar. I take it your investigation returned something interesting?”

Kalar followed Meris down a massive hall, with tall and thick columns lining their path. The two Ishtaris’ steps softly echoed from the polished stone floor and the huge empty space. Gradually, the crystals at the top of the hall light up one by one, filtering the sunlight from outside the building into the hall in gleaming columns.

Kalar always felt a bit uneasy when visiting the Ethereal Council. The Temple of the Council was ancient; it was one of the oldest buildings in Ishtar’Rol, and it was the cornerstone of their people’s government. It was here, that the Elders tended to matters of global and interstellar scope, and discussed Ishtar’Va – the Greater Good, the founding principles of Ishtari society. Still, Kalar always felt as if he did not belong in here. He almost felt lost, like a living anachronism, a visitor in a museum. He supported the Ethereal Council and Ishtar’Va with heart and soul, and yet he could not shake a slight feeling of uneasiness inside these massive halls.

“Yes, Aun’El Meris, indeed it has. I found records describing similar events in the past, starting 380 cycles ago. All incidents occurred exactly 20 cycles apart. The number of victims…”

Kalar took a deep breath. If his discovery was right, his whole species was in grave danger. Still, he did not want to talk openly about this and start a panic. His pleading gaze met the Ethereal’s, and Meris simply nodded.

“Very well, Kalar. I think we should rather continue this conversation in my office.”

The Air caste nodded as well, and silently followed the Ethereal into his spacious office, which was already bathed in the warm morning light when they entered. Waiting in front of the Councilman’s desk until the Elder was seated, the young Ishtari then continued.

“Aun’El, there is a pattern to those deaths! The numbers precisely follow a mathematical function. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 5, 13, 29, 61. If my suspicions are correct, then the attack in less than a quarter of a cycle will kill 125. The one after that, 13. Then over 65 thousand. And then… all of us.”

Meris stared at Kalar with eyes wide open, his wrinkled, pale blue skin seeming to grow even paler.

“What do you mean, ‘all of us’?”

“The following number is thousands of orders of magnitude larger than our whole population. It is a number with over 19 thousand digits. At first, it seemed as if the victim count was linear, or even randomly distributed. But now… it is practically impossible that a random distribution would perfectly match this particular sequence.”

The Councilman leaned back, closing his eyes, and raising his hands to rub his temples near the acoustic channels of his head.

“You… Do you think we are under attack? And who else knows about this?”

The Kor’Vre hesitated a moment, and swallowed, before answering.

“I cannot tell if we are under attack. I could not find any definitive conclusions towards any potential aggressor. The exact source of the deaths is still a mystery to me. As of our conversation, there are only three individuals knowing of this. You, me, and… Por’El Ta’Uri Loruk.”

The elder Ishtari’s eyes flew open.

“The Exile! What does he have to do with it?!”

“It were his records that provided the decisive information to put some of the puzzle pieces together. Aun’El, Loruk might still be alive. His banishment was only 107 cycles ago. He took most of his records with him into exile. If I could find them, they might contain more important inform…”

Meris harshly cut Kalar off. The young Air caste was completely taken aback by the Ethereal’s sudden outburst. It was the first time that he saw his acquaintance so angered. Until this moment, Kalar had always thought of Aun’El Meris as an unshakeable bastion of calm.

“No! I will never allow the traitor to return! He was exiled for hideous crimes against our people, and he shall never again set foot upon the sacred ground of Ishtar! Even if he should still live, he will stay banished.”

Gathering all his courage, Kalar stepped closer to Meris’ desk, and raised his voice against the Councilman’s outburst.

“Aun’El, please listen to me! I know about Loruk’s crimes. Still his records might contain valuable data, which could help us uncover the source of all these deaths. Please, I implore you! For the sake of our people, let me search for him!”

The Ethereal opened his mouth for a retort, but then decided against it and sank back into his chair. It was obvious that Kalar’s words were working in the Elder’s mind, making him silently argue with himself. Eventually, after some long, daunting, silent moments, Meris rose from his seat.

“Very well, Kor’Vre. I shall grant you permission to search for the Exile. However, I stand by my word. Under threat of punishment, you are explicitly forbidden to return Loruk to Ishtari space, should he even still be alive. Return only his records, or personal belongings you deem necessary. Since this is a matter of highest urgency, you will take an Amathia class corvette for your travels.”

Meris stepped out from behind his desk, and walked into arm’s reach of Kalar. Putting his hands on the Air caste’s shoulders, the Elder looked Kalar right in his face. The sorrow, and worries, cut deep wrinkles into the Aun’El’s face as he continued.

“While you are away, I will consult with the other Aun’El, and I will also inform the Aun’O. If your suspicions turn out to be correct – and I hope by Ishtar’Va that they are not – then we must take swift measures to prevent further attacks from occurring. I hope you find the information you seek, and I hope it will help us avoid the worst. Make haste, Kor’Vre. Ishtar’Va’Atol.”

After giving the younger Ishtari’s shoulders one last weak squeeze, the Councilman pulled back his arms and returned to his desk. Using his neural implant, he willed the holographic computer interface covering the whole furniture into existence, and began recording and organizing the information Kalar had provided.

Kalar nodded, and silently left the Ethereal’s office. With determination in his gait, he returned on the path they had come, passing through the massive hall again. While walking, he used his own neuronal interface to compile all the information he had found into another message for Aun’El Meris. After finishing his current task, he called an autonomous shuttle to take him back to his quarters.

As he waited for the transport to arrive, Kalar looked over Ishtar’Rol once again. It was a beautiful city, a powerful city. The capitol encompassed all five castes, and was a monument to the Ishtari people. It was a cultural, scientific, social, and economical center unlike any other on Ishtar, unlike any other in the whole Ishtari space. The mere thought of everything before his eyes being destroyed, drove an icy cold shiver down his spine. He swore to himself that he would never allow that to happen. He would do anything in his power to find out who – or what – was behind these attacks, and how to stop them.

~~~

It was early afternoon the following day, when Kalar stepped through the airlock into the Starcatcher. Following Aun’El Meris’s orders, the Fire caste had provided him an Amathia class corvette. It was small, sleek, and amongst the fastest ships in the Ishtari fleet. It was designed as a fast recon vessel, and equipped with enough sensor and defensive capacities to be more than a match for the mission at hand. As he took his first step, a melodic female voice welcomed him.

“Welcome aboard, Kor’Vre Kalar. I am Voa’Siris, the Starcatcher’s virtual operation assistant. Please link your neuronal interface to the Starcatcher to maximize operation efficiency.”

With an excited smile, the Air caste issued the mental commands to his implant, and in a moment’s notice, his thoughts were flooded with a host of information about the ship’s systems, capabilities, payload, equipment, and available tactical options. Much of it was familiar to him; after all, he had flown all kinds of ships before due to his caste and career.

However, since he had never flown a Fire caste ship before, the military systems were both intriguing and frightening at the same time. The thought that he could bring the Starcatcher’s weapons to bear against anything he wanted with a single mental note, made him hesitate for a moment. He was a pilot, a navigator, a messenger, a courier. He was not a warrior, nor did he ever want to be one. He had not been born for it – literally. Sternly, he pushed all his thoughts, and the uplink’s data, about the ship’s weapon systems aside, reminding himself that was searching for information, not conflict.

Making his way to the command bridge, Kalar brought up all available information about the path Loruk had taken with his small shuttle when being banished from Ishtari space. The data was strange. Back then, sensor probes had recorded the shuttle’s traces into a “close” sector in another spiral arm of the galaxy, but then the trace suddenly stopped. It was as if the Exile’s small craft had suddenly vanished. Kalar only hoped, that there actually was anything left for him to find, and that Loruk had not decided to fly right into a star.

“Voa’Siris, release docking clamps, and bring us out of the space dock. Maneuvering speed only. Once we are clear, engage gravitational drive to the edge of the system. Course 150° galactic longitude, 45° galactic latitude. Activate star drive at maximum power as soon as we leave the system.”

Kalar entered the bridge, and sat down in the command chair, watching the Starcatcher’s AI follow his orders. He watched the red glow of his home system’s star disappear out of the screen, as the corvette quickly left the space dock orbiting Ishtar behind, and passed the other planets and stations in the system.

Once they had entered open space beyond the reaches of the system, Kalar closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensation of the ship’s star drive powering up. A deep, powerful humming echoed softly throughout the ship, growing deeper and more powerful as the spatial distortion engine built up its power, and then released it all at once, in a barely audible scream. The young Ishtari’s pulse went faster as the drive finally discharged, sending a shockwave through the ship as it distorted space time around them, and propelled the Starcatcher through the darkness of space with brutal force.

Kalar had spent most of his 23 cycles in space as a pilot, only touching ground when necessary. He was at home in small courier craft, just as well as in massive super freighters. The cooling liquid in his vessels’ antimatter reactors was like his own blood, and the sound of their gravitational and star drives was like the rhythm of his own hearts. He opened his eyes, watching the screen, enjoying the beauty of stars racing by.

Looking at the astrometric display, a soft sigh escaped his thin lips. It would take him a little over 34 days to reach the sector of Loruk’s last reported position. It seemed he had a lot of time at hand to study the data that he had managed to uncover from the archives. He would try to figure out if he could have possibly missed an important clue...

 

[FeistyLilOne]

https://ionegiantmag.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/dollicia-bryan.jpg?w=420

"Whoooo," Gabrielle, or Gabi as she liked to be called, screamed as she poured 10 shots along the bar. As soon as she finished pouring liquor into a glass a hand reached out grabbed the shot, tossed it back, and slammed it back on the bar upside down before grabbing the next one. As soon as all 10 shots were down the whole bar exploded with yells and cries of outstanding and joy. Gabi looked at the man with the loosened tie and shook her head.

"Dude, you're going to feel that in 3 minutes."

"Like I told you honey," The man slurred slightly. "I can drink anyone under the table."

"And like I told you," Gabi said. "That was my special 'Oh No' shots."

"Oh no?" Inquired the guy's friend who slapped his friend on the back who was starting to look pale.

"Cuz after you drink 1 you're like 'Oh, No'!"

"Oh no!" Cried the man who had just did 10 shots.

"Is he gonna throw up," the friend asked looking very concerned at his buddy.

"Naw, but he probably feels like he's on Star Trek or something. Ever been really high? Yeah, you're buddy's there, now! That's $100."

"What?!"

"I told you're friend they were $10 a shot. And he promised me a good tip too."

The guy reached into his friends pocket and pulled out 7 $20's. Gabi took it and winked thanking the man before going back to the bar. She was going to keep an eye on the guy she just purposely got hammered. He was dancing to the music his body moving way too fast and jerky for the song. She laughed as his body tried to follow his commands.

It was 3am and last call. Gabi was slowly cleaning up, watering down the last drinks, or not putting any alcohol at all in the drinks of people who were wasted. She made sure everyone had a ride or a cab so her bar wouldn't get in trouble or herself for that matter.

After everyone had left Gabi counted her tips and went to her manager, Chris, and waited. Bar None, yup that's the name of the bar she worked, paid their bartenders nightly. Gabi had a nagging feeling that some of the bartenders weren't on the books, but she was and as long as everything stayed on the up and up for her she was happy.

"Bye Paul, Jon, Sara. See you guys on Friday."

"How do you survive only working Friday and Saturday," Sara called to her.

Gabi pulled out a wad of cash and flipped it like a fan. She did well with her tips and she was sure the others didn't know that she was paid $12/hour. She did some of the books for Chris. Everything she saw said the bar was legitimate, but there was some books that Chris wouldn't even let her look at. Gabi didn't ask questions though. So with the decent pay and the tips if Gabi didn't go on a shopping spree she lived decently enough.

Gabi turned and walked out the door putting the money in her purse and hunched her shoulders as she walked against the wind. A hand on her shoulder and Gabi grabbed it, twisted it, jutted her hip out, and flipped the guy over her shoulder.

"Holy shit, Gabi! Ouch!"

"Jon. What are you doing?"

"I was going to walk you home. It's late and what if you got attacked. I called out to you, but you didn't seem to hear me. BUT damn girl. I don't think you need protecting."

Gabi laughed. "You didn't know my mother."

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm good." She helped him up. "You don't have to walk me home."

"But .. I want to." Jon rubbed the back of his head and Gabi shrugged and they walked in compatible silence. When they got to her building Jon looked like he wanted to say something to Gabi so she invited him inside. He looked around her apartment and Gabi put on coffee and hung her jacket on the sofa edge.

"You know. When I first saw you I thought you were a hipster. What with the zip drive necklace and all."

"It was my father's." At Jon's silent questions Gabi went on to explain. "My father left my mother when I was baby. She said that he kept saying they were coming and he had to leave to keep us safe. At first my mother thought it was a load of shit, but when she went looking for him for child support there was no records of my father at all. Like he was never born or lived. No records at all. She thought he was an outlaw or something so we went on the run. Sometimes she would get strange letters with weird scrawlings or notes. Then one day when I was 16 she got a message that said, 'We have little time left,' and this was in the envelope. I've put it in a computer and even had some of the smartest hackers I know look at it. They say it's garbage. Nothing. So I turned it into a necklace."

"Wow. Sorry about your father." Gabi shrugged. "So about the ninja thing out on the street...?"

"Well when my mother thought we were being followed she put me in all sorts of self defense classes and karate. I even took boxing for a few years. From 5th grade to 8th grade she had me at a military boarding school. Something about the military teaching me survival skills or something. I got lucky that when I started highschool she let me come home and I kinda had a normal life. It's kinda hard when your mom is paranoid about everyone and everything."

Jon nodded. "Uh, my life was pretty normal compared to yours." Gabi laughed and handed him a cup of coffee. She motioned to the table where she had cream and sugar. She sipped her own already having made it like she like. "I'm just a simple man who liked a girl who might be further out of my league than I thought." Jon actually looked sad.

Gabi sat there with a puzzled look on her face. She thought he liked her, but why did he think she was out of his league? She voiced the question.

"You're so pretty and everyone loves you. You get the best tips."

"I'm charismatic and I have boobs. I work at a bar where guys have beer goggles. Of course I'm going to get decent tips. But if you want to ask me out you shouldn't worry about if I'm too pretty or not."

Gabi waited and Jon seemed at a loss for words. Gabi shook her head with a small smile and yawned. "I'm tired Jon. If you don't have anything else to ask me I'll see you at work."

Jon got up looking flustered and nodded his head. He put his cup down on her table and went to her door. "Yeah, okay Gabi. I'll see you at work. Bye." Then he left. Gabi gave a small giggle to herself and went to the door locking it. She looked out the peephole and saw Jon shaking his head and slapping himself in the head. He looked at her door as though he was going to knock, but he walked away.

Gabi walked away from her door and went to her couch and sat down. She looked at her necklace staring at the drive. She just needed to unwind after a hectic, chaotic night at the bar. She looked at the urn that was on her mantle. "Hey, mom. I think he's a nice guy. He's what I imagine dad would like. Strong, good morals, always doing what's right. The kind of guy any father would want for his daughter, right?"

Gabi stared at the urn. Yeah right, who was she kidding. Her father was a low life who ran out on her and her mom and yet ... for some reason Gabi had this stupid thought that her father was a good man. Then again her mother never bad mouthed her father even when they had to move, because her mother just knew they were being followed. She never cursed her father for putting them in this predicament. Gabi wanted to hate her father, but her mother's love for her father was so strong that even Gabi found herself loving the man she never met.

 

[Baelnorn]

Fifteen days into his journey, Kalar had already gone through the records a dozen times. It seemed a fruitless task, and even throwing Voa’Siris at it with a self-evaluating and self-configuring algorithm yielded no additional information. The young Ishtari grew more anxious and frustrated by the hour, as he felt as if something incredibly important was missing from the picture, yet lingering just beyond his reach.

The Air caste stood from the command chair, stretching his thin build to recover a little from the seemingly endless hours of sitting. He turned to leave the bridge, moving into the captain’s quarters to get a refreshment. Ordering a few capsules of water from the dispenser, Kalar swallowed two whole, and chewed on the third one, bursting it in his mouth. Feeling the cool liquid against his flesh, Kalar let out a tentative, relaxed breath, and swallowed the water.

“Voa’Siris, any new data regarding the possible location of Loruk’s shuttle?”

“Negative, Kor’Vre. All currently available data indicates last position of Por’El Loruk’s vessel at unknown coordinates in galactic sector Q2-T25.0-L60.0-C5.”

Kalar let out a sigh. It was of absolutely no use; he needed to get closer to his destination before he would get any more accurate sensor data. No matter how often he requested updates, the sensor probes would not get any more accurate at the distances at which they had to operate. Pressing his lips together, he resigned to the thought of having to spend almost 20 more days without anything practical to do.

Resigning to his fate, he returned to the bridge, and sat in the command chair. He activated the main screen, finding a little solace in the sight of nebulas, stars, and galactic clouds slowly passing by, as the Starcatcher raced across the galaxy. Perhaps he would later turn off the gravity grid in the cargo bay, and simply drift weightlessly. It has been far too long since he had last felt the absence of gravity pulling him to the ground.

~~~

On the 29th day, Kalar was again drifting around in the cargo bay. It had turned out that switching off the gravity grid inside the bay, and giving himself to zero-G, helped him keep his sanity in the face of the boredom of his journey. While he was used to flying long-range missions, he hated being helpless and sentenced to inaction. To distract himself until the moment he could actually do something, he had started a training program in the cargo bay, testing his reflexes and sense of orientation in weightlessness. The Air caste was quite happy to find out that the long time he had to spend on the ground had not diluted his senses.

Kalar was just about to finish his exercise, when suddenly Voa’Siris called out to him.

“Kor’Vre, new information available on the position Por’El Loruk’s vessel. Sensors detected weak traces of subspace anomalies, which match the recorded configuration of Por’El Loruk’s shuttle. Last position can be calculated more accurately due to new data. Do you want to adjust course?”

“Yes, of course I want to! Estimated remaining travel time based on new destination?”

“Four days, and 13 hours.”

Kalar breathed a sigh of relief. The time he had spent on this ship already felt like cycles to him. It was about time, he got closer to his goal. A rush of energy and motivation instantly returned to his mind, and he was eager again to prove his worth. He twisted his body around before turning the gravity grid back on.

“Voa’Siris, restore gravity in the cargo bay to normal levels.”

The ship’s systems responded instantly, and the young Ishtari again felt the pull of gravity on his body, pulling him swiftly and mercilessly towards the ground. He had readied himself for the fall, and with an effortless, graceful motion, returned to his feet, hurrying towards the bridge to inspect the new data personally.

~~~

“Analyze the signal!”

Kalar sat in the command chair, staring at the sensors display. He had almost reached his destination. The closer he had gotten to the updated position, the more accurate the target coordinates became. It seemed as if Loruk had sought refuge in a system orbiting around a G-type main-sequence yellow dwarf star. And now, they were picking up primitive electromagnetic signals from that system, mere hours before he would arrive there.

“Analysis completed. Signal classified as communication attempt. Structure and composition indicate intelligent, non-Ishtari, origin. More samples required for translation.”

The Air caste could not turn his gaze away from the screen, closely following the progress of Voa’Siris’s analysis as more signals were picked up by the Starcatcher’s sensors. He was torn between excitement, and reluctance. Finding another sentient and sapient species was usually exciting, and Kalar would have celebrated the day in other circumstances. But it was different this time.

If Loruk did indeed hide on a world with other intelligent life, it would complicate his mission. What, if the other species was technologically advanced enough to pose a threat to his ship? What, if they were hostile, and would try to attack him? He considered the sophistication of the signal and the distance from its origin, concluding that this species had started sending their first transmissions into space about 100 cycles ago. Considering his people's history with other sentient lifeforms, Kalar chose to be carefully optimistic, even though he had never had the initial contact with another species before.

However, the more signals they picked up, the more anxious Kalar became. This species had made impressive jumps in the quality of their signals. Eventually, Voa’Siris had captured enough information to be able to translate the messages, and Kalar’s hearts sank in his chest. At the first sign of an unknown intelligent species, he had been optimistic, but now he wished, he had never received any transmission from them.

Humankind, as the race called itself, was a volatile and violent species. The messages he read were horrible, and terrified him. Slavery, wars, environmental destruction, greed, corruption… instead of helping each other achieve greatness, this race seemed preoccupied with tearing each other’s throats out. Their technological advancements were impressive, but also depressive, and their social structures were unstable and prone to collapse and abuse. Apparently they focused most of their resources on military development, and from one particular message, he concluded that they had even used nuclear fission weapons in at least one of their wars.

The Starcatcher automatically disengaged its star drive as it crossed from interstellar space into the solar system. Almost instantly, a sensor warning appeared on the screen, showing detailed data about clear indications for an antimatter containment breach on the humans’ world, which the natives called “Earth.” The young Ishtari pressed his lips together. These sensor readings explained why Loruk’s track ended in this sector. Not because he had not wanted to leave, but because he could not leave any more. Letting out a breath of frustration, Kalar steeled his resolve, and decided to find a way to deal with this utterly unexpected situation.

“Voa’Siris, bring us into a remote orbit around the system’s star. Use the asteroid belt between the fourth and fifth planet as cover. Perform a high-energy scan of the third planet’s surface. Search for signs of Ishtari biology and technology. Also, copy all available data from the humans’ computer network, and run an ethnological analysis on it. Search for signs of contact with Loruk, or other Ishtari influence. Last, give me a tactical analysis of the natives’ military.”

“Affirmative, Kor’Vre. Initiating high-energy surface scan. Estimated time to completion: 4 hours.”

Leaning back in the command chair, keeping an eye on the displays in front of him and watching the data coming in, Kalar realized that this mission was turning more complicated than he would have ever imagined. He would have never expected to run into an unknown intelligent species. However, he did not really know what he actually had expected. Had he really thought to find Loruk just sitting in a cave on a barren world, waiting to be picked up? The young Ishtari had the uncertain feeling that this journey would not go as smoothly as he had imagined.

 

[FeistyLilOne]

Gabi was out late. She was hungry and not wanting to cook she was going to the local mom and pop place affectionately called Pop's. The door chimed as she walked through the door and Mom, as the female owner liked to be called, called out to her. "Gabi, darling. It's been so long and you look so skinny. Come sit. You need to eat."

"Aw, mom," Gabi said hugging her. "I'm getting a little fat around the middle."

Mom huffed as Gabi laughed and took her usual seat at the bar. Mom placed a glass of hot tea and some sugar already knowing what Gabi was going to order. "Where's Pops," Gabi asked as she looked around. There was a ding from the pick up window and Gabi waved to pop's who was in the back cooking."Oh."

Mom smiled and left to go wait on the other customers. Gabi smiled and sat back imagining that this was her life instead of the chaotic one she grew up in. A paranoid mother and a dead beat conspiracy theorist father. Gabi placed her elbow on the table top and put her head in her palm as she watched the normalcy of the evening around her.

It started to get busy and Pop's had 3 orders at the window while Mom was taking orders at a table. Gabi looked at her phone it was only 11p and Sara should be here to help out along with Janet. Gabi looked over and Janet was just as busy as Mom, but Sara wasn't anywhere to be found. Gabi got up and walked around the counter. She looked at the tickets and then the food and after a quick count started serving the food. Gabi had waitressed a few times for Mom and Pops, so she smoothly continued on and the service started to run a bit better.

4 hours later and Mom hugged her and kissed her cheek as she walked by in gratitude. "Sara is out sick. I thought we could handle a tuestday night with just the two of us, but apparently there's a concert down town and people are milling in for food. I'm not complaining though. Thank you for your help. Here..." Mom as usual tried to pay Gabi for her service. Gabi put her hands in the air shaking her head.

"A free meal and we'll call it even."

"A free meal isn't worth 4 hours of work."

"Okay, a free meal and I kept my tips." Gabi laughed and walked around Mom making sure the money stayed away from her. Pops had already put her meal in a to-go bag.

"You didn't take the money." Pops said more as a statement then a question.

Gabi shook her head. "This is payment enough. As always." Gabi opened the bag and sniffed the delicious food. Her mouth watered and she was tempted to eat it all there now. She closed the bag, waved and stepped out of the door hurrying home. She was hungry before, but now she was famished.

Entering her apartment Gabi looked at her mom and raised the bag of food up to her in greeting. "Hey, mom. I went to Pop's and they were busy so I helped out. I got free food and tips." Gabi plopped down on her couch and pulled out a fry eating it. She moaned her appreciation at the taste. Gabi stared at the urn as she ate and thought.

"Mom, I think I know why you fell for a conspiracy theorist like dad." Gabi swallowed the last of her cheeseburger and took a swig of her drink. "Because he was exciting. I'm so bored and don't want to go to sleep and yet I don't want to go out to a bar or club. I wish you were alive so we could talk. I miss you so much. Even if you were a little crazy."

Gabi laughed. Yup, that was her mother alright. Funny, thing was her mother used to say that all the time. 'Humor me Gabrielle, I'm a little crazy' or 'just do what the crazy lady says,' or Gabi's favorite 'Gabrielle I'm crazy. Crazy in love with you.'

 

[Baelnorn]

Kalar carefully studied the provisional ethnological report generated by Voa’Siris after downloading all available content from the humans’ networks. Blinking at the data, he mused that his initial judgment might have been too harsh.

Apparently, there was good in humankind; the only problem was that it seemed to be the minority. The majority of humans, however, seemed either utterly indifferent towards the host of issues plaguing their world, only focused on their own survival and wellbeing, or were aware but chose not to engage the sources of Earth’s problems. Small groups and select individuals did try to spearhead various campaigns to end some of the problems, especially environmental destruction and lack of certain medical treatments, but they were little more than a drop in a lake.

The young Ishtari was confused for a moment, when he noticed the shape of data transmissions performed by humans, and the massive interest in various forms of sexuality. It piqued his curiosity for a moment to see that compared to the other forms of data depictions of human sexuality seemed to enjoy a disproportionate amount of attention on the “web.” He wondered for a second if this emphasized interest in sexuality was a latent sign of the race’s underdeveloped social structures, or rather a result of the relatively young evolutionary stage humankind was found in.

Kalar shrugged his shoulders, and dismissed the report. The topics of human society and development would be questions for Water caste scholars to figure out, and he had to focus on things that were infinitely more pressing right now. A short glimpse at the main screen told him that the surface scan would still take over an hour to finish, so he decided to study Voa’Siris’s preliminary tactical analysis.

The Air caste let out a sigh after completing his lecture. Human weaponry was more advanced than what the general state of the race would have indicated. The conventional weapons were no threat to the Starcatcher; even high-powered shells and warheads would not be able to penetrate the corvette’s Neutronium hull, let alone its shield matrix. The nuclear arsenal, however, posed a real danger. Any detonation with more than approximately 250-kiloton yield would likely breach the shields, and likely destroy the ship as well. Additionally, the experimental linear accelerators developed by one of the larger nations on Earth could penetrate the Starcatcher’s hull if its shields were down.

Realizing that humankind could indeed put up a very real and dangerous fight, Kalar realized he would need to stay out of the race’s sight. He needed to avoid confrontation at any cost – for his own sake as well as for the humans’ sake. Considering the data presented, he had no doubts that the Starcatcher could easily dispatch most threats humankind could muster against it, especially since the chemical engines used by human missiles were quite primitive and slow. Still, he did not want to take any chances, or engage in needless violence. His mind was busy formulating a plan how to conduct his investigations on Earth without confronting humankind, when suddenly Voa’Siris signaled a positive search result.

“Kor’Vre, scan surface found partial presence of Ishtari genetic instructions. Current scan progress 68%.”

Kalar almost jumped up from his chair hearing the news, but then stopped dead in his tracks when the meaning of Voa’Siris’s words became clearer.

“Partial presence? Specify scan result.”

“Sensors found single female specimen with mixed genetic instruction set. Distribution of genes indicates most likely descent from human mother and Ishtari father.”

Kalar stared at the screen dumbfounded. Ishtari science knew of seven other intelligent races they had encountered during thousands of cycles of spacefaring. But never before had there been any sort of… he was unsure how to call it. Hybrid? It has been accepted fact that Ishtari genes were incompatible with other species, even if there was any physical compatibility to begin with.

Kalar was quite seriously irritated. This discovery was both exceptional, and terrible. He had not only found a previously unknown intelligent species, but this species was also genetically compatible with Ishtari. However, the existence of this hybrid meant that Loruk had mated with one of the native females. Which in turn meant that at least one human knows about the existence of the Ishtari. Unless he could find either Loruk, or his mate, or both, it was impossible to determine what sort of knowledge the Exile had shared with humankind.

“Voa’Siris, continue surface scan, but give me a detailed report of the hybrid specimen.”

The main screen started to fill with information about this unique individual. Working with the data retrieved from the human Internet, Kalar soon knew where this woman lived, where she went to work and what career she pursued, her family history… He blinked curiously at the screen. Apparently, she had never had contact with her biological father, and her mother died not too long ago. Her childhood seemed to have been dominated by being on the run from some imaginary conspiracy. Was it possible that she actually knew nothing about her heritage at all? Kalar was pondering his options.

Ishtar’Va, the “Greater Good” and philosophical founding principle of Ishtari society, dictates that all actions must be taken with the goal of furthering advancement and progress of Ishtari society as a whole. All actions must strive for maximum benefit for the highest possible amount of recipients, or – if that is not reasonably achievable – at the very least ensure minimum harm for the lowest possible number of affected. The altruistic doctrine of Ishtar’Va expects personal sacrifices, but also values them and holds them in the highest regards.

How could he not take her back to Ishtar? The surface scan was still running, but a nagging feeling crept into Kalar’s thoughts that he would not find Loruk on this world alive. If that was true, then Loruk’s… daughter… was his only chance to find out anything about the whereabouts of the Exile’s records. This hybrid could be the only trace available to him to find out more about the attacks on his people.

The young Ishtari let out a resigned sigh. Kalar realized that he would most likely have to take her by force. He could not risk exposing himself to her on Earth, and the possibility of her coming with him on a voluntary base was infinitesimally small. Any days spent lingering in this system was endangering more of his kind, and he would need to act soon. He decided to wait until the surface scan was complete, but he already prepared himself to follow the demands of Ishtar’Va, even though he would hate himself for having to tear this most likely innocent woman away from her world.

 

[FeistyLilOne]

Gabi got off work and as usual collected her pay and started to walk home. It was a decent night. Not too cold. She had on a light jacket anyways and the wind blew her hair covering her eyes. She stopped walking and was busy trying to get her hair under control.

"Yo, Gabi. It's me Jon. Don't attack me."

Gabi laughed. "Gonna walk me home, drink my coffee, and not ask me out again." She turned just in time to see Jon turn away in embarrassment.

"Yeah..." Jon looked like he was struggling.

"You wanna see my favorite place in the whole city?"

Jon immediately looked relieved and brightened up. "Yeah."

Gabi began walking at a city dweller's pace; meaning she was walking fast with long strides. They walked in comfortable silence again. Gabi stopped abruptly and opened the door for Jon. Jon looked at the building with confusion, but walked in. Gabi grabbed Jon's arm and lead him towards the elevator barely glancing at the security guards.

"Gabi. What are we doing at the Branch Towers?" Jon asked once they were safely inside the elevator.

"I come here often enough that the guard's recognize me, but usually if you act like you belong they don't say anything. It's all about attitude."

"Okay, but that didn't answer my question."

Gabi smiled. The elevator dinged. They got off on the 24th floor and Gabi lead him to the left to the stairwell. They walked up 3 more flights. At the roof Jon tried to push down on the handle, but it was locked.

"Locked." He said.

Gabi laughed. "Of course it is. Wouldn't be a good business if they left the roof unlocked. This is the highest building in the city. I'm sure they're afraid of jumpers. Oh, and there's a camera over our shoulders." Gabi bent down and picked the lock. She opened the door and let Jon in or out if you think of it. She placed a big rock at the door so it wouldn't lock them out.

"This is my favorite spot in the world. You can see the stars from up here, because the city lights are down there. Jon, look at the stars." Jon expected Gabi to name the constellations, but Gabi got this far away look in her eyes. "That tiny, but bright star is the Nebulon. A home to a race of really smart, but really manipulative people. Over there the Ring named after the 4 suns that make a ring around their home world. And..."

"What?!" Jon interrupted.

Gabi couldn't tell him that she just knew these things. Like she didn't know how she knew. It was like she didn't even know til she saw it and then she knew. It was like she had all the answers, but none of the questions. It wasn't until the questions were asked that she knew the answers. But how did she know this. She didn't know. Hell, it was confusing herself. "Active imagination. Come on make up a story with me."

 

[Baelnorn]

Kalar stood in the captain’s quarters, donning the stealth suit with a resigned look on his face. He already felt terrible for what he was about to do, but he had no other choice. The surface scan had confirmed his worst expectations; Loruk was dead, and there were only fragments of Ishtari technology scattered across the world. It seemed that after the Exile’s death, someone had taken care to “clean up” after him. His body had apparently been incinerated, and any remaining parts of the non-human technology he had brought with him to Earth had been destroyed as well.

This news had devastated Kalar. With all Ishtari technology destroyed, Loruk’s records were also gone. So many lives hinged on those records, that the mere thought of having lost all their data almost brought tears to the young pilot’s eyes. Repeatedly he told himself that it was impossible they were all destroyed. There had to be a way to recover them, or to find a backup. There just had to. The Ishtari male refused to accept failure, and took a deep breath to calm himself. He would need to talk with the Exile’s daughter. By now, she was indeed his only trace left.

Kalar had tracked the female hybrid with the corvette’s sensors, while he struggled to formulate a plan. He knew it was impossible to get any closer to Earth with the Starcatcher, as human observatories and sensors would be able to pick up his position. A stray thought made him curiously wonder whether human scientists had picked up the energy spike when he disengaged the star drive, but he quickly focused his attention on the mission again. He would need to take the Starcatcher’s shuttle, a small Auriga class craft called Firespark, and move swiftly and stealthily.

“Voa’Siris, prepare the Firespark. Run pre-launch diagnostic and initialization sequence.”

“Affirmative, Kor’Vre.”

The pitch-black synthetic material tightly hugged Kalar’s lithe body. The suit’s fabric absorbed over 99.99% of all visible light, making the Ishtari appear completely two-dimensional as it removed any curves and sense of depth from his shape. Thin energy conduits ran along the length of the suit’s back, arms, and legs. Kalar picked up a small matte black package; the suit’s shroud generator. He attached it to the front of the suit, and connected the conduits. When activated, the generator would create a weak spatial distortion field, and propagate it through the conduits. This field would warp light and other radiation around the contour of the suit, making it almost completely undetectable.

“Kor’Vre, pre-launch sequence completed. All systems operational. Firespark ready for departure.”

Kalar watched the large screen in his quarters, as it kept showing him the location and surroundings of the human woman. She was in another human’s company, a young male, and they had ascended to the top of a tower. The Ishtari wondered if this man was a relative, or a mate. It would not matter, he realized. His scan clearly indicated that she lived alone. It was only a matter of time until he had an opportunity to take her.

Take her. These two simply words sounded – and felt – so terribly wrong. If there were any other way of acquiring the information he needed, he would have gladly taken it. But the doctrine of Ishtar’Va was clear. He needed to focus on the maximum benefit for all involved parties. His own people needed the information this young human woman could provide. On the other hand, exposing himself to humankind as a whole would likely cause unrest and internal conflict – he had seen the damage Earth’s radical and xenophobic religions could cause. If they could not accept other human beings, how could they ever accept a non-human being? Abducting the woman was really the best possible option for his people, her people, and herself as well.

Kalar boarded the Firespark, the shuttle’s and the small hangar’s airlocks closing automatically. With a simple verbal command, he ordered Voa’Siris to depressurize the hangar and open the outer gates. Sitting in his chair in the shuttle’s cockpit, he waited for the right moment. He had routed Starcatcher’s sensor data to the shuttle’s main screen, and kept watching his target.

~~~

Finally, after hours of waiting, the moment had come. With routine and ease, Kalar dropped the shuttle out of the hangar, and engaged its gravitational drive. Running the reactor and engine at full power, Kalar navigated the shuttle at maximum velocity through the asteroid belt between the Starcatcher and Earth. Speeding through the void at one-quarter light speed, the Firespark entered a low orbit only half an hour later. Slowing down and aligning the shuttle, Kalar steered it right into Earth’s atmosphere, making a direct run for his target’s location. He knew that this maneuver would give his presence away, but waiting longer, or taking a slower approach would simply make it a matter of time until he was discovered. Time he did not have.

The Firespark fell through the air at ten times the speed of sound, only slowing to subsonic velocity as it approached its destination. Kalar activated the neural uplink from his implant to the shuttle, allowing him to control it remotely with his thoughts. He rose from the command chair, and on his way to the airlock he hesitated a moment. Reluctantly, he opened the weapons locker and grabbed a sidearm. It was a small, handheld energy weapon, capable of lethal and non-lethal discharges. Kalar attached the weapon to the stealth suit’s harness, hoping he would not need it, and then activated the shroud generator. A shimmer similar to hot air crossed over his form, and then he vanished from sight, only given away by the slight distortion around his body’s contour.

The young Ishtari opened the airlock, taking in the first breath of this world’s atmosphere. He instantly felt the higher oxygen levels, and let out a few surprised coughs. He had not expected it to be this unpleasant. The shuttle silently hovered in the cold night, half a meter above the ground, as if nailed into the air. Kalar hopped down, and mentally ordered the shuttle to hide itself. The airlock closed, and the shuttle took off, silently disappearing over the top of the strange plants surrounding the alien pilot. There was a large body of water nearby, and the Firespark would simply submerge itself there, sinking to the bottom and thus hiding from any curious humans. While no perfectly hidden location, it was good enough to deter any inquisitive individuals long enough for Kalar to finish his mission.

Apparently, he was in some sort of park or natural preserve. Exotic, towering plants surrounded him on all sides, and below his feet, there was some growth with small, vertical blade-like leaves, which was obviously tended to by humans. His natural curiosity started to show, and he would have loved to take samples, or simply touch all the strange vegetation around him. Alas, he could not afford the distraction. Forcing his thoughts on the mission, he fell into a swift jog, and headed towards the young woman’s place of living. Kalar knew that he did not have much time until this area would be swarming with this world’s military. He was sure that his entry had already been noticed; he just waged the bet that he was faster than humankind’s soldiers were.

Kalar conjured a map of his surroundings, using his implant to overlay the map with his vision. After taking a moment to read the map, he quickly left the park, and followed a larger, paved road. He saw a few humans walking through the night, but apparently, his stealth suit was working well enough. None of them seemed to notice him as he hurried past them like a ghostly whisper in the dark. A few minutes later, he passed around a corner and could finally see his destination; the building where the young woman named Gabrielle lived.

 

[FeistyLilOne]

Gabi was put out by Jon. He didn't want to join in and she felt stupid and hurt. She had exposed herself not meaning to and he had rejected her. Jon could tell something had changed, but he wasn't sure what. He thought it was just all about the storytelling and being creative and didn't know it was more than that.

"You two are not allowed up here. Oh it's you. Come on. Before I get in trouble." Gabi turned to look at the guard. She smiled at him and he smiled back. He understood she liked looking at the stars and he had changed the locks 4 times and eventually he would find her up here or he would check the door and smell her perfume and know she had come. It was almost a game to him. See if he could keep her out and she would try to get in. So far she was winning.

Jon caught the inside look between the two and he arched an eyebrow in question, but didn't say anything. Gabi and Jon rode the elevator to the bottom floor and without a word they walked towards her apartment. Jon's hands were in his pockets while his head was down; Gabi was looking forward, but her eyes would look toward the sky every now and then. Suddenly she stopped and stiffened. For some reason she thought she saw something she recognized. She blinked not able to put word to mouth.

Jon looked up and caught the tail end of whatever had made Gabi stop. "Shooting star," he said.

Gabi nodded and smiled. "Yup was just making a wish. It's so odd to have seen..." she trailed off. They shouldn't have been able to see a shooting star. There was too much light. That's why they went to the top of the building. That was not a star, but Jon wouldn't believe her. What the hell? She couldn't wait to go home and jump on the net and ask the various forums she belonged to what the hell she had just witnessed and if anyone else had too.

They reached her apartment and Gabi turned to Jon not really wanting him to come up. She was going to say good bye, but his words interrupted her thoughts. "Gabi. What is going on with you? I saw that look between you and the guard. Am I wasting my time here?"

Gabi blinked. What the hell was he talking about? She stared at him until he slowly looked up at her and she realized he was angry. Very angry. He was ... jealous? Over what? How could he be? A car passed by and a slight shimmering light to her right caught the corner of her eye. Gabi started to turn toward the light, but Jon's hand on her arm turning her back to him was her full focus.

"Answer me, Gabi."

"Get your hands off me."

His hand tightened on her arm and Gabi turned into his stance, jutted out her hip, and flipped him over onto his back again. "Dammit GABI!" Jon got to his feet and stared at her with anger. Gabi bounced on the balls of her heels and waited. "I'm not gonna fight a woman."

"Good thing. You'll lose. I fought better men."

Jon's eyes widened and he shook his head and turned away. Gabi watched him leave and then turned toward where she saw the light before. She stared in that area for a long time trying to figure out what shimmered so brightly. A car passed by, but she didn't see anything out of the ordinary. She turned away just as a car passed and she thought she saw the bright light again, but when she turned to look at it there was nothing there. She sighed.

"You're a fighter not a lover Gabi. You push everyone away." She shook her head repeating the words of her last lover that had stayed with her. She took out her keys to unlock the lobby door.

 

[Baelnorn]

After carefully surveying the crossroads – and making sure his path was clear – Kalar swiftly approached the building. This late at night almost all of the windows were black, looming over him like lidless eyes, scrutinizing his every move. His destination was three flights up, and he made his way to the small alley next to the apartment house, while contemplating how to get inside and up there. He could easily force entry through the main door, but it was likely that this would not only set off some sort of alarm, but also increase his risk of stumbling into one of the other residents of the building.

Kalar made his way to the apartment house’s backside, searching for some sort of rear entrance, when he noticed a metal staircase above. The structure did not elicit much of the Ishtari’s trust into its stability, but it seemed to connect to every story of the building, and provide a relatively safe and easy way up. Kalar slowly approached the point where the crude staircase was attached to the outer wall. The lowest part of the stairs was folded up, and it was then when the young Ishtari realized that this was some sort of emergency exit, allowing the residents to evacuate the building in case the main entrance was blocked.

He considered his options for a moment. Earth was larger than Ishtar was, and had a higher gravitational pull. Kalar was already feeling the strain of being on this world, and the jog from the park had exhausted him more than he would have expected. This meant that jumping up without assistance was out of the question. Looking up, the Ishtari scanned for the lower stairs’ holding mechanism, and soon found a lever that would release a lock and allow the stairs to slide towards the ground. While he was thinking of a way to get into the building without drawing everyone’s attention, Voa’Siris notified him through his neural implant.

“Kor’Vre, human interceptor aircraft inbound on your location; estimated time of arrival: 13 minutes. Threat level: none. Analysis of human communication channels indicates that atmospheric entry of Firespark was detected, localized, and identified as a non-natural phenomenon. Local authorities have been alerted; estimated time of arrival at landing location: less than 6 minutes. Projected chance of direct contact with human military or law enforcement: 100%, unless immediate retreat is initiated.”

The young Ishtari froze in shock. Only six minutes before – most likely armed – humans were swarming the park and its surroundings, and 13 minutes before the sky would be filled with human aircraft. That was much less time than he had anticipated. It seemed he had greatly underestimated the human military’s capabilities, and now he was finally running out of time. He could abandon his mission, but then it would probably take days – or even weeks – before he could start another attempt. Alternatively, he could continue, and simply accept that his presence would be exposed to humankind.

He quickly decided he would not retreat. His mission was too important, and too time sensitive, to play hide-and-seek with the human military. He only needed to make it into the Firespark with his target, and then they would be gone from this planet before the humans could ever react.

Kalar drew a slow, deep breath, and released his sidearm. So much for a stealthy approach. He closed his eyes for a second, and implored Ishtar’Va to help him through the following moments. The gun had automatically connected with his uplink the moment it was removed from its holster, and caused a host of information to be superimposed over Kalar’s vision. Fire mode, remaining charge, weapon condition, distance of target, and a small marker indicating the exact direction and angle of aim were projected over the Ishtari’s field of view, as he aimed the weapon at the lever above. After taking a last look around to make sure he was alone, Kalar changed the fire mode to lethal, and release the shot - both with mental commands.

A bright blue-white lance of energy burst forth from the gun, and instantly vaporized the lever, the casing holding the lever, and parts of the mechanism to which the casing was attached. The discharge of his weapon sent a deep, reverberating shockwave through the air, making the nearby windows tremble. With an unnervingly high-pitched creaking noise, the last segment of stairs swung low, while the mechanism’s remains glowed red-hot, and hissed at the contacting air. Not wasting any time, Kalar began to climb the stairs. Knowing his available window of opportunity was rapidly closing, he hurried up the structure, which protested every step of his ascend with a creaking noise. Once he had reached the top floor, he raised his gun again, and unleashed another blast of energy to vaporize the door of the emergency exit.

Drawing upon the Starcatcher’s sensor data, Kalar summoned a floor plan into his vision as he stepped through the half-disintegrated door. With hurried steps, he made his way to the apartment door of his target. One moment later, the lock and half the door disappeared in yet another blue flash of energy, and Kalar stepped into the flat. With a mental command he switched the fire mode to stun, and began to look for the human woman. As he went further into the flat, he heard sounds from the main hallway, doors opening and closing, and people moving around, woken up by his weapons fire.

Kalar breathed short and fast gasps, almost coughing from the high oxygen count burning in his lungs, as he stepped into the strange alien environment of the woman’s apartment. It was all or nothing now, no chance of turning back. Using his neural implant, Kalar signaled the Firespark to prepare for an emergency evacuation from his current location.



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