Astro- Central University Metropole, 7025 FIV
The star submarine "Scientific FC5" was moored at the last ramp of Astro-Port 39East. Captain Nicholas Reed supervised its loading by moving nimbly through the packages.
He was a tall, imposing man, dark orange uniform with a straight cut highlighting his athletic silhouette, broad shoulders, chocolate tan, black hair pulled back in a ponytail. Anthracite grey eyes with irises in a black and white mosaic shaded by bluish lashes and seven long fingers on one hand were the kite's signature features. The glowing triangle in the middle of his forehead showed the world that he belonged to the oldest family in the Republic of the Kites, the Reedus.
Suddenly, a young woman accompanied by five guards approached hurriedly. She was tall with an oval face framed by countless purple pigtails and a light blue uniform specific to archaeologists. Antennae twisted around very large elephant-like ears showed she was a chameleon. Pink eyes and purple irises that she was part of the royal family.
The four-headed mark, which seemed to be affixed above her left eyebrow, was unique to her, Neith Comidava, the fourth princess.
A bored spoiled brat, in no mood for school, complicating my last trip before transfer. The expiring Nicky Reed.
"Princess, Neith Comidava, welcome!" use an official tone.
"Captain Nicholas Reed, welcome back! Have we met? I don't recall you socializing with anyone from the ancient Reedus family, did I forget?"
"No, but the Camelion Kingdom Selection Ceremony is a federation-wide broadcast event. I saw the intergalactic network transmission of the energy phenomenon you triggered. I was impressed by the appearance of the Secular Plane Tree, with its roots wrapped around the smoking volcano... I still await, as does the entire Federation, the official Chameleonian declaration of its significance."
"Ah, I see, the selection committee is still studying the stellar atlases and archives...
You know? Only last night I found out that the sub was transporting the test team to the neighboring sector of the Bujorian Empire. That's why I used my diplomatic pass for emergency boarding... but it's fair to consider me a mere researcher... I assure you, my guards know what discretion is. They won't disturb the crew or the university staff." Neith handed him his personal seal for checking and recording.
"From here I cannot change the passenger category. According to the diplomatic status, during travel, you have no restrictions of the personal system. Federal regulations mention that as captain I get the list of available options. In addition I have to check the arsenal of the accompanying persons. "
"My system, Individual Assistant is ORIN. You can read the list of its options depending on the degree of access you have to the central federal network." The Princess taps the media bracelet on her left forearm. It was gold, stiff, six inches long and two inches thick.
"Oh, what a surprise, you, a federal interstellar submarine captain have equal access rank to me? Why?"
"Once we get to the test range for the new devices you may find out why. Do you know the tests will last a month? Don't you have exams to give?"
"Captain, I'm not a student, I've been a member of the federal team for two years... Don't worry about my activities."
"Well, as you say! The left apartment cabin has a five-point fan-shaped structure. It's perfect for you and the guards that accompany you. According to regulations, until the return, the guards may remain with the visor closed." Nicky continues checking and interregistering weapons, studying the uniform with interest. It was black, stiff, with all sorts of pockets, exclusive to the Royal Chameleon Guards.
"How many auxiliary modes do these uniforms have?"
"They've got it all included! They are complete sets with automatic synchronization." The Princess measured him from top to bottom, joining him on the left, walking to the bridge.
Is it a nice one, to invite him for lunch or better for dinner? When I get back I have to thank the librarian for telling me about this trip. Otherwise I'd have missed the chance to meet a Reedus kite. The princess admires him openly with her head turned towards him, smiling.
"Princess, if I'm not mistaken, for intergalactic travel the Chameleonian royal suite has 21 members.... You left without officially announcing?" The captain smiled lazily, tinting the princess's expression.
"As long as the war with the Nebulan Kingdom continues, I can't leave within a mile of my residence without announcing my destination. Of course I've notified the department inspector. After lunch, at the daily briefing, he'll notify the entire council, including the Chameleonian ambassador." With a friendly gesture he continues "They are part of my individual guards. A team of five is enough to travel with a federal submarine, don't you think?"
"Hm, without testing them personally I don't know their effectiveness. Does your family know about this trip?"
"Hey, Captain, aren't you a little curious? Don't worry, I told them I'm going to visit Eliada. Too bad it's a short trip, no time to organize a friendly competition."
"You know, it's not curiosity, just following established procedures." Nicky Reed clarified in a stern tone. "Who knows maybe at the range we'll have time!"
"How old are you? You look 120... more methodical than the royal instructor." the young woman replies in a candid tone.
"It's none of your business my age, enough to comply with federal regulations." Nicky uses a professorial tone.
"I've got stories to tell, an easy journey!" Neith with a hurried step overtook him squinting his eyebrows.
Just as I anticipated, a spoiled one! Immature! Good thing we're arriving in fourteen hours and not having a formal lunch. Captain Reed was grunting under his chin on the way to the central command cabin. A six-sided room that had an integral central command system in the middle.
The images of the access corridor closing, folding, were on a wall. Next to it, the diagram of the submarine with the position of the people on board, their data was updated, copied and sent to the Eastern Control Point. It was the only gate in the Radial Protection Shield area. On two other sides the images of the exterior cameras showed the distance from the Central University Astro-Metropole.
A structure built in the shape of an ellipse, home to 40 million residents and 9 million tourists. An iconic landmark of the Five Neighbours Federation, the finest demonstration of collaboration between nations. With its grey, black, bluish metallic skeleton it had transparent outer walls and was divided into symmetrical sectors. These were bounded by internal transport tunnels linking each part of the core of the ellipse to the Astro-Ports. The transparent-walled spheres, attached to the ellipse structure, were evenly spaced along the ellipse.
It was a jewel, an illustration of the highest degree of techno- bio- engineering science. The place where the results of university studies were first applied.
In the salon, Princess Neith Comidava watched the images from the outside cameras. She could see how the shiny black submarine waited outside the east gate for its take-off permit.
Officially, each space voyage began after passing, seventy kilometers away from Astro-Port, the last gate scan, the open square in the Radial Protection Shield. A net-like assembly, keeping the shape of an ellipse, identical to the Astro-Metropole. The shield consisted of hexagonal, interconnected outposts that protected the entire ellipse from unexpected Nebulian attacks.
In the territory of the Federation of Five Neighbours, the planets and Astro- Populated Structures were surrounded by a Radial Protection Shield. Regardless of the size of the population each was protected following the same rules, with the same facilities. The 5 Presidents were directly in charge of the administration of the Radial Shield Corps.
Seeing a part of the submarine reflected in the silver sheen of the Radial Protection Shield, Neith smiled proudly, as calm as any citizen of the Federation... Good luck with this mechanism, so we can defend ourselves against nebulous attacks! It was a secret of Fence A that one of the inventors was her great-great-grandfather.
One of the reasons he was visiting Stra-Bujor, the capital of the Bukharian Kingdom, was to check out the statements that appeared on an entertainment media channel 'Prima Voce' about the Radial Shield and the Anti-Frenzy vaccine. A team of archaeologists claimed that objects from a buried ship had led to shocking discoveries.
Hello everyone, I'm Nicholas Reed,
the captain in charge of this voyage.
I got my take-off permit.
In 3 minutes we'll be heading to the 7th range area,
near the Bukharian Empire.
Without interruptions we will arrive in 14 hours.
In case you need assistance,
call the submarine system
or
press the green '+' symbol
found along the corridors.
After the communiqué sent out by the captain, the Sumarin media system plays 'Ode to the Creative Source', the official anthem of the Federation of Five. It was composed in the first session of the Federal Religious Ensemble and has so far remained on record as the longest session in a federal sumit. It was the only song with a federal decree. It could only be sung by an equal number of singers from each country.
Bodyguard with three leaves drawn at the corner of his visor, Dynxe Marcoda keys his media bracelet, checking the official report of the submarine's scan.
"Princess, everything is in order, in the public statement - probably prepared last night - there is no reference to our delegation."
"Well, it doesn't matter if they rectify it after lunch. In the next 14 hours we're here. Only the captain can enter this diplomatic suite. Other crew members or researchers can't even set up a visit. You can activate rest mode without any worry of being disturbed."
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
"Princess, although the submarine is traversing a core area of the Federation of Five Neighbours it is necessary and regulatory to remain in full vigilance mode." retorts one with a single leaf on his visor.
"Understood, proceed as you wish, I'm out. See you later."
Neith entered, behind her the door closed automatically. Studying the room, she was pleasantly surprised by the 'casual' decor in front of a double bed, next to a wardrobe, then the bathroom to the left. To the right two sofas with an adjustable table. The storage cabinet for food and drinks was framed by two adjustable chairs.
After a review of the menu, select red wine and chocolate cream biscuits. The automatic serving mechanism presents the wine bottle, opens it. In dessert behavior, the selected compressed dough cube was mixed with water, passed through the air column and baked ultra fast.
With the bottle under her arm, a glass in one hand, the bowl of biscuits in the other, Neith walked lazily to the armchair-desk by the door.
Looks like this sub also makes trips between Federation capitals... all the more convenient for me. Hm... but that way, with all that's necessary here, I have no reason to look for Nick... of, of, of... we'll see what happens on landing. Neith propped the glass, bowl and bottle on the small table attached to the armchair, stretched out comfortably and connected the media bracelet to the camera system, transferred the image to the door and initiated the video conference with Eliada.
"Servus Neith, what are you doing? Why don't we have a holoconference? Where are you?" the energetic tone of Eliada Bujories echoed evenly throughout the booth. She was a tall, willowy young woman, pink eyes, triangular earlobes, the distinguishing features of the Bujorians. She lay with a book in her hand on the white stone edge of the pool. Through her media bracelet she reflected the image of the videoconference on the screen next to her.
"Darling, I'm actually on my way to you... Last night I heard the librarian telling me that the submarine 'Scientific FC5' is taking off this morning for the test range near the Bujorian Kingdom and I decided to visit you. We'll be there in 13 hours or so... Here's the panoramic view. See how cool the cockpit is? I'm very pleased, I didn't expect such comfort on a scientific submarine."
"What a surprise! what a joy! 13 federal hours or from here? Are you participating in the tests or can you leave after landing? When should I pick you up?" Eliada was full of excitement.
"Officially I have nothing to do, I'm not part of the test team. I came with my diplomatic pass because I only found out last night that the submarine is arriving near you. I'd like you to pick me up the day after tomorrow or in three days, whichever is more convenient... Captain Nicky Reed is a nice guy, and he's a kite of the famous Reedus family... He's the first one I've met. I want to take the opportunity, invite him for a walk, visit the archaeological remains recently discovered in the range." Neith takes a sip of wine and then nibbles on crackers.
"Official? You mean there's an unofficial... not a party visit?"
"Yes, it is... how could it not? I don't have chores, I'm very curious about what was found in the ancient ship buried in the polygon." She continues, swinging the glass with her left hand and moving the fingers of her right hand in a causal pattern. "Do you understand? Eliada? I can tell this journey is a vacation!"
Eliada sat up, moved the projection to the stone in front of her, put the book down, with the fingers of her left hand she made the same causal gesture saying "Yes, yes, super cool, a holiday like the old days."
"Exactly, I can't wait to party!" Neith sips from her glass, continues "How are you? You had work the next few days? Where's your fiancé off to?"
"Don't remind me, you know my country, full of traditions and rituals. According to them he is gone to know better the situation of the ecosystems in the empire. He is accompanied by the High Priest's pupil, the Technical Advisor of the Kingdom and an ancient style composer... we don't even get to hear each other 6, 7 times a week! All the traditions are super lame, pointless!" Eliada had a recalcitrant tone.
"You know the Bujorans are renowned for their pragmatism... this complete tour of the empire surely has another purpose that we, right now, don't exactly understand. We don't even see it!... but keep in mind that the High Priest and sent his only pupil as an escort... so there must be some extraordinary utility!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, when you get there we'll look for this job together. Okay?" Eliada sucked her palm skyward and made caus fingers again.
"Okay, we will" Neith repeats the gesture.
"Now I have to go to lunch, see you later towards evening, have a nice trip!"
"I didn't realize what time it was on you, well, bon appétit, see you later. Say hi to the rest of them for me." With a bye-bye gesture Neith ends the video conference.
Who would have thought that a compound code when we were 9 years old is still useful to us now at 27. Checking the time continues the monologue, it's too late to call in the Cameleon and the Astro Metropolis people are busy at this hour, hm..., hm..., I can start checking from the 'First Voice' channel infinity.
Neith lifts the backrest position, spreads the table and starts setting the selection parameters in the large intergalactic network.
Outside, in the darkness of space, the symbolic emblem of the Federal Central Scientific University, a flame emerging from the top of a square-based pyramid set on a sphere, flashes blue-white along the submarine's length, seeming to float in the void. The shiny black submarine is proceeding along its main transport route, a route with precise travel corridors and surveillance beacons deployed every 100 IGUs, intergalactic units. Sometimes it passed other ships in an orderly fashion, sometimes it passed structures on a precise schedule. All around was quiet.
In her cabin, Neith had finished her thorough check of the owners. She reached the employees, heading towards the most active casual contributors and enthusiastic supporters. It was a thorough investigation, structured chronologically, from the contest in which the idea of 'Prima Voce' first emerged to the present. After dividing the staff by experience, it continues with family connections. Suddenly he sees the notice for a direct broadcast media channel.
Curious she opened it and when she saw that it showed straight through, without any filter, a Nebulian transformation she was furious. That person, his family deserved more consideration. Outraged she pursed her lips moving her fingers like playing the piano. She stared as the Bujorian man, looking fifty, trembled all over, as his hair gradually whitened and his skin turned dark orange, then so did his eyes and nails. It was not yet known how 'Black Frenzy' alters the molecular structure of people, how it cancels any kind of existing emotional bond. Nor how Nebulians recognized by their king/queen learned to mask these traits. Seeing how the medical team arrives, sedates the person and carries them off the street, I breathe a sigh of relief.
It was a tragedy and the bastards passed it on without any moral concern. With a renewed determination I restarted the search deepening the parameters, to rightly include them all. When he ran out of room to display, without bothering from his armchair-desk he untied the uniform cord, untied it in two halves, tightened it over the media bracelet. Typing two commands, she threw the pieces towards the door. They wrinkled in front of each other, rippled to form six additional design surfaces.
Little did anyone know that Neith Comidava was one of the people responsible for overseeing and optimizing the Intergalactic Media Network. She was assigned the highest level of access to S* network data under the five leaders of the federation.
A detective's curiosity for any kind of enigma, innovative intuitive analytical thinking were the reasons why often the results obtained individually were better than the personal assistant system.
This was one of the many secrets needed because she was the fourth Chameleon Princess, because the Federation was at war, because you couldn't predict exactly when an ally would become contaminated by turning into a Nebulan.
With violin music blaring throughout the room, wine glass, bowl of biscuits forgotten, Neith buttoned up the unfurled keyboard, component of the media bravado. She was immersed in lists of people, of events... something wasn't right with a larger group than she had first suspected.
Uncovered false personal data statements for two bumblebees, two amphibians and another chameleon... looking for the reason they became a group, the purpose for which they invented personal history... selects, eliminates people who made them know each other... Working was beginning to be inconvenienced by the automatically imposed traffic limit because they were in flight.
He could not use any of the shortcuts marked in the network. Without further ado he copied all the data found, compressed it and sent it to the monitoring department. With any luck, by the time his team landed, they would have sent him the results. Neith refastened the uniform cord, finished the wine, had another biscuit.
They change into their light clothes and head for the common room.
"No need to get up. What are you doing? Are the rest of you resting?" Neith rolling her shoulders and elbows headed for the console of the seating table. She opened a session, typed in the bracelet and projected the images onto the double doors.
"Princess? The rest of you do the mandatory daily bioenergetic training. I have assigned them exercises in teams and in pairs of 2 then 3. I admit that the juniors are particularly talented, if they continue like this in a year's time I will enter them for the 2 leaf exam. What happened?" Dynxe Marcoda had a warm voice, you could feel the smile hidden by the visor of his helmet.
"This journey is to stay with Eliada but it is also to discover the truth about the ship unearthed in the polygon."
"Um, did the ambassador assign you this inquiry or did the queen call you?" Dynxe was not at all pleased that the princess had not told him the details before boarding. He felt he hadn't packed enough offensive sets.
"No, none of them. The other day by chance I saw the advert of the Bujorian entertainment channel 'Prima Voce'. I became curious and started investigating them.
"Really? You left just before the opening of the exhibition on your own initiative without any official assignment? Princess you surprise me. I thought you were looking forward to cutting the ribbon of the memorial symposium with the eagle-eyed Olabisi Shu. I thought you'd love a walk."
Neith smiled cattily "Dynxe of all people you know me best, but you don't understand the implications of such a discovery. If it is true that they have evidence from the earliest cases of the appearance of Frenzy many departments of the University will change the course of research. It's not trivial. "
Dynxe looked at her suspiciously "Princess, let's resume the discussion after we get to see the remains, to catalogue them personally. Now allow me to invite you to a contest of precision."
He stands up, tapping the console table. On its surface, four boxes full of spheres, hexagonal prisms, cubes and black pyramids opened.
"There are 100 pieces, they are between 0.5 - 12 cm and weigh from 20g to 500g. A game in which the Personal Biotechnology Systems only retain the function of personal protection and we don't use our antennae or ears. What do you say? Shall we start?"
"Oh, of course! What were we playing? I've long wanted to persuade you to make me a few sets of neutral arrows. Do you agree?" Neith in speed typing the bracelet to shut down ORIN's other functions.
"Neutral arrows are the most difficult to make... OK, I accept but you find the materials and I keep 20%. If I win I want you to compose a flute song for my youngest. He's been 10 years old for 2 months and he can't do the 'picking apples' pose either. He starts well but after a few seconds he leans to the left. "
"Agreed, of, dear Dynta must be very distressed. Regardless of the outcome I will compose a song for him to correct. I'll officially grant you the right to use it but not to sell it, neither in the kingdom nor in the Federation. How do we play? Do we color the pieces or do we wrap them in bio-energy types? " Neith with his legs apart rotated his hips keeping his back straight. Beside the body the arms followed the free rotation and the fingers had a uniform wave-like movement.
"Princess, thank you on behalf of the entire Marcoda family! I think it's more interesting to evaluate them. One point for each plain wrap, two if we manage to combine two different ones, three for a trio, etc. We can combine shades of one type only with different ones. If a wrap happens to have light/medium/dark differences, 10 points are deducted. For a full range 20 points. " Dynxe keys the wristband and the visor of the helmet open, it retracts towards the shoulder blades, the gloves in the cuffs. He had an angular face, pink eyes with black irises, his antennae twisted up past his ears. Unlike the princess, he breathed in slowly and out quickly. He turned his head in sync with his fingers curled.
"Why does the combination of wires of different concentration of the same type of bio-energy decrease points? At the University neither points are given nor taken away." Neith looked at him in annoyance.
"Princess this is the score applied to the game in the Federal Guard Corps. If you wrap a piece in 3 shades it means you lack consistent focus. When building defense/assault formations such a person is the biggest internal danger. Going back, to win you have to max out in more categories than I do. The total score has no relevance. If you manage to bag 30 items in full game you win without any calculation. "
"Wow... 30 games in one game? Who can do that? It's too difficult!" Princess voices almost hostilely.
"Princess, I had the opportunity to see the recording of a match in which Captain Nicholas Reed scored 35 and one of his opponents scored 29. There were 6 participants with 300 pieces. It would be interesting to play against him. Maybe after we get there we'll have a chance to organize a game." Dynxe had a challenging look on his face.
"Oh, what a realization, it turns out Nicky is even more complicated than I suspected when I saw we had the same degree of access. very interesting!"
Dynxe interrupted his assumptions "Are you ready? Shall we begin?"
Neith nods, Dynxe presses 'Start' on the console table and the pieces begin to levitate in the lounge. They begin to breathe concentrating on driving the bio-energy. After a few moments, bright colored threads of light unfurled from the fingertips. Glancing out of the corner of his eye at Dynxe he smiled provocatively as he moved towards the first sphere. The game was on!
While they were playing, the submarine was coming out to the right of the main supervised route. It continued steadily towards the test range crossing a deserted area, with no inhabited structures, no other ships, no beacons.
When it was 10 minutes away from its destination, the 'Scientific FC5' passed through an encirclement of 12 semi-transparent spheres and was attacked. Twelve shuttles in cloaking mode targeted four dozen hexagonal golden minicylids each. Then at full speed they disappeared into the darkness.
Mini-cylinders, at different speeds, simultaneously stuck to the surface of the submarine. When they reached the hull they triggered danger sensors but within moments they could not be neutralised and after 9 seconds they exploded fragmenting the submarine.
Within a radius of two kilometres the area was full of floating fragments, some larger, some smaller, some distinguishable, some not. There were parts of the submarine, pieces of mini-ships, fragments of boxes, decor, equipment and grey capsules. Automated life-saving devices for the people on board. Most of them, 60, were egg-shaped, saving the science team. Six in the shape of cylinders with pointed heads housed Neith and his guards and 20 in the shape of enclosed minibars were for the submarine crew. Emitting red beacons, the capsules began to move towards each other, building a hexagonal rosette.
Suddenly, from the direction of the polygon, a bright yellow-green beam appeared and enveloped one of the cylinders. After building up a compact envelope it disappeared without a trace of direction.