Raivyn walked into the office adjacent to Jasken's quarters, where she was set to meet with the scout team. Triflin and Kiflin sulked in the corner, happy to help plan an assault on their former lords, but upset they weren't going to be part of the infiltration team.
The Scouts were also in the room already, pouring over the most recent satellite images of the Astralbian base. The Krauqian must be Kwa-Kwa, Raivyn thought to herself. The others were a lanky dromean male and two humans, a man and a woman, both broad and muscular.
"Ah, Raivyn," said Kwa-Kwa, greeting her enthusiastically. “Good to have you with us on this one. This is Rahk, our sniper,” she indicated the Dromean, “and these two Ghet and Tawln,” she indicated the man and woman, respectively, “and you know the twins. They were just about to get us up to speed on what to expect on the ground."
Just then there was a knock at the doorway and D'Jarric walked in, followed by Reclan and Doc. Jasken walked in behind them, leaning on a cane, and, finally, Vanbrook shuffled in, looking half-dead, his face still swollen from the sting.
"Admiral!" exclaimed Raivyn. “So good to see you up and looking well! Vanbrook, good to see you… up." Vanbrook smiled. At least it looked like that was what he was doing, as far as Raivyn could tell.
"All thaks to you," Vanbrook said cheerily. Raivyn nodded, taught-faced, and turned to Jasken.
"I thought I was just joining the Scout team for this mission," she said.
"Correct. But I believe your team's insight, and I daresay my own, could be of use."
"Absolutely, sir, thank you," she replied.
Triflin walked over and pointed out some crucial areas on the map.
"This is the mother tree," he said, pointing to the fortress-like tree in the center of the camp, "You'll notice it has grown leaves. Based on the intelligence Admiral Jasken has received from the Ramshackle turncoat Crush, we believe the sugars produced in them are being used to fuel the growth of the great eye.
"The tree is well-guarded by personnel, but the Kingdom is too arrogant to consider further security necessary, and Lady Raivyn - sorry, force of habit - Raivyn's psychic abilities to communicate with the tree will get you through any doors. If you can avoid or quietly eliminate the guards, you'll have free reign to wander around. The eye will most likely be growing about midway up the tree, here," he manipulated the image, showing them the location of the eye.
"From the outside," he continued, "the eye is nigh invulnerable. At the very least, destroying it would be noisier than is desirable, particularly if you want to nab the cylinder, as well. More on that shortly. The best way to destroy the eye is to sever the optic nerve from the inside of the ship. Again, Raivyn's psychic abilities will help you locate the eye, but every time you communicate with the ship you risk being detected by a tree priest."
"Any chance you could teach me that phase walking trick Traelby pulled?" Raivyn asked.
Kiflin shook her head. "No, in part because we don't know how to do it ourselves, but also because it is a rare, dangerous skill. Diffusing one's being to slip through solid objects can have ugly consequences. Consequences like bodies fusing with walls and annihilation. Even a talented psychic like Traelby is taking a serious risk attempting it." Raivyn nodded her understanding.
Triflin continued. “The cylinder, being a high value asset, will be in the highest room, towards the crown of the tree. Those are Raelik's quarters. You'll want to go when he's not there, which brings to our first suggestion: go tomorrow, just after sunset.
"Tomorrow marks the new moon on Astralbia, a day where all must pay respect to the High King. Raelik, Traelby, all the other knights and most everyone else will be gathered in the mother star tree's grand room, located here," he pointed to a spot near the roots of the tree, where the trunk was at its widest. “A skeleton crew of guards and tree priests will remain in place, maybe more than usual given the recent breeches, but still the least you're likely to see."
"Sounds good," said Raivyn, "but do we need to worry about alerting the tree priests when we sever the eye?"
Triflin and Kiflin looked at each other, then at Raivyn, and said “yes” in unison.
"They’ll be aware of what you’ve done immediately, even if you manage to do it quietly. You're going to want to do that last, I suppose," added Triflin.
The team spent the next hour working out the details of the mission and reviewing the layout of the ship, to the best of their knowledge.
As the meeting wound down, D'Jarric looked at some notes on the large chalkboard that adorned one of the walls.
"Those are the letters from the puzzle box," he said, awestruck.
Jasken lifted an eyebrow, replying, "Yes. The professor and her treacherous student think they found the right cipher. It was a popular one at the time, and there are several possible letter combinations that are ancient Talpadarian words based on the resultant letters, which was also common. It's hard to say which is the right one, though. They had not narrowed it down."
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"None of these are correct," said the Solaran, walking to the chalkboard.
He began writing a word in Talpadarian and continued. "From what I understand, Shrump spoke of aether beasts in his ramblings, which means the password is…"
He transliterated the seven ancient Talpadarian figures to "KULAKUM" and said, "Or, as it's rendered in modern Talpaertan…" he wrote out "Koo L'Koom."
"Whut's dat mean?" asked Vanbrook.
"It's one of the mythical aether beasts," said Jasken, a doubtful look still playing across his face.
D'Jarric shook his head, correcting the Admiral.
"They are only told of in myth now, it's true,” said the Solaran. “But they are more than mere myth. Do you not find it strange that similar creatures, typically with similar names, occur in the legends of every sapient race?”
Jasken shrugged. “Go on, D’Jarric.”
The Solaran nodded. "Before the Progenitor brought forth the planets from the void, but after the stars, he made the creatures you call aether beasts. They are powerful, proud creatures. Not sapient as we would understand it, but they each have a will of their own.
"Some say they are wise and intelligent beyond mortal understanding, appearing brutish because we don't know their ways. Others say they are mere brutes, though massive ones. Again, some say they are corrupted, turned against their creator. Others say they are forces of nature, no more evil than a solar storm, though just as deadly."
"What makes you so sure this is the password?" asked Jasken.
"These other possible solutions the professor posited, DRIGJUN, REESKA, and the others, they mean things like 'kettle' and 'rake.' They may fit the available letter combinations, but they're not related to aether beasts. Koo L'Koom's name showing up as a possibility is too great a coincidence, given Shrump’s obsession with the beasts and his reference to a “cosmic shark.” Koo L’Koom is often described or depicted as resembling a shark or eel. KULAKUM is the password.”
"Alright," said Kwa-Kwa. “We have a password; now let's go take back the cylinder."
***
In the Astralbian mother tree, Raelik stood in the small meeting hall adjacent to his quarters, staring down his knights.
"Since we arrived here, precious few things have gone right. Your failures have been spectacular and our greatest victories have been marred by excessively high costs. I expect this to change.
"I have a meeting with High King Hylik after the New Moon rituals. I expect to have no additional bad news to report."
"Surely the scuttling of the Republic fleet and the capture of the puzzle box will please the King," said Traelby. Raelik turned on him.
"The box you failed to acquire when we first learned of it, instead becoming a Republic captive and losing soldiers to death and treachery? The box that was delivered to us by a sycophantic worm? The box that has yet to be opened? Our Glorious King demands results, not prospects! And the fleet is not sunk, it is a wounded beast! One that, indeed, wounded us badly! Be careful what you try to take credit for, Traelby."
Traelby held Raelik's gaze steadily. Raelik had long ago taken Traelby, a promising young noble and novice psychic at the time, under his wing. Traelby had grown to be an imposing force on the battlefield, but a lackluster politician.
Never one to lead a student so much as to correct them harshly when they strayed, Raelik continued to have high hopes for the knight. However, he also continued to berate him harshly when he exercised poor judgment. The correction might one day save the young noble's life.
"Sir Jacrill," he continued, still leveling a glare against Traelby. “You were responsible for the star tree being stolen. You will be in command of guard duty during the New Moon. If so much as one leaf goes missing from our least tree, I will subject you to such tortures that you will curse your mother for bearing you. Do you understand?"
Jacrill nodded vigorously. "Yes, my Lord, I will not fail you."
At this Raelik finally turned to Jacrill then, their pointed noses almost touching, "I sincerely hope so, Jacrill. You are all dismissed."
***
Aboard the Reaper, Grim was mulling over the damage from Crush's mutiny, his desk now held together with bolts and straps of iron. It looked like only a quarter to a third of his force had rebelled, and quite a few had died or were missing. Their loyalties hardly mattered, and he turned his attention to other matters.
The call he had been waiting on finally went through. Even for a robot, the representative from the Hub looked stoic and disinterested.
"Stacks! How have you been?" asked Grim with false enthusiasm.
"Stow it, Grim," said the piratical bureaucrat. Grim frowned internally. As much as he hated interacting with the rusty old bean-counter, even pirates had to account for logistics and administration. "Your requests are… substantial. Scuttlebutt is you suffered a mutiny. Your second in command, yes? The one we screwed over at your request? Can't say I'm shocked."
"I'll get to her soon enough. But for now I need to rebuild my fleet. I just need a bit of an advance on what the Astralbians owe me." Stacks paused.
"You made a deal with the Astralbians?"
"Yes, mercenary work against the Griffon Republic."
"Well, you have the autonomy to do want you want. I can't send you everything you requested based on your leverage. Stork's fleet is closest to you; I suggest cutting a deal and bringing him in on the action. He's crazy enough to join you."
Grim said nothing, but resented the bureaucrat's unhelpfulness. He'd always turned a profit for the Collective. That's how it worked; keep salvage and money flowing, keep your spot at the top of the heap. Sell the underlings on "the good of the Collective" and pocket what you can. Only a handful of Admirals and power brokers were on the take; everyone else was just a mark. There may have been some kind of ideology at the beginning, but that was ancient history now.
He should have spotted Crush as an idealist. She was indeed a cutthroat, but a revolutionary one.
Finally he said, "Have it your way, Stacks. But I won't forget it."
“Good luck out there, Admiral,” huffed Stacks. His voice was thick with contempt and he ended the call.
Grim hated the thought of sharing his take with the likes of Stork, but went ahead and made the call anyway.