“So, you’ve failed?” A rough voice growled on the open comm channel, “Didn’t you bother me with endless explanations why your plan was fail-save and did not require the support of my people?”

“*Cough* It wasn’t a complete failure, Pack Leader Lone.” Mason stammered while thinking hard about something positive to report.

“Oh? Do tell!”

An awkward silence fell over the communications room. At least it wasn’t a video connection - one of the little benefits of staying in this dying system. After a few uncomfortable moments, Ummol, Mason’s man in charge of navigation, came to his rescue.

“They didn’t leave the planet just yet. Our information about their crew was incomplete but now we know their numbers and the exact nature of their mission. Apparently they also have no idea what to do with the data they got - if they even had the chance to download anything. Due to the environmental conditions they won’t be able to send anything back to the UAS before leaving Terulos…”

“Right, we still have time. There are many options we have left. Pack Leader Lone, please excuse us. We must prepare for intercepting their ship. If they escape from the planet, there won’t be a second chance to stop them.” Mason said, now with a bit more confidence in his voice.

“You better not mess this up, Ommih. If they transfer the data to the UAS, our deal is off… If we don’t get the data, our deal is off… If they survive, our deal is off…” the Zulbano growled, “...and believe me: In that case, I’ll personally make sure that your planet moves to the top of the list!”

“Just leave it to us, we will handle them!” Mason hissed through clenched teeth and quickly cut the connection.

“What an asshole!” He shouted after making sure that the comm was closed, “Violence and blatant threats, that is all these savages know.”

“Calm down, Mason.” the Mohait next to him said, “They are in the better position and we really did fuck this up. Let’s be happy that the deal isn’t off the table already and make sure to fulfill our part. You can curse them as much as you like, but these beasts always stay true to their word.”

“You’re right. Did the scans bring up any results?”

“Nothing yet, but it should only be a matter of time. Even if we can’t locate their ship now, as soon as they take off and rise above the trees, our scanners should be able to pick them up easily.”

“The question is: What then? I would love to shoot them down and be finished with this stupid assignment…” Mason mumbled.

“...but we wouldn’t get the data. Siller checked the monolith after he woke up and found it dead. This isn’t a valid option if we want to make the Zulbano happy.”

“Lets keep this idea in mind as plan C. Even if we miss our chance to finish the deal with the beasts, at least we would stall the humans a bit.”

“You think the leaders will agree to this course of action?” Ummol asked skeptically.

“No, of course they won’t.” Mason said with a shrug, “But luckily they aren’t here and we have no way to contact them. It’s only a backup plan and would totally be in line with our greater goals. But you are right, let’s call the others to the meeting room and look for a better plan together.”

After Ummol had left the communications room, Mason stood in front of the big window, hands crossed behind his back, and looked down to the green planet. Slowly his mind wandered back to their deal with the Zulbano while he observed the occasional flashes of lightning in the stormy regions.

“I would really love to return to my planet and find it the way I left it.” he muttered.

***

~Don’t you want the power to protect…

“No, I don’t!” Ang’Tue let out a sigh for the umpteenth time. Ever since he used more of his mutation than any kind of healthy-precaution would suggest to fight against the alpha Stalker, his inner demon was an annoyingly constant companion.

Too little time had passed since his blackout on the UAS ship. He couldn’t meditate enough to rebuild the fortress in his mind and now, after this exhausting fight, he didn’t even find a minute to rest and stabilize his condition.

~You are stronger on your own…

~Cut off all the rotten bits and pieces of this ‘crew’, just kill-...

“Are you okay?” A sudden voice rudely interrupted his inner monologue.

“Mr. Tulward!” Ang’Tue said and slightly bowed his head to greet the captain.

“Ugh, no chance that you just call me Robin, right?” The man asked.

“That would be inappropriate, wouldn’t it, Captain?”

“No it wouldn’t. But I’m not in a mood to argue with you about the proper code of conduct again. You also don’t look too well. How are you faring?”

“It’s okay. Have been better, have been worse.” Ang’Tue gave an evasive answer.

“You are old enough to know that sharing a burden with others, especially a burden on the mind, helps with processing and healing…” The captain sharply countered. Even if he just joined this ship recently, Ang’Tue could see how much this young human was growing with all the responsibilities piled up on him. While he still made mistakes - dangerous ones at that - he got better and better at keeping the crew together, plotting the right course of action and trusting his people in difficult situations.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

~He is weak…

~You would do much better in his positi-…

“Oi! Are you with me?” Ang’Tue heard when he snapped out of it again. He had stopped walking and the human now stood in front of him, waving a hand in front of his face. Reflexively he opened his third eye and focused his mind.

“Maybe you are right. I need time to meditate, not just a few hours but days and weeks of rest…”

“Are you a risk?”

“No…” Ang’Tue said after he took stock of his condition once more, “However, I won’t be of much help if it comes to a fight again.”

“Doesn’t seem like that will be necessary any time soon…” The man said and scratched the back of his head.

Together they watched the Vaslov woman as she cut in half another Stalker that had tried to sneak up on them. Ever since she switched her weapon to the long, thin blade, she could only be described as an artist of killing. With minimal movements she weaved in and out of the beast’s claws just to cut off a leg here or a head there. None of the others were needed any longer to ensure their safety.

“Keep your head together, mate. Happy should arrive soon to pick us up. You’ll get as much time to rest as you need when we are back on the ship, okay?” The captain finally said before he patted Ang’Tue’s shoulder and continued to lead the group through the jungle.

~She may be a danger to our rise…

The voice in his head said and for the first time it was missing its unwavering confidence.

“‘Tsk…” Ang’Tue snorted contemptibly and tore his eyes away from the bloody sword in the woman’s hand.

With a grin on his face, he followed the others deeper into the forest.

***

It didn’t take too long before Robin saw the Hubble in the sky above the dense trees. He organized a quick boarding and ordered Happy to take the ship into a stable orbit around the planet.

Alena was managing the scanners to make sure that the other ship wasn’t sneaking up on them and Patience took care of Sevastian as well as possible with the ship’s medical equipment. And while Timothy was waiting for a debriefing in his lab, Robin and Landom had a discussion about their next steps.

“We should leave immediately!” Landom said while he looked through the mission details once more.

“I know, but Happy is sure that we are safe as long as we keep an eye open. I want to talk to Timothy before we leave. Maybe he can get something out of the data we’ve got.” Robin argued.

“Let the UAS work that out. Our job here is done!”

“Landom, we won’t get a second chance like this. As long as we aren’t at risk, I want to at least know what we are dealing with. That aside, returning now could also very well mean we directly rush into the arms of whatever organization sent the assholes after us.”

That finally made the security officer back down. Lost in thoughts he paced up and down in the room, rubbing his chin.

“That’s a valid argument. Right now, our best option is to leave immediately, but on the other hand, we could gain more endurances if we took some time to find out who is behind this attack.” Landom stopped and said, “Talk with Timothy and find out what you can. I’ll stay on the bridge and help the others to keep an eye open.”

“Great, thanks!” Robin happily agreed and turned to leave.

“Robin…” Landom called after him, “If the situation changes and I see a quick retreat as the better option, I’ll make Niu turn us around without hesitation!”

“I hope you do!” Robin said with a grin and left for his cabin.

Before visiting Timothy, Robin wanted to stop by his room to recharge his Neuro Chip and reactivate ROMAS. He really wanted to know what this last message was all about. On his way he made a quick stop at Sevastian’s room and checked on his condition.

The huge man didn’t look too bad and assured him that everything was fine, but Robin saw the pain and sadness in his eyes. He pretended to be strong for Patience, for his sister and probably for everyone else, but deep down he was afraid that they wouldn’t be able to fix his condition. He saw a bleak future ahead - a hired gun with crippled arms? That wouldn’t work out.

When Robin arrived in his room, the first thing he did was to take out a datapad and write a report about Sevastian’s heroic service together with a request for the UAS to prepare the best possible treatment for when they return. He addressed the report to Eston and Hutton and queued it for transmission.

Only then did he jack in his charger and closed his eyes. Patiently he waited for ROMAS to wake up.

* Booting systems…

* Loading log files…

* Continuing report…

* Warning identified

* SOS from a location on the planet

* Source: unknown

* Time: unknown

* Status: active

“Welcome back, buddy!” Robin greeted his companion, “You did a good job out there! Are you alright?”

* All systems are operating as expected

“That’s good to hear.” he said and reread the last message, “So, you found a SOS coming from Terulos? Is there anything else known except the status?”

* No further information found

“Too bad… What about the database you’ve downloaded?”

* First analysis shows structured data

* Data is a specific knowledge pack: 41%

* Data is part of a database: 62%

* Data is incomplete: 87%

“Anything known about the topic?”

* Content still unknown

“Hm… can you make a copy that I can take to Timothy?”

* Beginning Upload

* Upload: 2%

While he waited for the copy to be finished, Robin thought about the SOS.

“That could be anything. A crashed ship? A hidden facility? But how can that be on Terulos? The UAS never found traces of any other activities. The monolith should be the only artificial object on this planet. Well, on the other hand… scanning is kind of unreliable. Who knows what they might have missed?”

“Is it another Keeper facility?” He mused but suddenly he had an idea, “With how tough the conditions on this planet are, most other structures or ships would long be dead or destroyed by now. The monolith probably caught the SOS only recently… and who was here recently other than us?”

Still plugged in, Robin began to pace up and down in his room.

“Chances are that the ship of the assailants has crashed and is now sending an SOS. Maybe they even came here with more than one ship. We still know too little about them.” He realized but quickly shook his head, “That, or they are broadcasting it in hope of luring us into a trap…”