Galaxy's Game

by Gareth D Jones

Part VI: The Flip of a Coin

Chapter 1: Monster Monks

I came back to consciousness dizzy and confused. Pain still wandered randomly across my body. I opened my eyes and struggled to work out where I was.

Around me, bodies were strewn across the flight deck. I looked around uncomfortably at the mess. We were still in H space, but I had no idea how long we had been in flight. I pulled myself up to the control console and collapsed into the pilot's chair. Various alarm lights were blinking and the system had defaulted to failsafe mode, meaning the ship would emerge from H space at the nearest inhabited system.

"Okay, turn around," a voice growled.

I turned slowly.

The Juddor man who had led our kidnappers was sat in the corner of the bridge, leaning against the wall. He pointed a miniblaster at me. His skin was a greyer shade of orange than usual, and pain showed on his face.

"Your stupid droid interfered, and now I have no idea where we're going," he said. He nodded at the corner where a pile of scrap metal lay, yellow and grey patches on charred white. "Your droid won't be going anywhere now."

The man waved me over to the same corner with his gun. When I was settled uncomfortably on the floor, he heaved himself up and crossed to the pilot's chair. With the chair swung around he could cover the whole room.

"We'll just have to wait it out."

I glared at him but said nothing.

We sat in silence for twenty minutes until one of the Zolk stirred. The small hijacker jumped to his feet when he saw me, looking round for a weapon.

"I got the situation under control, Flargin," his boss said.

"Okay, Heeg," the Zolk said, and gave a nasty smile.

"Grab a weapon and cover him," Heeg said.

"Yes, boss," Flargin said.

While I watched, helpless, Heeg shot each of my companions again with his stunner. Nobody would be waking up to help me in the near future.

"Right, down below with you," Heeg said.

Sometimes, when you cannot decide what to do, the only way to decide is to flip a coin. Some sports matches start that way: flip a coin to see who goes first. I was struggling to decide what to do next, but it seemed that once again someone had already decided my life with the flip of a coin. I wondered if I would ever end up going where I wanted, rather than where somebody else decided.

I could see no easy way of getting past the two of them again, so I had little choice but to take the null gee lift down to the crew deck and along to my quarters.

"Stay in here," Heeg said as he shoved me into my room. To emphasize the point he shot me again. I don't know whether the coin landed heads or tails.

*

I spent two days in my cabin. The hijackers had kindly destroyed or removed anything that could possibly be used as a weapon or for communication. I sat glaring at the wall one morning when the comm system blared to life with an automated voice:

"Prepare to exit H space."

We had arrived, somewhere.

I felt the hum as the H drive disengaged and we entered normal space again. I wondered how long it would be before Heeg reprogrammed the navigation system and headed out again. Or what he had planned for us.

An hour passed. My door slid open and two Zolk waved their miniblasters at me.

"Heeg wants you," said one, whom I took to be Flargin.

I went with them warily up to the flight deck.

Heeg was cursing and stomping about while his men glared at the controls and tapped furiously at the navigation system.

"We're locked out," Heeg said. "Fix it."

One of his men stood from the pilot's seat and shoved me down into it.

I stared at the screen. We were locked out.

"I have no idea how that works," I said.

"Don't be stupid," Heeg said. "We have the weapons. You have nothing. Do as I say or you'll have even less."

I shrugged helplessly.

"This isn't a standard subroutine," I said. "It looks like something one of the others programmed in as a safeguard."

"Why would they do that?" Flargin said.

Heeg glowered at him. "Who?" he said.

"I don't know." I shrugged again. "I'm not actually the captain. They're not my crew. We all just work together."

"Which one of them," Heeg said slowly, "can fix it?"

I wondered the same myself. Dana and Drew were both from security firms. It was the kind of thing they might have done. Nirf was quite a computer expert, so it could have been him. Whoever it was, I needed somebody who was most likely to help me retake the ship.

"Nirf," I said.

Moments later Nirf was escorted onto the bridge by two Zolk who kept their stunners trained on him continually. Heeg repeated his demand to fix the navigation computer.

Nirf hovered low over the console, his tentacles brushing the keys. His skin started glowing a brighter shade of purple than usual, and I knew what was coming. I had only heard Nirf do this once before and it was not going to be pleasant. I dropped to the floor and jammed my fingers in my ears. Even so, as Nirf let out a blast of high-frequency sonic Tsimkan, I could feel my brain reverberate in my skull and my head felt like it would explode.

The hijackers dropped to the floor, bashing into chairs and bulkheads on the way down, clutching at their heads. Zolk are particularly sensitive to high frequency noise and were rendered unconscious.

Nirf flitted down, grabbed Heeg's stunner and stunned the two Juddor men. All five hijackers were down and we had the ship back!

I rushed down to release the others from their quarters and returned to the bridge as Nirf finished resetting the navigation system and homed in on the system's inhabited planet.

"We have arrived at Obl G'Shezi," he said. "Planet of the Geugh."

*

With the crooks trussed up and locked in the cargo hold, we brought Sijambo down through the atmosphere to a small landing apron at the edge of a vast forest and a broad plain. It was marked as the only spaceport on the planet. There was no contact from the surface, and only a dozen small, stone buildings, several hundred metres away.

Dana elected to stay at the controls as a contingency, while the rest of us took the hovomat out for a spin. The flat, rectangular vehicle held four chairs on its open deck, and slid smoothly down the landing ramp from the garage on the cargo deck. It hovered a metre above ground and Jereane steered us towards the nearest building across the sunlit plascrete. Quiet crooning sounds echoed among the trees.

A large servobot emerged from a shadowed alcove among the buildings and moved quickly to intercept us.

"Please identify yourself," it said as it stopped in front of us. "Please state your business." It was a very polite bot.

Jereane lowered the hovomat to the ground and switched off the atmobubble. The air smelled of the vegetation of the nearby forest and a light breeze brushed my hair.

"We are the owners of the spaceyacht Sijambo," she said, "we require some repairs and somewhere to put five hijackers."

I flinched. I had not intended to mention the kidnappers yet. They must have come to this planet for a reason, maybe to meet up with somebody at this port.

"Please indicate your spaceship," the bot said.

"There!" I said, pointing sarcastically at the only ship on the field. Probably the only ship on the planet. The bot probably did not appreciate sarcasm.

Another, smaller servobot trundled into view from behind the buildings and headed towards us.

"Please follow me," it said.

"They are being interrogated," the first bot said.

"I will interrogate them," the new bot replied. "You are merely a low level reception droid, while I am a mid-level servant droid."

"I will see to the ship," the first bot said and trundled off.

"Please follow me," the new bot repeated. We followed the mid-level droid round the side of the nearest building, through a pair of carved wooden doors and into a large, shadowed reception room.

The bot stopped halfway across and we stopped behind it. I blinked while my eyes adjusted to the gloom. From the darkness at the far side of the room six figures emerged. Each was of a different build and shape, but all wore dark brown flowing robes topped with a voluminous hood.

"We are the Canticlean Monks of Saint Taratelatunaeous," said one in a deep voice. I could not tell which one spoke.

One stepped forward.

"I am Wan Dingo," he said, and threw back his hood. Each of the others threw back their hoods in turn, each revealing a more hideous and grotesque face than the last.

Monster monks!

Chapter 2: Monk's Mission

I stared with fascination at Wan Dingo, the leader of the monks, trying not to flinch. He was a human, and appeared to be of oriental origin, but his face was badly warped and twisted. His mouth opened crookedly, revealing large tombstone teeth on one side and none on the other. He was bald and a metal plate covered a quarter of his skull down to his left ear. He did not seem fazed by my scrutiny. I was embarrassed and looked away to admire the carved walls and arches.

"This is a, erm, magnificent hall," I said.

"We carved a lot of it ourselves," Wan Dingo said, gesturing round at the architecture. "We heard your request to the droid. I think we can help." He smiled crookedly. "If you can pay."

"Oh, we can pay," Jereane said cheerfully, "We won a big prize for the trans-galactic race."

For a revolutionary, she was far too happy to give information away.

Another of the monks, a huge man with sunken features and grey blobby masses on his face smiled. "Then I think we can do business," he said.

I glanced at the other monks. Three were human, each disfigured in some way, and the last was Fardeen, who look unusual enough that I had no idea whether he was an ugly Fardeen or fairly normal. They have tentacles sprouting from their chin and head, dark blue skin, large black eyes and features that seem spread too far apart. I turned back to look at Wan Dingo, who continued to speak.

"It is not money that we require," he said, shaking his head at the other monk. "It is help that we need." He turned and walked to the far side of the hall. We followed along with the other monks. A large wooden door, carved with leaves and fruit, led through to an airy walkway with open frames along the left that looked over a garden, and the occasional wooden door on the right.

A grey droid, similar in appearance to Anok, stood beyond the door.

"Ah, Anos," Wan Dingo said, "Make preparations to house five prisoners from the Sijambo."

The droid turned to leave.

"Now, gentlemen," Wan Dingo said, as he continued to walk, "tell me about these hijackers."

Drew and Jereane told the story, with occasional additions from Nirf. I continued admiring the carvings, while looking out for any unexpected danger from who-knew-what.

The corridor went on for a long time and the other monks turned off one by one until we were left following only Wan Dingo. We arrived at a large office as we finished the story.

"We will keep the hijackers safe until the next GalPol patrol arrives," Wan Dingo said, as he sat behind a large desk. "Have you any idea why they did it?"

"None at all," Nirf said.

Wan Dingo shrugged. "Now I will tell you about us. Please take a seat."

I sat in a comfortable leather armchair, as did the others.

"It was three hundred and fifty years ago," Wan Dingo began, "at the beginnings of the large-scale colonisations of human worlds, that Taratelatunaeous left his home planet Clison II, the first of Earth's colonies. For twenty years he wandered among the colonies, until arriving here to teach the message of Canticlus." He gestured out of the large picture window. "The Geugh were, as they still are, a peaceful, agricultural people and they took readily to the teachings. Taratelatunaeous taught especially those cast out of other societies, and set up this monastery so that others, too, could help the Geugh." He sat back and sighed. "Recently something has affected them. They have become violent and started rejecting our help. Half of our monks have disappeared while on missionary tours, and we are unable to do anything about it."

"How long has this been going on?" I asked.

"About a year. You are our first visitors for many months. I would like you to help us."

"Well, it seems like a reasonable trade." I glanced at the others. They all nodded. "Which way did your missionaries go?"

Chapter 3: Expedition

The following morning we climbed aboard the hovomat and checked the equipment and provisions for an expedition into the forests. Jereane was to stay behind with the ship this time. Wan Dingo supplied us with an electronic map of the continent and a route plan of where their missionaries had planned to go.

"One more thing, before we go," I said to the monk as he prepared to see us off. "Do you have any mechanical facilities where our droid could be fixed?"

"We have an old Anek model," Wan Dingo said, "a specialist technical droid."

"Could you get it to have a look at our Anok droid?" I asked. "It was badly damaged by the hijackers."

"We will have a go." Wan Dingo smiled his lopsided smile and waved us off.

I switch on the atmobubble and we set off, Dana at the controls.

It was an hour's drive along forest trails to the first Geugh settlement—a veritable metropolis with two hundred inhabitants living in mud-brick huts. We stopped twenty metres from the clearing, as advised by Wan Dingo, and I approached on foot with Drew. Nirf floated among the branches far above us. The ground was springy underfoot, coated with moss and shrivelled leaves.

Half a dozen Geugh were gathering mossy bark from trees at the edge of the clearing. Over two metres tall, they looked like purple furry haystacks. Their legs were not visible, and their arms emerged from within the mass of fur to carry out their work. They stopped their labour and turned to look at us. I turned on the Geugh translator supplied by the monks and walked forward confidently, smiling in a friendly manner. I stopped after a few paces when the Geugh began waving their small moss sickles angrily. They uttered guttural barking noises at us. The translator crackled to life a second later.

"Oi! Go away! Clear off!"

"We're looking for monks," I called, holding my arms wide in the universal gesture that was supposed to show I was not a threat. The translator spat out a string of barking coughs.

"No monks here. Get lost! Go on!" the Geugh replied. Two of them shuffled forward.

"We—" Drew's sentence was cut very short as one of the Geugh threw a sickle and Drew had to duck.

I waved to Dana and she brought the hovomat forward cautiously. We climbed in, warily watching the other sickles. The Geugh continued yelling at us and the translator issued a series of beeps. Several more Geugh were moving in our direction from their huts. Dana took us up to the maximum hovering height of ten metres. Nirf alighted on the deck and I engaged the atmobubble.

"Very helpful," I said.

We shot across the village clearing and continued along the missionary trail.

*

The next settlement, two hours further through the forest, was home to only seventy Geugh. Here, much the same happened, so we continued on, visiting two more tiny settlements where the locals ignored us. We stopped for lunch alongside a quietly trickling river and wondered if any of the Geugh would cooperate with us.

We travelled on to the next village, home to around eighty Geugh. At the edge of the clearing was a large board with squiggles scrawled across it. I scanned it with the translator and read out the results to the others.

"It says: 'Keep out. Geugh only.' "

Dana shrugged and drove past the sign into the middle of the village.

Within a few minutes a crowd of Geugh gathered around us, waving their arms and shouting 'Go away!' and other, less polite things that the translator rendered as a series of beeps.

"Some of them seem to be wearing bits of the monks' habits," Dana noted.

I looked at them more closely. Quite a few wore caps or cloaks made of the monks' material.

"What happened to the owners?" Drew said.

"Maybe the monks donated them?" Nirf suggested.

"I don't think so," Dana said. "The Geugh don't normally wear clothes."

"I need to speak to one of them alone," I said, "see if we can get some answers."

"Sure thing," said Dana. She took us five metres into the air and circled round in a tight loop, firing force beam pulses down into the crowd. Several Geugh were flung to the ground and the rest fled into their huts or out into the forest. It was not really what I had in mind. She brought us down to ground level alongside a couple of unconscious Geugh and one who was trying to get up. He wore one of the longest pieces of cloak.

Drew jumped to the ground and grabbed the Geugh by tufts of purple fur.

"Where did you get this?" he demanded.

The Geugh shook its head and waves of fur flopped across where I suppose its face was.

"Where?" Drew said again, loudly.

Dana jumped to the ground and waved her stunner at the Geugh. "Answer him."

The Geugh slumped back and growled lowly.

"At the next big village, you beepidy beeps!"

Drew let go of him, and he and Dana jumped back on to the hovomat, grinning at each other. I think I liked it better when they did not like each other. The other villagers were returning cautiously from their hiding places. Dana took us up and away before they regained their boldness.

"According to the map," Drew said, "the next big village has one hundred and fifty inhabitants and is five or six hours from here."

"I wonder if we'll be more welcome?" I said.

Dana smiled and accelerated through the forest.

We passed quickly through four small villages during the afternoon, and as the sun set we had around twenty miles to go till our destination. The hovomat included night operation equipment, but we decided not to risk an encounter with probably hostile villagers in the dark. We parked up in the woods, set the atmobubble on full extent, the scanners on high sensitivity, and slept uncomfortably in our chairs. Except Nirf, who had plenty of room to relax.

*

Two hours after sunrise we cruised into the village on low power. Instead of the usual random huddle of huts, this settlement was laid out much more regularly. Three rings of huts were spread out around a large stone building of three storeys. Widely spaced windows featured on all three floors.

"Is that a monastery?" Drew asked.

"Not the same design or material," Nirf said.

There was no reaction from the village. We sat and watched for a few moments. The only sound was the regular warbling of forest animals in the distance.

Something caught my eye, from one of the windows.

"I hope I didn't see what I think I just saw," I said.

"What?" Dana said, her hands hovering over the controls ready for a quick exit.

"Centre window, top floor." I pointed. "Green fur."

"The Geugh have purple fur," Drew said. "Hang on! No, you're joking!"

"Are you talking about green fur, as in Kropask green fur?" Dana said.

I nodded slowly.

"Are you sure?" Nirf said. He left his seat and floated higher into the air.

"I hope not," I said. "Let's go and check."

Dana moved us forward, slowly, toward the nearest gap between huts. Several Geugh appeared, waving sickles and staffs. These weapons could not hurt us when the atmobubble was turned up to max.

A large door opened in the stone building and several more Geugh poured out, armed with maxiblasters. Those could hurt us, even with the atmobubble. Two Kropasks strode out behind them, each carrying a mega-blaster. Those could seriously blast us to pieces.

Chapter 4: An Old Friend

Dana swerved us behind the nearest hut as the first beam sliced through the air. I flinched as the hut exploded in a shower of debris. Dana kept us low to the ground and moved along the row of huts.

"You were right," Drew said unnecessarily.

A section of wall exploded next to us and a weapons beam sliced into the base of the hovomat. I was thrown around in my seat as Dana lost control and we smashed into the wall of the next building along.

"Shield overload!" Dana yelled. We crashed to the ground and the atmobubble died. I dived off the stricken vehicle and ran for cover, pulling my force-beam out ready for use. I was two huts further round the circle of the village when the hovomat exploded.

I paused for a second while Drew and Dana caught up. There was no sign of Nirf, but I stopped worrying about him a long time ago. He always whizzes off to safety somewhere. Hopefully he would appear from somewhere at a critical juncture again.

The thatched roofs of the huts were on fire and flames were spreading around the ring. The reed-like material of the thatching gave off copious white smoke that hung heavily on the air and reeked of burnt bananas. I dodged through smoke and around huts, stunning the occasional Geugh. Soon I was back in sight of the door to the stone building, where a pair of Kropasks stood, peering through the chaos.

One turned in my direction and fired through the wafting smoke. I dived through the entrance to the nearest hut. There was a scream and a thud as Dana dived in behind me with a singed shoulder. She waved me away and scrambled to her feet.

I set the force-beam to its widest setting and punched a hole through the opposite wall. I emerged into the path of an oncoming Geugh. It swung its staff at my head. I blocked it with my upper arm and fell back through the hole in the wall. The Geugh leaned through the gap to hit me again, and was felled by a shot from Dana's stunner. We emerged from the hole again, more cautiously.

Off to the right, green flashes showed Drew was busy with his pneumatic light gun. Dana and I moved forward swiftly until we could see the stone building's entrance again. One of the Kropasks was moving towards us. We ducked inside another doorway and waited. The Kropask walked past, swinging his rifle back and forth. I fired on maximum, and my force beam propelled him through the wall of a nearby hut. The walls collapsed and the green fur disappeared under brown bricks and dust, with a topping of green reeds.

Dana and I ran back to the stone doorway, stunning a pair of bewildered Geugh on the way. There was no sign of the other Kropask, and I stopped warily. Drew appeared from the smoke.

"I took care of one of the Kropasks," he said, breathing heavily.

"We got the other," Dana said.

"Any sign of Nirf?" I asked.

Shadowy figures moved in the background, barely visible between buildings and drifting smoke. A couple of shots sounded in the distance and angry yelling from beyond the rings of huts. Nirf flew out of the smoke and stopped beside us.

"That's all the Geugh taken care of," he reported. "The others are running into the forest."

"Right then," I said. "We go in."

I strode into a square room, three metres on a side. Dana came in last, keeping an eye out behind. Three doors led away, one from each wall. Drew, Nirf and I took one each, while Dana leaned against a wall, nursing her injured shoulder and watching our backs.

A short corridor led to another door. I pushed it open and leapt in firing. The small room was empty, except for cobwebs. I returned to the entrance hall, in time to hear yelling from Drew. Dana was already disappearing through the door he had taken and I headed after her.

I ran along a dim corridor for ten metres, turned left and ran on another ten metres. Ahead of me, Dana pushed through a half-open door. I sprinted to catch up.

Inside, Drew lay on the floor, unmoving. Dana was struggling with a large Kropask. Even without her injured shoulder, the Kropask had much more strength. He threw Dana to the floor, and I took the opportunity to shoot. My force-beam was low on power. The hit made the Kropask stumble backwards, but he stayed upright. He charged at me.

The full weight of a running Kropask knocking you to the floor is pretty impressive. I did not have much time to appreciate it as I was knocked flying. Nirf arrived as it happened and stunned my attacker. He fell on top of me, which hurt even more.

"Thanks, Nirf," I croaked.

Dana got to her feet and Drew began to stir. I crawled out from under my burden.

"Horkoz, again," Dana said.

I had no idea who the Kropask was, but I did not argue. Dana looked in a bad mood.

"Horkoz?" Drew murmured from his position on the floor. "What's he doing here?"

I shrugged. "This must be another of Zur's operations."

"But he's been caught," said Drew.

"Not very long ago," Nirf said. "His empire will continue for a while yet until it crumbles into small pieces."

Drew dragged himself to his feet. Dana did not look too good either.

"Surely GalPol caught Horkoz on Palkot 5," Drew said. He wobbled on his feet.

"There are two Horkozes," Dana said, as if it were really obvious.

"Two?" I said.

"Of course. I assumed you knew. Horkoz was so reliable as Zur's henchman that he had him cloned. He didn't want to trust anyone else, so he trusted Horkoz twice."

"Which one is this?" I asked, nudging the fallen Kropask with my foot.

"Doesn't matter," said Dana. "They're both as bad as each other." She pulled some molecularly bonded cuffs from somewhere and trussed the big crook up.

We went back outside, where the fires had subsided and a dozen Geugh lay scattered around the village.

"It's a long walk back," Drew said, pointing at the tail end of our smouldering hovomat, visible between buildings.

"Ah, that's a problem," I said.

We found the other two Kropasks, pulling one from beneath crumbling bricks, re-stunned them and bound them up. Nirf scouted around above the village, looking for signs of trouble. I went to the hovomat wreckage and found a partially damaged supply box nearby. There were enough rations to give us a small meal.

Some of the Geugh were regaining consciousness, but they gave us a wide birth after seeing the downed Kropasks. An hour later we felt rested and vaguely recovered, but I was not looking forward to the long trek through the forest.

"Don't the Geugh have vehicles?" Dana asked.

There was a sudden loud bang.

I ran towards the sound, depleted force-beam at the ready. There, just outside the circle of buildings, sat a shining GalPol land tank. Just too late again.

Troopers in dark blue uniforms jumped out and spread out to cover the surroundings. The rear hatch slid open and an officer stepped out, glanced round carefully, then walked towards us. I lowered my weapon when I realised three or four troopers were aiming at me. Drew and Dana stood to either side of me.

"Lieutenant Keef," I said, trying to sound welcoming, but probably sounding nervous.

"Captain Keef," she said, tapping her insignia. "Partly thanks to you, I suppose." She smiled. "Zur's capture got me the promotion."

"Congratulations," I said. "What are you doing here?"

"Tracking the second Horkoz," she said.

Okay, so apparently everyone knew there were two of them.

"Looks like you've been your usual busy self." She wafted away some white smoke.

"Er, yes." I gestured over my shoulder at the stone building. "Horkoz is in there."

"Excellent," she said. "Lead the way."

I smiled and gallantly gestured for her to go ahead. I turned to see Drew and Dana smirk at each other.

We picked our way between loose bricks and clumps of half-burnt reed.

"This is the last of Zur's operations we've tracked," the captain said as we walked. "Horkoz was the last of his major employees. Well, the last two of them."

"He's inside," I said as we arrived at the building's entrance. Keef gestured for three of her troopers to go on in, while others checked over the other two unconscious Kropasks. The burnt banana smell was beginning to clear.

"Any chance of a lift back to the monastery?" I said.

Chapter 5: Planet Hopping

An hour later we were back at the monastery. Horkoz was beginning to come round as the troopers unloaded him. The land tank took off to go back for the rest of their squad and the other two Kropasks. A second land tank arrived with the usual loud bang and another squad emerged. Under Captain Keef's direction they went into Wan Dingo's monastery to retrieve the hijackers.

As Heeg emerged, blinking, into the sunlight, Horkoz lurched to his feet, catching his guards off guard.

"You idiots!" the Kropask clone yelled. Heeg flinched and cowered back, but Horkoz was brought up short by his restraints.

"You were supposed to kill them!" Horkoz growled.

All the criminals were stunned, restrained, and loaded into the land tanks for transport to the cruiser waiting in orbit.

Wan Dingo stood to the side, smiling benignly during these exchanges. He came forward as GalPol were finally ready to vacate the planet.

"Did you manage to fix our Anok?" I asked him.

"We had a go at the casing," Wan Dingo said, "but the innards are very complex."

"Thank you for trying," I said. Drat. Time to get a new droid.

Captain Keef was overseeing the last troopers into her land tank. "I'll ask my technician to take a look," she said.

A beefy-looking Juddor woman emerged from the land tank a minute later and Wan Dingo sent a small monk to guide her to their workshop. She reported back a few moments later.

"I'm afraid it's just too mangled," she said apologetically. "Couldn't be fixed economically. You'd do best to get a new droid."

"There's nothing you can do?" Drew said.

"Nope." The trooper shook her head, saluted the captain briefly, and headed off to the land tank.

"We could continue our attempts," Wan Dingo said, "install new circuits from some of our defunct droids. A repair may not be economically viable, but we have plenty of time and patience. If we cannot restore full functionality, in time it could become a helper here."

"Well, if you're happy to have a go …"

"We would be glad to." Wan Dingo bowed, ever so slightly.

We said farewell to Captain Jacasta Keef, and minutes later the land tank took off and disappeared with a bang.

"Where are you heading next?" Wan Dingo asked.

I shrugged. Kralo Zur's empire was finally finished. Again. His link to the glossies was lost. They seemed to be popping up everywhere, but I had given no thought to where to go next. I needed to talk to Drew and Dana, see what their thoughts and plans were.

"Maybe you are heading for Palkot 3?" the monk said.

Palkot 3 is right back across the inhabited sector, where we had come from only recently. "Why Palkot 3?"

"That is the location of the chief monastery of Canticlus. Our annual report is due and needs to be delivered personally to the Abbott. Maybe you could take it for us?"

*

After overnight hospitality from the monks, we departed in the Sijambo the following morning. Captain Keef confirmed that GalPol were still investigating the glossies and she had been assigned several planets to visit and monitor for their interference. This seemed as good an approach as any, so we accepted Wan Dingo's request and set course for far Palkot 3, with several stops along the way.

First on the agenda was was Balan VII, a three and a half day flight to take Jereane back to her home system. She would finally be able to reach her brother's house, her destination when we had transmatted off Balan VIII rather a long time ago.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay with us?" Drew asked her as we sat around the lounge.

"I have my own mission," she said, drinking a tall glass of chocolate milkshake. Sijambo's food replicator was much better than Excalibur IV's had been. "We've sorted out Kralo Zur, and GalPol are off our backs. I can go back without any trouble from them. After all," she slurped the rest of the milkshake, "I didn't exactly intend to come with you in the first place."

"I guess not," I said, "but I'm glad you did."

We reminisced about our adventures together that evening, and settled into shipboard routine for the remainder of the flight to Balan VII.

While we travelled, Nirf programmed the computer to search the planetary newsfeeds and infonets for hints of the glossies' activity. We could not afford to spend days on every planet, but hopefully we would pick up any interesting information as we arrived.

It was midday ship time when we landed on Balan VII and trooped off the ship together into the spaceport. We bade farewell to Jereane, with much hugging and kissing, and watched her walk away to hail a cab.

"Our party is shrinking," Nirf said. It's difficult to tell when he is sad, but I think he was.

We spent several hours in the spaceport, while Drew and Dana spoke to staff and travellers, listening for any stories of glossies, revolutions, or other unusual things. That was their speciality. I struck up conversations with several people, but I was not as good as either of them at investigating and gathering intelligence. It was nice to be free of the confines of the ship for a while, and to try some of the local food while we were there, but by late evening we were back aboard our ship, ready for departure.

It was just under a day's flight to Soarnellat, our choice for the next stop. Nirf ran through the computer's analysis of the data it had gathered but came up with nothing that indicated the presence of glossies, other than references to the trouble on neighbouring Balan VIII that we already knew about.

We disembarked in time for dinner at the spaceport and booked into a nearby hotel for the night. Soarnellat is a Brogian colony, their newest and least developed. Much of the planet is desert and scrubland, with the colonists limited to a scattering of small settlements all within a hundred kilometres of the spaceport. Theoretically there was not much for us to do there; any glossy interference would be fairly obvious among a colony of a few tens of thousands. With their trilobed heads and peachy skins, the Brogians have pleasant, friendly-looking features, and because they are bipedal and roughly human height, their furniture is comfortable too.

The only other interesting thing about Soarnellat is the golden penta-pyramids, ancient structures far out in the desert that were there for thousands of years before the Brogians arrived. There are no other signs of a previous civilisation on the planet, not even any ruins. We took a trip the next day on a suborbital flight out to the site and gazed in awe at the five pyramids, each over half a kilometre high. They are one of the twenty-five wonders of the Galaxy, and I can say they are definitely worth visiting.

Sijambo's computer had not picked up much on the newsfeeds, and we took off the following evening, setting course for Azantig, a much older Brogian colony fifteen hours flight time away. This planet is a complete contrast to Soarnellat. It is mostly covered in ocean, with a sprinkling of islands in long chains and scattered archipelagos. The Brogians have been there for three centuries, but the limited land area means there are still less than a hundred thousand people on the entire planet.

We stayed for a day again, sampled the local seafood dishes and seaweed wine. As with Soarnellat, we found no evidence, or even any hint, that the glossies were present.

It was a similar story at Prottiel, the Wasee colony that took almost another two days to reach. By this time Nirf had improved the computer's search algorithms and cross-referencing subroutines to compare incidents across planetary systems and look for more subtle clues that might not be obvious from isolated incidents. Still, nothing came from the searches of each planetary database. It was frustrating, but at the same time reassuring that the glossies had not invaded the entire galaxy.

There were no suitable facilities for us to stay near Prottiel's small spaceport, so after less than a day we were on our way again. We were almost at the edge of the cluster of inhabited planets at this point. For the trip to Diad, a triplanetary system across a large gulf of uninhabited space, we would be on our own for just over three days.

Diad is a Blucti colony, but the locals did not seem at all friendly or welcoming. Even Drew and Dana had no success in conversing with anybody at the spaceport. I gave up after half an hour and drank tea while I watched them. I could only hope our computer had better luck picking up useful information. We parked up overnight while Sijambo scoured the local newsfeeds, and launched early the next morning.

The Palkot system is one of the farthest inhabited systems from Earth. We had started the transgalactic race from Palkot 5 Mega Port. Palkot 3 was much less ostentatious. A day after leaving Diad, we got permission to land at an undersized spaceport on a small and sparsely inhabited continent. Palkot 3: home of the Canticlean monks.

Chapter 6: To the Monastery

The spaceport was almost empty. It was early morning. There were a dozen staff who looked bored, although it's difficult to tell with the octopoid features of a Blucti, and half a dozen passengers aside from us. Only two cabs waited outside, so there was no queue.

"The chief monastery of Canticlus," I said to the driver as we piled in.

He turned and blinked his three eyes one after another. "Don't go that far," he said, through a translator built into the cab roof.

"How far is it?" Dana asked.

The driver did the same triple blink.

"I only go to edge of town, ten kilometres. Monastery out in wilderness."

It was not a very smooth translator.

"How do we get there?" I asked.

"Coach take you outer town. After that, don't know. I take you coach station."

He started the cab with a roar, without waiting for our reply. It was only a kilometre to the coach station, where we discovered that the next coach going in the right direction, to a town with an unpronounceable name, would not leave for another hour. We sat and drank pea flavoured tea. It was not great.

A luxurious-looking land cruiser coach pulled up an hour later, and thirty or forty Blucti and a Greman got off. We emerged from the lounge to board. It was not ready, though, so we waited around for another thirty minutes before we were allowed on. It was not luxurious inside, and the seats were uncomfortable, designed for Blucti.

It was fifty kilometres to the next town, a half hour drive along a deserted expressway. Irritatingly tinkly music played over the speakers the whole way there. Inquiries at the coach station took some time. The assistant behind the desk seemed more interested in asking us questions about why we wanted to travel on, rather than answering our questions. He went to great lengths to tell us all the fun things we could do in his town, but finally got round to telling us where to catch a minicoach to a wilderness outpost near the monastery. Unfortunately this minicoach did not run very often, so we had to wait several hours till mid-afternoon before we could board the rickety old vehicle and settle into even less comfortable chairs.

The road was not too smooth, either. We trundled along for seventy kilometres across a broad plain dotted with orange, cactus-like trees. An hour later we emerged into the hot dry air of the wilderness. Scrubland stretched as far as the eye could see, disappearing in a heat haze.

The outpost was a long, low building with tinted windows. Several other low buildings were nearby, but there was no sign of any movement. Aside from us, a single Blucti got off the coach and went to one of the smaller buildings. The only other vehicles in sight were two all-terrain passenger trucks, parked next to the coach stop.

We entered a door with lots of signs written in Blucti script, and a porch built around it. Inside was cool and dim. An elderly Blucti sat behind a desk, his tentacles wrinkled and his blue skin dull and greying.

"Help you?" he asked through the desk translator as I approached.

"We'd like transport to the monastery of Canticlus," I said.

"You become monks?" he asked.

"No, " I said. Nobody who worked behind a desk on that planet seemed capable of just answering a question. "Can you just tell us how to get there?"

"Nobody go there except monks." He triple-blinked. "One is here today. Came in orange ATV. You wait for him."

"Thank you," I said. I was not sure where to wait for the monk, so we went back outside to keep an eye on the ATV. It was very old and dusty. Nearby, half a dozen people were boarding the minicoach ready for departure. Two darkly tanned men walked slowly towards us, the only humans we had seen so far on the planet. I was about to speak to them, but they paid us no attention and went into the coach station.

"So, do we just wait here?" said Dana, squinting against the sun.

My head was roasting.

"I saw a drinks machine inside," Drew said. "Let's wait in the shade."

We went inside, bought cold drinks, and hung about near the door. There were only two chairs. It was still hot, but we were out of the direct glare of the sun.

After half an hour I saw a skinny figure in monks' robes approaching the orange ATV. We hurried outside and approached him. He was a Slinfaar: thin, pale, flexible. They don't have a rigid skeleton like humans. He paused and looked at us, halfway through opening the door.

"Are you going to the monastery?" I asked.

"I am," he replied slowly in Terran.

"Could you give us a ride?" I waved my hand round at the four of us. "We have the annual report of the Canticlean Monks of Saint Taratelatunaeous on Obl G'Shezi."

He seemed impressed by the length of my sentence.

"Indeed," the monk said. "Perhaps you should be given a ride." He opened the ATV's doors. "Please enter the vehicle."

We all complied.

"I will proceed with all due haste," the monk informed us. He drove sedately out of town, such as it was. As we passed the final building, and I looked despairingly at Drew, the monk shifted to six-wheel drive and hit top gear.

Even with inertial dampers, stabilisers and suspension, the ride was very bumpy. I suspected some or all of those systems were not working properly. The monk guided the ATV along barely discernible dirt tracks, through kilometres of seemingly identical countryside. Golden yellow fluffy bushes dotted the landscape, and occasional bluish grey rocks bigger than the vehicle we rode in.

It was half an hour before a large stone building appeared in the distance, made of the same blue-grey rock. It grew larger as we approached, five storeys tall but looking much larger on the flat landscape. The vehicle decelerated, and we drove through a huge archway into darkness. It was a moment before I could see again. We were in a courtyard, surrounded by the sheer interior walls of the monastery. Three other ATVs were already parked there, each looking in worse condition than the one we were in.

Feeling bruised and battered, we descended from the vehicle.

"I will guide you to the Abbot's chamber," the monk said.

I staggered after him.

Chapter 7: Outward Bound

The corridors of the monastery were carved with all kinds of figures—alien races from the whole sector, along with many species I did not recognise. I had no time to study them as the monk led us along at a brisk pace. He stopped in front of an unimposing dark wood door and knocked loudly.

"Cwoll gaf," a deep voice said from beyond the door.

"That was Antovian," I said.

"You speak Antovian?"

"Ke," I replied.

The monk opened the door.

"Kalc chibon zig cran zwab pule Obl G'Shezi," he said to the figure seated at a long, narrow desk.

The Abbot was a very wrinkled Antovian, hunched over a datapad. A small cup sat on the desk to one side, giving off steam. There was a smell of mint, possibly from the drink.

"He's telling him we have the report," I murmured to the others.

"Hosanis," the Abbott said.

The monk inclined his head and left, closing the door silently.

"I like to teach the apprentices my tongue in their spare time," the Abbott said. "Please, sit."

We arrayed ourselves on a long wooden bench before the desk. I took the cylindrical info-trans capsule from a pocket and offered it to the Abbott.

"Cran zab pule Wan Dingo," I said. I like to show off occasionally.

"I thank you for delivering it," the Abbott said and took it from me with a gnarled hand. "I am Hun Parla Ex Wanya, Abbot of this, the central monastery of Canticlus." He gestured around the plainly decorated room.

The door opened and the same young monk brought in a wooden tray loaded with small cups that gave off minty steam. He placed it on the desk and stood at the back of the room.

We introduced ourselves in turn, and I took a sip of the mint tea as the others spoke. It was far too strong for me and I tried not to choke.

"I will have a brief look at the report now," Ex Wanya said, docking the info-trans with his infopad. "It has been a long day for an old man, and I will read it more thoroughly tomorrow."

Drew coughed on his mint tea. Dana sat sipping hers quietly.

"We can talk further at dinner tonight," the Abbot said, "and of course you must stay the night. For as long as you want."

He asked us a few questions about our journey while we tried to pretend the tea was nice. After a few minutes he instructed the young monk to show us to the guest rooms. We had a room each, comfortable but sparse.

Later, we dined in the monastery's refectory along with forty or fifty monks. The food was simple but tasty: a thin soup, roasted meat and vegetables, fresh bread, with fruit juice to wash it down. Some of the monks of other species were eating less easily identifiable mush. I did not ask what it was.

We told the Abbot of our adventures leading up to our time on Obl G'Shezi.

"You should write it down," he said. "It would make a good tale."

"Maybe one day I will," I smiled.

I spent a comfortable night in my room. The desert was silent, and we were woken early for breakfast to see another bright and fresh day outside.

As we ate, my comm chimed with an alert from Sijambo. Our ship had received an urgent interplanetary message, which would have been beamed down from an incoming courier ship. That kind of thing never happens.

"We should return immediately," Nirf said.

I rushed the remains of my breakfast, said a hurried goodbye to the Abbot, and we were soon bumping our way across the wilderness in an orange ATV.

Back at the spaceport, several hours later, we jumped out of our cab and rushed across to Sijambo. We all ascended to the flight deck and I initiated the message download. Seconds later, an image appeared on our screen: a Juddor in GalPol uniform.

Our former hunter stared at us from the screen.

"This is Lieutenant-Colonel Wilyor Bragg of the Galactic Police." He nodded as though he could see us. "Brett Hawkes, Nirf, Drew Nelson, Dana Strong, I have some news you will no doubt find interesting, and probably irritating." He paused for an annoyingly long time. "Kralo Zur has escaped custody during trans-shipment. He has purloined a small ship and is heading out the southeast corner of the sector, seemingly bound for the UGEA outposts in that direction. My information is that you are already close to the area he is heading. Assuming you are interested in renewing your acquaintance with Zur, proceed to Angebb, where the local GalPol office will update you." He paused again. "Bragg out." The screen went dark.

Ten minutes later we were heading for orbit.

We crossed from the Palkot system to Angebb in just short of fifteen hours and went into orbit while waiting for landing permission for the most remote inhabited planet in the southeast corner of the sector.

"Sijambo," a voice came over the comm, " you have permission to land at GalPol field Threebeta. Remote landing by GalPol."

I do not like my landings to be controlled remotely—it makes me feel strangely helpless. To land in a secure GalPol field though, we had no choice.

"Thank you, Angebb control," was all I said. The flight mode indicator turned purple for remote control.

As soon as we were on the ground a GalPol armoured truck raced across the field to us and we went down to meet it.

A Blucti GalPol trooper jumped out, followed more slowly by a human man in a grey flight suit with maroon trimming.

"Message from Colonel Bragg," the trooper said, handing me an info-trans cylinder. "Top priority, no time to lose." He jumped into his vehicle and raced away.

"I'm Gligon," the other man said. "United Galactic Exploration Agency. Colonel Bragg asked me to assist you."

I shook his hand. "Going after Kralo Zur again could be tough," I said.

Gligon nodded and looked up at Sijambo.

"Looks like we're outward bound," he said, "to the far reaches of the galaxy."

Chapter 8: To the Far Reaches of the Galaxy

We took the zero-G lift to the flight deck.

"I've been with UGEA for eight years," Gligon said as we floated up. "I'll be able to help you navigate out among the outposts at the edge of explored space."

We stepped out onto the bridge.

"Where are we heading?" I asked.

Nirf floated across to his harness and the others strapped into their seats.

"The computer has no information on any planets farther out than Angebb," Drew said.

"The information from UGEA hasn't been generally issued yet," Gligon said.

Drew started on the pre-flight checks.

"There are only outposts out there, no colonies." He indicated the info capsule I still held. "Everything you need is on there, along with permits to land on UGEA outposts."

I docked the cylinder on the control console and uploaded the data as Drew took us up from the planet surface. The navigation display expanded to show a wider galactic chart, with planets farther out than I had ever seen, so far from the inhabited cluster that I knew of nobody who had been that far. Angebb was already a long way from anywhere else.

Two days galactic east from Angebb was Timbuktoor, a single planet around a lonely star.

"That's our destination," Gligon said.

Drew programmed it in, and we slid smoothly into H space a few moments later.

"Why come out here?" Dana asked. "We're heading away from any inhabited planets. Where is Zur going?"

"Away from any inhabited planets we know about," Gligon corrected her.

"I thought you said there are only outposts out here," I said.

"We have only outposts," Gligon said, "but our cluster is a very small part of the Galaxy. Twenty-seven space-faring species all live in close proximity. There must be more that we don't know about."

"Like the glossies?" I said.

"You think they live out this way?" Drew asked.

"We have no information on them," Gligon said. "It's as good a theory as any."

The main view showed a myriad stars ahead, a computer-generated representation of where we were headed. Any one of those stars could be home to the glossies.

We settled into shipboard routine, glad that we had a ship with enough cabins to go around. After just over two days we emerged from H space and homed in on a small beige planet. Timbuktoor had a barely breathable atmosphere, but gravity and pressure were within acceptable parameters for most of the known races represented by UGEA. An environmental dome had been set up to make life more comfortable for the personnel who lived there.

We landed a few hundred metres from the broad, low dome, alongside a pair of grey-and-maroon scout ships of the United Galactic Exploration Agency. There was no landing pad as such, just an expanse of fused earth where ships had launched and landed over the course of several years. Beyond that was a wide expanse of beige land covered in short, translucent reeds. Low hills surrounded the entire base a couple of kilometres distant, topped with lime green, presumably another form of vegetation.

We wore oxygen masks to cross to the base, the only extra equipment we needed to overcome the thin atmosphere. We cycled through the airlock and were met by a tall Greman, He looked half asleep.

"What can I do for you?" he said.

"We're on special assignment," I said.

He ignored me and looked over my shoulder. "Gligon! Good to see you."

"You too, Fliz. We're helping out GalPol."

"GalPol business," Fliz muttered and shook his head. "Well, you're in a private ship, so you'll need to pay the landing fee of fifty credits."

"Fifty!" I said. That was five times the normal fee.

"Everything's expensive out here," Gligon said, walking past us.

I followed along, down a short passage to the control centre. Everyone seemed to know Gligon. I guess UGEA is not a large organisation.

"We're tracking an escaped convict who flew out this way," Gligon explained to the Coraylian duty officer. "Do you have any sensor records of unregistered craft in the vicinity?"

He shrugged his four shoulders and answered slowly.

"There was one unofficial flight. The ship landed ten hours ago and claimed not to realise that the planet is restricted." The Coraylian held out all four arms. "I think it is obvious that someone would not be out here by accident."

"Where did he go?" Gligon asked.

"What did he look like?" Drew asked.

"There was no visible contact," the duty officer said. "We have only the ship's transponder signal. He took off almost immediately, bound for Angebb."

"Back to Angebb?" I said.

"He did not go back to Angebb," the Coraylian said. "He went farther out."

"Out where?" Dana asked.

"The only destination in that direction is Faralon."

I had never heard of Faralon.

We checked the data from the base's sensors and confirmed it was the ship Zur had stolen.

"Looks like we're heading out again," Gligon said.

Sijambo was ready to go, and we set course for Faralon, Galactic east-south-east, a five day trip.

"Still no idea why Zur is heading so far out," Drew murmured as we settled into the flight. "There are plenty of planets to hide on back in civilisation."

"Perhaps he wants to join UGEA," Gligon joked.

Gligon was from Nylg, a built-up planet relatively close to Earth. I had quite some time to find out more about him during the journey. His upbringing on a crowded, built-up city had inspired him to head out into the void with UGEA and find some empty vistas to enjoy.

Gligon and I were on the bridge chatting when we finally made the transition to normal space in the vicinity of Faralon.

"Hold your position," a harsh voice blurted over the comm. "Any attempt to divert will be dealt with severely."

A blip on our screen indicated the presence of a UGEA cruiser, armed and targeting us.

I transmitted our security clearance via the comm.

"GalPol?" the voice said. "You'd best get straight on to Simkrall. A guy just blasted half our base while we were across system, then flew on."

"Sounds like Zur," I said.

We translated back into H space, course set east-south-east again, for a further two-and-a-half day flight to Simkrall.

Chapter 9: An End in the Asteroids

"We'll have to be prepared for anything at Simkrall," Gligon said. "Zur seems to be getting desperate."

Nobody argued with that assessment. We double-checked all systems before we emerged from H space in the Simkrall system.

I transmitted our transponder code and GalPol authorisations to Simkrall base.

There was a lengthy pause before they replied.

"Sijambo, we're glad you're here. The felon was trying to land on Simkrall when we approached him. He shot down our scout ship and landed about three hundred kilometres from our base, at the site of some archaeological ruins."

"Ruins?" I said. I love that kind of thing.

"There are several sites dotted across the planet. This one has been catalogued but not investigated yet. Zur was transmitting at the ruins as he came in, so we thought maybe he had a hidden cache there. Seemed unlikely, way out here, but who can tell?"

Nirf was running continual scans as we listened. There appeared to be no unusual activity in the vicinity.

"By the time our second scout ship reached the site," Simkrall base continued, "something was transmitting from under the ruins. We warned him off again, but he crippled our ship before launching. We damaged his H drive though. He's not leaving the system."

"Any sign of him?" I asked Nirf.

"None."

"We tracked his trajectory," Simkrall base said. "He was heading for the Pelagic Swarm."

Before I had time to ask, Nirf brought it up on the screen. The Pelagic Swarm—a former planetoid smashed into a million closely-grouped fragments that orbited the system high above the plane of the ecliptic. A good place to hide.

"We're on our way," I said.

Nirf altered our course and we accelerated towards the Swarm. We slowed to match velocity as we approached.

"Power reading," Drew said, marking the source on the viewscreen with a flashing red dot. We left the piloting to Nirf—his reactions were the best.

We edged into the tail of the swarm, where clouds of dust and pebbles battered our shielding. The power reading could only be Zur's ship. A shower of rocks sparked and spun off in new trajectories as they intercepted our shields. Dana stood by on the MegaBlaster, just in case.

"He'll have spotted our approach," Gligon said. "He'll be ready for us. Unless he's too severely damaged."

We closed to fifty kilometres of Zur's position before his ship moved. Towards us. We could not see it initially, but the sensors picked it out on screen and tracked the blip towards us.

Gligon flicked on the comm and tried to make contact, warning Zur to surrender. He was answered by the vermillion beam of a MegaBlaster, which shredded an innocent asteroid in a blaze of sparks.

"Can you target his weapons?" I asked Dana.

"Are you kidding? I can barely get a lock through the interference."

Zur fired again, skimming our shields. The ship rocked.

We continued forward slowly, and Zur veered off and made for the far side of the Swarm. Nirf increased speed, taking us into thicker regions of flying boulders.

Zur fired again, twice. More rock fragmented.

Dana stared intently into her scope. Suddenly her fingers stabbed out at her controls, and the complete bank of four laser heads lanced out. Three crimson beams intercepted rocks and spent their energy blasting them to dust. The fourth hit Zur's ship.

"You'll pay for that." Zur's voice was as chilling as I remembered.

Nirf increased speed again, as Zur's ship approached the blurred edges of the Swarm.

A flotilla of four GalPol cruisers flashed into life on the scanners, closing in on the Swarm. Zur's ship turned tightly, diving back into the churning rocks.

Dana fired again, but a huge rock, kilometres across, came between us.

"Where's Zur?" Drew asked impatiently as minutes went by without any sight of him.

The giant asteroid slowly spun round towards us. A glowing patch, trailing sparkling debris, showed where Zur's ship had impacted the surface. His ship was going nowhere.

*

The GalPol ships spent almost a day combing the Swarm for energy signals or signs of life, but found nothing. We pulled out of the Swarm and headed for Simkrall base. Our sensors were not as sensitive as a GalPol cruiser's, so we left them to it.

On the base, Gligon seemed to know everyone again, and quickly arranged for us to travel to the ruins that Zur had been so intent on visiting.

We landed Sijambo a kilometre away on a flat, rocky surface, and took the hovomat across the moss-covered terrain to the ruins. They did not look very impressive. There were half a dozen crumbling buildings that looked to have been made of artificial building materials probably hundreds of years earlier. I trod carefully through the debris that was scattered among the walls, following the signal to the source that had answered Kralo Zur's hail.

A shattered metal hatch led into a deep basement that was damp and slippery with moss and covered in inches of water. At the centre of the dim room, a slick black cabinet hummed with life, flashing a row of amber lights. I stared at it, bemused.

Nirf examined it with a portable analyser.

"It is as old as the ruins," he reported, "Around seven hundred years."

I whistled. "And still operational."

"What does it do?" Drew asked.

"It appears to be a communication device, for sending signals through H space."

That was impressive. We had no comparable technology that could do that.

I frowned.

"Who is it signalling?" I asked.

End Part 6.

Bio: Gareth D Jones is unofficially the second most widely translated science fiction short story author in the world, having been published in 35 languages. He's a father of five, two of whom have also been published in Aphelion, and lives in the UK where he writes science fiction, fuelled by copious amounts of tea.

E-mail: Gareth D Jones

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