Galactic Slut Ch. 08

I'd had to deal with this sun arc reference before. As near as I could tell, one microspan was about 4 hours. That meant it had about 6 days before it died. We were three days out from Ralint, as near as I could tell.

[We should make it in time. Has the bud been moved?]

[UNKNOWN. UNJOINED BUD'S SENSORY INPUT IS MINIMAL.]

[Why has the bud been unjoined for so long?]

[SO ALL THAT WAS WILL BE.]

How typical. If it (they?) didn't want to say why, just say so. Why did things have to be so…

Time resumes its normal flow

I hate the way that works. It seemed like the pain had left for a while and now it was back. Never mind that there had been nearly no passage of time while I communicated with the base collective, it felt like there had been. The rest of the Kroklin session was an exercise in agony. I wasn't aware of him stopping as the pain continued beyond the actual whipping. The first clue I had was falling into Brusjin's arms when the tractor web shut off. I passed out soon after that as Crystal took control and rendered me unable to feel any more pain.

I woke up much later, my body blessedly not in pain. Brusjin wasn't there. That wasn't a surprise, given how small the room we were in was. I rose and dressed, then left to find my husband. He was in what passed for the crew lounge; a small room no more than four meters with a table that folded up against one wall.

"Brusjin, we have to talk."

"I won't allow this to happen again, Susan, you have my word."

"No, it's not about Kroklin. Do you remember how I was able to communicate with Crystal for the first time because of the pain of Kroklin?" He nodded. "It happened again, only with the base collective."

"You were able to communicate with the entire base collective? That's amazing. What did they say?"

"They said that a solo bud was in danger on Ralint. Specifically, the Jewel of Peace." I raised my hand to forestall his interruption. "The Jewel's life support system, for lack of a better term, has been sabotaged on purpose. I think the Hellfire group is trying to steal the artifacts and may not realize what the Jewel is."

"How can they not know what it is? They've been using Voratex crystals for decades. They'd know a crystal if they saw it."

"Maybe not. I don't think the field troops are very knowledgeable about what the group does. If they don't have someone in leadership on the planet right now, they could very well be unawares. The collective says that the bud will die in four days. The only way we can save it is to let it implant in someone. They want me to."

"But you already have a crystal. How will that work?"

"They said it wouldn't be a problem. Brusjin, we'll only have a day after we arrive. How are we going to find it?"

"I don't know. We'll have to play it by ear. We don't know what the circumstances are on the planet. Until we know more, we can't make any plans. We'll do our best."

The rest of the trip was uneventful, though a bit tense with my recent history with the Captain. We came out of Dolman drive with the usual gut wrenching and soon found ourselves approaching the planet. We used the ships communication system to listen in on the news from the planet. The news was shocking. Three of the five artifacts had been stolen; the Jewel of Peace, the Map of the Heavens, and the Tear of the Prophet. Security around the remaining two had been intensified. The planet was in an uproar and was convinced that aliens were responsible. Little did they know.

"Brusjin, they've stolen three of them already. What'll we do?"

"We have no way of tracking them. We don't even know if the same group is responsible for stealing all three."

[SAME GROUP IS RESPONSIBLE. TIME SEPERATIONS COINCIDE WITH AIRSHIP TRANSIT TIMES.]

[Did you learn the airship schedules when we were last here?]

[YES. NEXT TARGET SHOULD BE SWORD OF RALINT IN ONE DAY.]

"Crystal says that the same group is responsible and should go for the Sword next. It analyzed the theft times and airship transit schedules. They should try in one planetary day. We need to stop them."

"How can we stop them? Do you have a plan?"

"No, but we know what we're up against and the locals don't. This is what the attacks by the seventh race are about; to keep the Federation away long enough to get someone here and steal the artifacts. We're all the Federation has."

"Okay. I'll have the Captain take us to Trilian."

The Captain let us off where we asked. He was somewhat subdued; almost guilty looking. With a little luck he'd rethink his obsession with causing people pain. The museum was under strict security. There was a cordon around the building and nearly 100 police manning the barricades. The problem they were having was that there was no sign of the thief's entry and exit. The last artifact was stolen from under the noses of a dozen guards.

Brusjin had a theory on how the thief was getting in. The Hellfire group had access to military hardware. Federation marines used stealth fields for special operations. The field, while it couldn't last long due to power usage, could bend light around the wearer. Normally, that would mean the marine couldn't see out either, but the equipment came with a sonic array that let the marine know his surrounding by echolocation.

Such a device would be undetectable by Ralinti technology. Grankt's specialized equipment could detect the presence of a sonic field and let him see the perpetrator. He just had to be within range of the thief while the field was working. Trying to cooperate with the local authorities wasn't an option. We'd been looked on with suspicion ever since we landed. Even now, a dozen police were watching us outside the barricade.

We knew it wasn't the best shot we had, but it was the only one. We scanned the area, hoping to catch the thief before anything happened. That wasn't to be. There was a sudden burst of shouting from inside the museum and the Ralinti manning the perimeter turned towards the entrance. We couldn't see anything, and apparently, neither could the locals. Grankt, however, detected something and brought a piece of his equipment to bear. As he activated the device, several of the local police yelled that he had a gun and opened fire with their slug throwers. Their ten millimeter slugs weren't able to penetrate his body armor, and in fact, I'm not sure he noticed being hit.

His device (it wasn't a weapon, exactly), did have an effect. Just on our side of the barricade, there was a flickering light and a Felpur flashed into view. She was holding the Sword of Ralint in one hand and another weapon in the other. I recognized her clothing as a lesser form of Grankt's body armor and knew the locals would only be able to stop her if they were very lucky. She spotted us and drew up her weapon at the same time Grankt drew his dual. The laser impacted the Felpur's weapon as it discharged and the barrel melted, rendering it useless.

The damage had been done, however. Grankt was frozen in place, enveloped in some kind of webbing that was tightening as I watched. I didn't have time to watch more, as the thief drew a second weapon and pointed it at Brusjin. It was then that Crystal took control without asking and I leapt towards the catwoman. I could feel my body changing rapidly as I flew through the air. My vision changed drastically and my fingernails again extended into claws. I could see a faint pulsing in the Felpur's harness.

[BUD IS MINUTES FROM DEATH. IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED.]

My claws tore into her harness, exposing hidden pockets in it containing the other artifacts. They spilled onto the ground, except for the Jewel, which I grabbed as I forced the Felpur to the ground. I couldn't see what happened next, as I rolled to my knees and pressed the bud to my chest. Unlike my joining with Crystal, there was no pain or loss of control in my body. The process took all of three seconds and I was back in control of my body and looked back.

I was just in time to see a pulse of energy radiate from the Felpur and all the locals nearby slump to the ground. Brusjin, Grankt and I didn't, and Brusjin leapt towards the thief and started wrestling over the Sword. Grankt's body armor flashed white and the webbing fell apart, melted in places (I hadn't known it could do that). He moved towards Brusjin and the Felpur as they struggled. I, not being much of a fighter on my own, spotted the map and scooped it up. The Felpur shoved Brusjin away, knocking him into Grankt. Grankt's scather flashed as he drew it. I caught a glimpse of the tear shaped artifact in Brusjin's hands as Grankt swung his scather with one hand, holding Brusjin behind him with the other. It slashed through the Felpur's weapon, causing a discharge of energy.

In desperation, the Felpur pointed the Sword of Ralint at Grankt and pressed the trigger. There was a flash of light and all three vanished in a bubble of brilliant white energy that collapsed in on itself. I heard screaming from nearby and didn't realize that it was my own voice crying in anguish at the death of my husband and love. Brusjin, Grankt, the thief, and the artifacts were all gone, destroyed by the progenitor weapon.

Thanks again Dani for the wonderful proofreading job. I'm running slow due to the busy teaching schedule this quarter. I hope to speed back up over the winter break and into next quarter. Thank you all for your patience.