The Pillar of Fire

July 13 - Al Raqis

Several months ago we engaged an individual to work deep undercover gathering information on the various factions on Al Raqis. She had been with the service before and had taken the opportunity to re-enlist that our operations in the area provided.

We met privately, to protect her from disclosure, and to isolate her from other lines. Extraction protocols were established in the event of counter measures. And as the situation in the region shifted, we had a well positioned asset in place.

-----

"Welcome aboard the HN 'Had One Too Many', Major." said my contact.

"Thank you," I replied with a smile.

"It's a small little junk ship," she added, "but it's good cover."

"It is a fine looking ship," I agreed, "for that purpose."

"Take a seat," she invited.

I took the seat beside her. She reached for the controls and pressed a series of switches before pulling back on the control column. The craft responded well, and soon we were gliding towards a solid looking station tucked away inside an asteroid field.

"This facility was established a month ago," explained my contact, "and is still unknown to the general public."

"It is well concealed," I commented.

"Very," she agreed as she docked with the station, "It's hiding yet another thing."

-----

We talked as we walked down the long dark corridor from the docking bay to the central hub.

My contact began, "So, how have things been since last we met?"

"Progressing slowly," I replied. The slow blade....

She chuckled, "Lots of shifts here. Met with an odd drone who traded me files for water."

"Good," I remarked, "What have you found out?"

She explained, "It wanted Lab 81 files for a pretty supply of water. I used my contacts to obtain them, and I gave them to her."

"Tell me about the drone."

"It was short," she replied, "Had the figure of a woman. Walked with the silliest posture. Had a pinkish beige frame and spoke with odd noises. Affiliated itself with the space guild. Said it would be in further contact."

"And it wanted Lab 81 files?" I asked for clarification.

She nodded, "Or rather, the files I could get from Lab 81."

"Good work," I said, "Keep it on the line. Track its movements. See if you can find out where it is based."

It would help if we could track the Arudra drone to its land base or pick up point. And the Lab 81 medical database had already been compromised. It could do little damage now.

My contact continued, "I also overheard the name of Ardra or something in the courthouse. I believe it was Miss Lily who said this." She nodded, "I believe it is after our scientific developments, but that's just me being paranoid. Shall I show you some of our work?"

"Yes, please," I replied.

-----

We walked through the station to an observation deck.

From the viewing area I could see a freighter. Dark and lifeless. An ugly hulk of a thing.

In the distance, an orbital satellite. Panels extended. Delicate and graceful. It reminded me of a stinging insect.

My contact pointed, "See that cargo ship?

"Yes."

"I give you, The Acclamator anti-ship weapon!" she said with a smile. And like a magician, she made a grand gesture with her hand.

A pillar of light streamed forth from the satellite striking the cargo ship precisely.

The craft ruptured into chunks, which in turn, resolved themselves rapidly into smaller and smaller pieces. The flames were quick as the only flammable atmosphere came from the ship itself.

The cargo ship was there, and then suddenly it was gone.

It was a fine demonstration.

"Well done," I remarked. "Do you have the designs and specs for me?"

My contact nodded. "We're also working on a short range personal teleportation device," she added.

We stood looking at the emptiness, the space that had been a ship.

She continued. "So while we've been tinkering, how have you been?"

"Good thank you... it always takes some time to adjust to the heat when I arrive."

She nodded, "That it does. That's why I prefer it here. This station moves everyday."

"And you have the results from all testing?" I asked.

"Oh yes," she replied enthusiastically and she gave me the hard numbers. "Granted we consumed enough power to run Al Raqis for a year, but it was damned amazing."

A cloud of dust hovered off the port side of the station, the remains of the cargo ship, sparkling with the rays of the sun.

"Well Major, I will follow that drone. Consider it found."

"Thank you Lieutenant," I replied.

The Land of Sand

What will be...

-----

"Mama?"

"Yes, Linnea?"

"Will you tell me a story?"

"Of course, my love."

-----

"Once upon a time there was a little girl named Audrey. She lived on the Moon with her Papa.

"Her Papa was a very clever man. He gathered all the smartest people he could find and together they built many wonderful, marvelous things.

"They built people made of clockworks. They built machines that could squeeze the light. And they built a magic talking box.

"Audrey liked the magic talking box. It was her friend. They spent very many, fine hours playing together, imagining what Audrey would do when she grew up.

"Then one day, Audrey became very, very sick and her Papa became terribly worried. He tried everything he could to make Audrey better. But no matter what he tried, it did not work, and one sad, grey day Audrey died.

"Her Papa was so sad that he locked himself inside a big, shiny ball and went to sleep among the stars.

"The soldiers in purple came and took all the wonderful, marvelous things away. All the light squeezers and the clockwork people. They took everything. Everything, except the magic talking box.

"You see the magic talking box was clever too. And it went far, far away from the soldiers, to hide in a land of sand and worms..."

-----

What is now...

My shuttle entered the atmosphere with a shudder and a roar. Flames licked the craft's metal skin and danced across the viewscreen. Dragon's breath. Within moments the conflagration lifted to reveal a wide expanse of desert sand.

-----

July 13 - Al Raqis

"Two ships in the sand? And more than that?"

It was the voice of Chief Magistrate Joan al Jofar.

I slipped inside the courtroom and settled at the back, close to the exit, near the stairs.

The room was full of officials, witnesses and onlookers. A tribunal of judges sat at the bench at the far side of the chamber, each in the regalia of the position characteristic of her own culture.

The Chief Magistrate presided over the affair. Ms. Calina Tereshchenko to her left. Lady Rashad to her right. The symbolism was clear: here was a Magistrate who balanced the offworld interests with the needs of the native population.

In the witness box sat LilyBell Snoodle giving testimony.

"There some ships that lives in the corner," replied Lily, "They hide."

Lady Reiko Rashad addressed the witness, "The ship of the laughing man, what did it do when it came in so fast? Just joy ride?"

"It come in by other ship that down in sand by town," said Lily, "Sit and laugh. I not want him to see me."

The Magistrate leaned over towards Lady Rashad and softly warned, "Be careful about leading the witness."

Lily continued, "Ship out in desert, it gots guns and bombs like on it. It disabled. Like, buried ...but smoking and not going no place, no time soon. It smell like that lady." She pointed at a woman in the front row of the courtroom. "There nuffing in it," she added.

Lady Rashad looked at a picture she was holding and addressed the woman in the front row, "Novara, is this your ship?"

Novara replied, "I believe she is referring to the IMMORTAL class Gunship I lost the other day, yes."

"It not losted," corrected Lily, "It crash. Like, it was in somefing like fight. I not like the man laughings laugh. It sound like when a bad man making sure of himself. Like HA HA HA."

"I see," drawled Lady Rashad.

"Miss Calina hair turn white," LilyBell whispered, then in a louder voice, she asked the judges, "Do I gots to go to jail?"

Lady Rashad blinked. "No, Lily, you don't."

"'Cause last time I had to sit in court," she explained, "I had to go to jail. Okay. Can I go out and play now?"

Lady Rashad turned to the Chief Magistrate.

"You don't have anything to worry about LilyBell," the Magistrate assured her.

"That green man," added Lily, "In case him come any more and spy, I want to go make sure nuffing more blows up."

"One last question," said the Magistrate.

"Yes Ma'am."

"The last ship you spoke about. How long had it been there? Ummm...LilyBell.... Where did it go?"

"The other one?" asked Lily, "Close in one or one out in sand way out by my room?"

"Yes," replied the Magistrate, "The one you showed us the picture of."

"I not know where it go," answered Lily and she began to play with a piece of shiny paper. "It not there very much time."

"It's not there now?" asked the Magistrate, "Who took it away?"

"Miss," began Lily, "it still smoking hot when I finded it. It...still hot. Smoke. I not steal that ship. I only ta...I make fings safe." She started to cry. "I go find it if you wants me to, You Majesty. I good." She turned and looked imploringly at Lady Rashad.

"That's okay, LilyBell," said the Magistrate, "You may be excused from the witness stand."

"Lily, no one is saying you took the ship. It's okay," Calina Tereshchenko added gently.

Meanwhile, Consulari Raghilda, sitting in the Zenobian council seat, buried her face in the palms of her hands.

As Lily climbed out of her chair, the Chief Magistrate looked at her list. "I don't see any other witnesses on my list."

"I just looking for Miss Ardra 'cause I tell her I come back wif the parts," explained Lily as she scrambled down the aisle towards the exit.

There were smiles on the faces in the crowd. The Reverend Mother started to giggle before she could help it, then clamped a hand over her mouth.

They don't see the danger, these noble lords and ladies. The danger that surrounds Lily like a cloud. They see a child-like being with an amusing manner, and they chuckle. They just don't see it.

The Magistrate spoke. "Since we have heard all of the testimony we shall adjourn for deliberations. I have to remind all witnesses not to leave the planet." She struck her wooden mallet on the desk in front of her and called, "Order. Court is adjourned."

And with that the assembly rose, some with a quiet nod, others with a soft sigh. One man stretching his legs. It was the end of Day Three of an inquiry into an incident involving a possible illegal salvage operation and more federationist violence.

Once the Chief Magistrate left the chamber the rest of us were free to leave. As the crowd gathered and began the slow exodus, a voice greeted me cheerfully, "Hello, Ms. Pepper."

It was Novara Narstrom. The local involved in the alleged illegal salvage.

I gave a nod and a smile. A polite gesture, revealing little or nothing to anyone who happened to observe.

"I do believe we have some catching up to do," she added, "If you are not busy perhaps we could talk after you leave the courthouse?"

And then she was gone.

-------

I stood and watched as the crowd mingled on its way to the door.

The Reverend Mother looked up from closely examining her manicure, "I don't know about anyone else but I found the proceedings... very interesting. Dare I say, entertaining even?"

Lady Rashad addressed a woman next to her, "Sam, you must meet the Reverend Mother, here. She is also Desert Born."

"Yes, Haanim," replied the woman, an eyebrow lifting in a question.

The Reverend Mother bowed her head as her hands moved in the traditional greeting.

Passing by this group, Calina Tereshchenko, wearing a snow white judicial wig, reached up, and rubbing the side of her head, remarked, "This thing is hot and heavy. How did they wear such things all the time?"

Consulari Raghilda, walking with her, added, "I did not consider that I should go wig shopping. I will talk to Beaumont..."

The Reverend Mother heard Calina's comment and with a smile suggested, "Encouragement for the brevity of government, perhaps."

"...but I was mostly just trying to keep Miss LilyBell calm and focused," added the Consulari.

"I appreciate that," replied Calina, "Thank you Jai. I think the wig was rather upsetting to her."

"Distracting," said the Consulari, "I think it is a side effect of her core programming."

As the crowd slowly moved on, Lady Rashad lingered and made the formal introduction. "Reverend Mother, Samiira has come to stay, at Morloch."

Samiirah dipped her head respectfully, "Greeting, Reverend Mother."

The Reverend Mother smiled and addressed Lady Rashad, "A welcome addition to your House Milady."

Samiirah regarded the cleric with a distinct glint of curiosity in her eyes.

"Perhaps, Reverend Mother," added Lady Rashad, "you would visit with us in the near future. Sam is from Asady Siq."

The Reverend Mother replied, "Yes, I look forward to perfecting our acquaintance Desert Born... It does my heart good to find one such as you."

Samiirah's eyes crinkled a little as she smiled beneath her veil. "I'm happy to meet another Desert Born as well. And a Reverend Mother? How interesting."

-----

By this point, the crowd had reached the back of the chamber where I stood.

"Hello Major," called Consulari Raghilda.

"Consulari."

Calina Tereshchenko smiled, "Hello Major. Welcome back to Al Raqis."

"Hello Calina...I received your message. Thank you for contacting me."

"You are welcome Major," she replied, "When you have time, please feel free to stop by the Shanjian House. Or after you have rested, I can meet you at the Zenobian Manor House."

"Thank you. I shall be staying a few days."

"Excellent," said the Consulari, joining in, "Mr. Tevya added a couple of books you might like for bedtime reading."

I smiled, "Oh splendid."

Pleasantries exchanged, we wished each other a good night and left to attend to our respective affairs.

-----

[Picture of Al Raqis, courtesy of Serendipity Undercroft]

Connections

June 30

Months after they disappeared without a trace, the Audrey twins have returned home.

This much we can piece together.

On June 18, the first Audrey stepped off a transport in Albion City, and walked into a restaurant near the hospital. Ironic, when you think that I sat at the very same table the day before, drinking coffee and speaking with Calina.

The girl was with an unidentified woman. The security camera pictures are not clear on this point. Restaurant receipts show they ordered bottled water and charged the transaction to the Trade Association. They were last seen heading West towards a local traveller's hostel.

Passenger manifests revealed that the second Audrey arrived two days later, and both girls departed that same day for Paquin. There is no evidence that anyone accompanied them.

The twins travelled with the allotted two bags of 35 kilograms each. No extra luggage. Nothing that required special permits or customs. They had to show prescription forms for their medication.

We know very little else at this time.

I will send Manda to Paquin to examine the children. I want to know if they were altered, changed or harmed in anyway. I will also send some one to speak with the Trade Association.

-----

Meanwhile, analysis of the planetary positions at the time of Lynx's earliest voyage to Hale's Moon has yielded some results.

• Given that when Lynx first arrived on Hale's Moon, he was inside a stasis chamber inside a large cargo container;
  
• And given that in the cargo container was a crate of biohazardous material marked with a script used by the Zenobian scientific community;
• And, if we allow that the crate with those markings had been loaded here, probably from one of the Zenobian trade stations;
  

Then according to the data I obtained from the university's Astrophysics department, the shipment would have passed by Ariel, on its way to the Penglai protostar in the Kalidasa system.

While there was still no evidence of when Lynx's stasis chamber was added to the shipment, it did suggest that Ariel as one possibility.

---

Finally, today I received an encrypted message from Al Raqis. It was from Calina Tereshchenko.

"Major, Please contact me at your earliest possible convenience. Lily has been speaking to me of an Ardra that I believe you may be interested in."