April 6 - Paquin
It has been four months since my meeting with Ardra. With the exception of a few short excursions, that time has been spent here on Paquin.
It has been nice to stay in one place for a change. Walking through the same streets every day. Settling into routines. Looking up and seeing the same sky. It couldn't possibly last of course, but it was nice just the same.
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Ceasar had to work late again tonight.
Shift work can be hard on a couple. Fortunately, we have an understanding of the demands of each other's job. Also I had a greater flexibility in my hours than he did and could often match my shift to his, or at least overlap things enough that we were not just passing each other in the hallway twice a day.
I actually enjoyed the later hours. They gave me a chance to work uninterrupted.
An empty office. I could dress casually, turn on a little opera and listen to some of my favorite arias while I worked well into the night.
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A package had arrived from Section 6. An inscription on an artifact on Araxes needed deciphering.
Since the restoration of the Laandsrat, after the assassination of Jade, the local government of Araxes appeared to be in a weakened state. Militias ruled the desert. Local government officials were either missing or powerless to stop them. The violence culminated with raids on spice mining facilities from a group calling themselves the Ta Seti, and originating from the home system of the Myrmidon Order.
The artifact, located in front of the local Magistrate's keep, was thought to be connected somehow.
I examined the photo and supporting documents. I wrote the sequence of glyphs on my board and stood back to consider them, as the aria began.
Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen,
Tod und Verzweiflung
Tod und Verzweiflung flammet um mich her!
This cluster of symbols would fit the pattern of the name Ta Seti. We will start with that possibility and then match those letters - A E I S T - to the corresponding glyphs in the rest of the inscription.
From there, we can deduce the definite article and that gives us the letter H.
SI is a common reversal and the first T could be missing or damaged. That would mean the first part of the inscription reads: "(T)his is the Ta Seti."
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Verstoßen sei auf ewig,
verlassen sei auf ewig,
zertrümmert sei'n auf ewig
alle Bande der Natur
Verstoßen
verlassen
und
zertrümmert
alle Bande der Natur
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Now, the two letter words.
One starts with T. It must be followed with O.
Another starts with I. Given that we have assigned S and T that leaves either N or F for its partner. Frequency studies would support letter N.
We now have eight letters.
The sixth and tenth word are the same. They end with E.
I closed my eyes for the second coloratura....
The waves of music washing over me. My blood began to sing.
I opened my eyes. Thrilled by the powerful aria, the letters and glyphs danced for me. Each one stepping forward to reveal their true nature. Each one obediently stepping back as I directed them to a new location.
The double letters in the final word now drew my attention. Frequency again supports FF or LL. Double L would give us "hello". The final W could be a scribal error or a phonetic determinative. If the final word is "hello" then the penultimate word could be "say", giving us the Y.
Hört! Hört! Hört! Rachegötter, hört der Mutter Schwur!
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The aria was over. Quietness descended upon the room.
I rested for a moment in the silence.
I touched the board erasing the translation, leaving only the original script. Then I read the inscription aloud for no one to hear.
"This is the Ta Seti. We come in peace. We send this out to say hello."
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