The main door of the Krœnos closed behind them. Cavah could hardly contain her captain. Of course, he would take care of her, but it wasn't very easy if she didn't want to be taken care of.
"Spirit, take off. I don't care which way," Cavah ordered as they headed for sickbay.
"No, take me to the Command Post."
"Are you crazy?! You're in no condition."
"That's an order, Cavah! I've got to notify the Academy."
Cavah reluctantly agreed, as the ship once again vibrated beneath their footsteps. It was almost reassuring to know they were in space.
As soon as they arrived at the Command post, Skylar slumped into her seat. She sat upright to convey a certain presence before contacting Siirus. Cavah took her place at the Communication post.
"Contact the Admiral. On screen."
"At your command."
A few seconds later, the Admiral's face appeared on the large window. A first for Cavah.
"Captain Hogan, what brings about this call?"
"It's not a matter of courtesy, I'm afraid..". she replied weakly.
"What's happening?" he suddenly asked, concerned.
"My mission led me to Zars' Moon, Zetania. But there's been a problem, a significant problem... Zars has invaded its Moon, and there's currently a genocide taking place, Admiral."
"Zetania is federated but has its own system; Zars has no right to invade its Moon! we haven't heard of this project."
"Yet it is underway, and it's happening right now. They don't recognize the authority of the Academy; I've tried my best."
"So Zars is outlawed. A genocide, you said?"
"Zarsian soldiers kill on sight, regardless of the person. Female, male, undecided, non-binary, or child, it doesn't matter to them. Admiral, I beg you, you must intervene."
A silence.
"And we will intervene; I will deploy Intervention Ships. Genocide is prohibited, just like invading a planet without the direct orders of the Admiral and Siirus. Zars acted according to their... What's happening to you?!" exclaimed the Admiral, seeing his Captain's face contort in pain.
"It's nothing...
"You're injured. Who did this to you?"
"A Zarsian soldier..."
"Oh. The situation is getting complicated."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Skylar.
"Unauthorized invasion, genocide, and now aggravated violence against a representative of authority. Zars won't get away with this, Captain."
"But..."
"We'll handle Zars, cut in the Admiral. You will get medical treatment and complete your mission. This matter is no longer your concern."
"Admiral."
"Captain Hogan, I'm well aware that Humans have difficulty following orders, but for once, follow these. Stay alive and finish your mission. Zars is no longer your problem."
A new silence fell. Skylar hesitated for a moment before sighing, resigned, and responding.
"At your command..."
And the conversation ended. Zars was no longer her problem, as he had said, and he was not wrong. She had kept her word; it was time to refocus on the Last Protocol.
"Spirit set course for Plantia."
"At your command, Captain."
"Cavah..."
"Yes?" he asked, approaching her.
" I'm going to lose consciousness in a few moments; could you kindly take me to the infirmary?"
He didn't respond and took her in his arms. It was a peculiar way of making a request. Either she was losing patience, or she was polite—no middle ground. He obeyed and led her to the infirmary. Following Spirit's instructions, he did his best to care for her, but neither of them was a doctor. Monitoring her vital functions was the priority. Plantia was still far away. While waiting for Skylar to recover, Cavah found himself having to manage the ship.
Guora...
Skylar was breathing heavily; the fever seemed to have soared.
The Clan de Maginas...
She tossed and turned, cold sweats, memories lying in the corner of her mind.
They traverse the Galaxy... they are swindlers... criminals...
Cavah and Spirit had done their best to care for her.
They came to my planet...
Guora, they had been there, that's what Deayh Prev had said.
Never cross paths with the Clan de Maginas... Promise me...
She should have listened.
Skylar woke up not with a start but gently; her head ached, heavy; her vision was blurred and fuzzy, like the morning after a heavily indulgent evening. She blinked several times; she was in the infirmary.
Guora...
"Guora!" she exclaimed, sitting up this time.
It seemed like she had been stabbed; her wound was pulling terribly.
"You should be asleep," Spirit intervened without waiting.
"Spirit. How long have I been out?"
"Surprisingly, only a few hours."
"Where is Cavah?"
"Still at the Command post... Captain, I strongly advise you to stay here."
Skylar had stood up, with difficulty. She disliked lying in bed doing nothing. And something had distressed her, a dream, a memory... Something.
"I need to get out, Spirit."
"Captain..."
"Don't worry."
Spirit knew perfectly well that it was futile to argue with the Captain; if there's one thing he had learned the hard way about humans, it's that they were extremely stubborn.
Skylar emerged from the infirmary with a groan. They had done their best, but she was in so much pain. She realized she was still fully dressed; at least, Cavah had the decency to leave her that way. She walked slowly towards her quarters and put on a loose gray shirt with black leggings and thick socks. Skylar noticed that her wound had been clumsily treated, but it would do. She would take something for the pain, and it would be fine.
In 10 minutes, she finally reached the Command post. When the door opened, Cavah turned and looked at her, more than surprised.
"Don't look at me like that..." she said again, groaning.
"What are you doing here?! you should be in the infirmary!" he replied, helping her to sit in her seat.
"I did try to reason with her, but she's been wandering around the ship for 10 minutes now," intervened Spirit.
"It's okay, it's okay. I'm fine."
"Spirit?"
"Her body temperature is unusually high."
"Do you know the planet Guora, Cavah?" Skylar asked to cut short the conversation.
Cavah had sat back at the helm; he turned towards her. For a moment, she seemed elsewhere.
"I don't think so, why?"
"It's a picturesque planet, far from everything, with plains as far as the eye can see."
"It must be... beautiful?"
A silence.
"I don't know, I've never been there."
"I don't understand," Cavah replied, visibly confused.
"Some time ago, I met a Guoranian, long before our encounter; he told me that Maginas and his Clan had visited his planet, that they were doing business there. But why Guora? why would Maginas go to a planet as desolate as this, lost in the far reaches of the galaxy?"
"Maginas's mind is beyond our understanding, Captain. I don't think these are the kind of questions we need to ask."
"Possible..."
"How did you come to meet the Guoranian?"
"It's a story I'll tell you sometime."
Silence fell in the compartment. Cavah turned back and focused on his station, while the Captain was once again lost in her thoughts. Her fever had brought back some memories she had tried to forget; it was in the past, water under the bridge, so why remember it now?
Time passed as she finally obeyed Spirit, who strongly advised her to go back to rest. She would go alone; Cavah already had a lot of work, and he didn't need a babysitter. She took something for the pain and fever, then went to lie down in her quarters. This time, she had no dreams.
Plantia came into view after almost two Earth weeks. Their journey had been very calm... too calm. Something was going on behind her back, but she didn't know what.
Douar had left as soon as Fr’ehe had given him the order. They were only five, including him, but it was more than enough. He had said that a Ship from the Academy would go to Plantia to gather information about the Clan of Maginas from Julius. Bad idea. Fr’ehe had given him a free hand to convince Julius not to say anything. So he would do what needed to be done.
Douar had waited to see the Academician's Ship depart; now he had to precede it by a few days at least, but even his onboard computer couldn't predict the route he would take, much to his chagrin. He could very well arrive before them. So Douar had instructed his crew to boost the heart of the Ship.
Time passes differently when traveling in space; each species has its own way of seeing time pass. Luckily, Douar's crew were all of the same species. In their perception of time, almost 12 days had passed. With luck, the Academician and his pilot had not yet arrived.
Plantia. A relatively calm planet, a good neighborhood in the Galaxy. It was a good place to live. That's why Julius Shayne had decided to retire there. It almost saddened Douar to have to bring him back to all of this, but everyone eventually sees their past resurface sooner or later. Julius had built his home on the Third Hill in the remotest part of the planet. It was literally the third hill in the sector. The only neighboring village was kilometers away.
Douar and his crew landed not far from the residence. From the sky, everything seemed so calm. He could even see Julius working in his field, but no Academy Ship was visible; that was good news. As soon as he spotted the Ship, he recognized it immediately. His tranquility was over. Fr’ehe was back.
"I'm going out," informed Douar. "I'm taking Elise with me. You three, stay here, be ready to take off if there's trouble."
"I thought Fr’ehe didn't want the Academician to know we were here?" asked one of the three Togusins.
"And he won't know, but we have to be ready for anything."
"Understood."
Armed, Elise and Douar barely had time to step outside when Julius stood right in front of them, gun in hand.
"Hey there!" exclaimed Douar, preventing Elise from drawing hers. "Is that how you greet your old friends, Julius?"
"Only those who want to kill me. Where is Fr’ehe?"
"Not here."
"Then turn around and leave."
"I'm afraid that's not possible, Julius," said Douar as he and Elise were now dangerously close to his weapon.
"Fr’ehe isn't here, but he's the one sending us," Elise continued.
"I don't care! leave!"
"Lower your weapon, or it's going to end badly," Douar replied.
"I said, leave!"
But Julius didn't have time to continue; Elise disarmed him in less than a second and struck him on the head to make him fall to the ground. Togusins rarely used their fists to fight; they loved weapons of all kinds. Elise probably wouldn't have needed Julius's weapon to knock him down, but it wasn't fun with just her fists. Julius wasn't the most imposing of the three; he knew when to give up a fight.
"What do you want? I have nothing left to offer you," he said resignedly as he remained on the ground.
"You have one last thing to offer us," Douar replied as he helped him up with some difficulty. "Let's talk, shall we?"
Julius led them without much joy into his house; it was strangely beautiful and soothing. The three of them sat in the living room, each in front of a steaming cup of tea.
"It's a beautiful home you've built for yourself here."
"Fr’ehe let me go. He let me go! what should I do..."
"Calm down, Ju," said Elise. "We're not going to kill you."
"In probably a short while, a Ship from the Academy will land here, on board an Academician and his pilot. They will ask you questions about the Clan of Maginas and how to find them."
"Maginas?"
"You know where to find him, don't you?" Elise asked.
"Not exactly, but I know how. We're still in contact from time to time. But why would the Academy want this information?"
"It doesn't matter; anyway, you're going to lie to them," Douar replied.
"Lie? to the Academy?!"
"It's also for your own good, Julius, what do you prefer? lying to the Academician or having the Clan of Maginas on your tail when they find out you helped the Academy find them?"
A silence. Julius knew very well that both choices meant death. It was not a good idea to have the Academy on his tail, nor the Clan of Maginas. It was like choosing between two deadly diseases...
"We'll make it simpler, Julius," Douar intervened, pointing his weapon at him when he took too long to respond. "Either you lie to them, or you die."
"Douar!" shouted one of the crew members who stayed on the Ship through his earpiece. "We have a problem! an Academy Ship just entered the atmosphere!"
"Doma. Shut everything down," he ordered. "Julius?"
"Okay..."
"Where can we hide?" asked Elise as they got up hastily.
"Behind," he replied, pointing to a dull curtain hiding the view of a bedroom.
This is not at all the kind of day Julius had expected to live when he woke up this morning, he thought, as he watched his former comrades hide behind the curtain of his room.
"Plantia. Truly picturesque," remarked Cavah as the ship entered the atmosphere.
"As Fr'ehe had said. Where is this famous Third Hill?"
"If I'm not mistaken, we're almost there."
"Good. Meet me at the entrance."
Skylar promptly left the Command post and went to get a weapon for herself and one for Cavah. Fr'ehe had mentioned that they would have fewer problems here, but she had learned that trust is earned over time.
Plantia looked remarkably like her home, but she found it less charming and, above all, lacking in water and forest. No matter how many planets she had seen so far, none had made her forget about Earth.
She put on her black leather jacket and holstered her weapon on her thigh. She liked to have it within reach when she didn't know where she was going. The first time she boarded the Krœnos, she would never have thought she'd need to use a weapon. And yet...
Cavah landed the ship almost without a hitch, snapping her out of her thoughts. He joined her at the entrance shortly after. He, too, had opted for black clothes. She could have made a somewhat dubious joke about their funereal destiny, but it wasn't the time. She opened the door.
"Who are you?" Julius asked without waiting.
He knew very well who they were, hence the fact that he had welcomed them without a weapon. But they had to keep up appearances to avoid being killed by Douar afterward.
"I think... I think I know this ship," Cavah whispered in Skylar's ear, pointing to the second ship not far from theirs.
"Is it yours? this ship?" she asked.
Julius Shayne seemed confused for a moment. Whose ship? he didn't own any anymore. Fr'ehe's ship, obviously!
"Yes, who else would it be? who are you?" he responded defensively.
"Captain Skylar Hogan of the Academic Ship Krœnos, and this is my pilot, Cavah," Skylar said, indicating her Bracelet. "We need to talk."
Hidden behind the curtain, Douar and Élise waited patiently for Julius to deal with the Academic, not without fear that things might go wrong. For them. Fr'ehe had been clear; they must not know they were there. From where they were, they could only hear distant whispers, and finally, footsteps getting closer, and the door opening. They could hear two voices, Julius and another person, who had a higher-pitched voice. The Academic was, therefore, an Academician.
"It's a beautiful home; did you build it?" she asked.
"No. We're only one person here. Please, sit," he said.
They took seats around a low table. He had claimed to live alone, so whose were the other two cups of still hot liquid?
"Are you expecting visitors, Shayne?" she asked calmly.
Cavah looked at her, puzzled. He hadn't noticed the cups yet. But his gaze was fixed on Julius Shayne.
"No, why? I apologize for this welcome; I didn't know you were from the Academy."
"It's nothing."
"What brings you here? how can I be of service to the Academy?"
"I'm looking for the Maginas Clan. Fr'ehe sent me; he said you could help."
"The Maginas Clan?"
"Yes."
Another silence. Skylar had not taken her eyes off Julius, and he, too, stared at her. But for a fraction of a second, he turned his gaze towards the curtain not far from here.
Behind it, Douar and Élise held their breath as much as possible, hands on their weapons. Julius was doing well for now, but everything hinged on this moment.
"Why is the Academy looking for Maginas?" Julius stuttered.
"Not the Academy, just me."
"Why are you looking for Maginas?"
"Don't try to buy time, Shayne," Cavah intervened, who had remained silent until now.
This voice, Douar looked at Élise, it seemed like he knew it, but he wasn't sure from where.
"Do you know where Maginas is?"
It was a question, but she was so sure of herself that it terrified Julius. He didn't want to lie, but he didn't want to get killed either.
"Listen, I don't know what Fr'ehe told you..."
"You don't know where the Clan is?"
"I knew, okay? I knew where Maginas and his Clan were, but not anymore. They change their headquarters very often; I don't know where they are currently."
"Give us their last known location, and we'll manage with that," Cavah affirmed.
Julius swallowed hard.
"On'ee."
"On'ee?" Skylar repeated. "Is that a planet?"
"No, an asteroid in orbit around a ghost planet. Farida. It's not listed, but I can send you its coordinates."
"Please do.
Skylar smiled at him. She gave him the code for her Bracelet so he could send her the coordinates of this famous ghost planet.
"I'll be right back; the Computer is in my room. Excuse me."
Cavah and Skylar nodded and waited. Julius disappeared behind his curtain.
"What are you doing?!" Douar murmured as best as he could, taking him by the collar of his jacket.
"I'm improvising! it's just an old Maginas base; isn't that what you wanted?" he replied in a whisper, looking at each of them.
Meanwhile, Cavah looked at Skylar and whispered to her in turn.
"What's happening? you don't seem satisfied."
"Something's not right. I'm not sure; I'll explain on the ship."
Silence fell, and Julius seemed to be taking far too much time.
"Is it good?" he finally called from the other room. "Did you receive it?"
Skylar looked at her Bracelet and confirmed that she did. Their momentary host returned to the living room. They thanked him and left. He closed the door behind them. Douar and Élise could now leave the room.
"I have to admit, Julius, that was well played!" Douar said, putting his hand on his shoulder.
"Now that it's done, you won't come back here ever again?"
"You finished your last job," Élise replied.
"We won't come back."
They waited for the Academic to take off before continuing on their way. Fr'ehe would be pleased.
"Spirit, take off," Skylar ordered as they just entered the ship. "Get into orbit, border protocol."
"As you command."
"What's happening?" Cavah asked as they ran to the Command post.
"It wasn't his ship, Cavah; there was someone else with him!"
"What?"
"I'd say even two people! There were two cups, in addition to his, still steaming on the coffee table. They were behind the curtain, watching," she said, settling into her seat.
"Did he lie to us?" Cavah exclaimed, who was taking his place in the Pilot seat.
"I don't know, maybe in part. The ship, Cavah, you said you recognized it."
"I'm not sure. It could very well be his."
"No. He hesitated when I asked if it was his. He said no when I asked if he was expecting visitors when there were two extra cups, and he took way too long to send those damn coordinates. I think he lied to protect himself. Now we just have to find out who was threatening him. Who doesn't want us to find Maginas?"
"What do we do?"
"We wait. The ship probably won't take long to take off. Spirit."
"Intercept?" the Computer asked.
"Now you're speaking my language!"
The more days passed, the more Cavah was surprised by the Captain's reactivity, but also by how easily the Computer and she seemed to understand each other. Maybe she had really managed to forge a connection with a machine?
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