I returned to RNS Luther and sat in my office Lewis had lent to me. It was small, but had a nice view of space off to the side and I can observe the gas giant Sulis below. I take a look at the desk in front of me. The large folder given to me by the ambassador sat off to the side. I hadn't opened it yet. The fear of what I might find in there scared me. He's been gone for 15 years, yet there are at least 10 years worth of documents in here. What has he been up to all this time? And what was he doing that warranted lying to me about it? D reveals himself in the corner of the room and sits in the chair across from me.
"What do we have here?" He asks.
"Paperwork." I say.
"Of? You can't lie to me, Demi."
"It's my father's paperwork."
"Oh cool. Let's see what's inside then."
He reaches for the folder and tries to open it. Instinctively, I don't know why, I press down on the folder to keep it closed. D looks at me, flabbergasted. As if he were completely offended by my actions.
"What the fuck is your problem, Demi?" He yells.
"We are not opening this."
"For what reason? Do you worry you'll find something in there you don't like? Something unsavory, perhaps?"
"No."
"Or do you worry you'll find something that might violate your perception of dad."
In a spark of anger, I throw a punch at him, only for him to catch my fist in his hand and he starts to twist. I yell in pain and he just sits there laughing at me.
"Why? Why are you doing this?"
"Because even though you know who I am, you do not understand. Until you do, I will torture you til the ends of the galaxy. Open…the damn…folder."
My hand starts to shake. Fighting the pain, I reach down, grab the tip of the folder and open it. In that very second, all the pain disappears at once. It wasn't even gradual, it was instantaneous. I look up to notice D is gone.
I return my attention back to the folder. Inside were stacks upon stacks of papers and a packet of drives. There have to be at least ten of them here. They were numbered one, two, three, and so on, but nothing more. I don't know what they are, but I recognize the format. I turn on a disk reader underneath my desk and place the drive inside. The speakers around the office start playing the recording. First, there were signs of fidgeting, like someone was scrambling or moving things around near the point of recording. Then a voice spoke. It was very stern and controlled, but I could hear some pain in it. I couldn't quite explain it but it felt familiar, like I've heard it before.
"Case: 82171. My name is Burk Nassa. It looks like I am required to record this crap for…shit, let me start over."
No way. This is dad's recording?
"Case: 82171. My name is Burk Nassa. This is a documented investigation into the allegations of treason within The Sulis Empire and Republic of Nekomon."
Treason?
"Let's see…" he continues.
"You tell them about the dream yet?" A man yells in the background.
"Shut up Jun! Ok. One year ago, we were contacted by a man named Alex. He wouldn't tell us anything about him, but he suspects that someone has plans to kill him and that they are colluding with someone in Nekomon for help. He didn't want to spook whoever it was, so he recruited us for help. We'll be conducting a full investigation and update accordingly."
The recording shuts off and the disk ejects out of the reader. Alex? He wouldn't be talking about…no. I immediately remove the disk and replace it with the next one labeled "two." The recording starts to play.
"Case: 82171. This is Burk Nassa. We started our investigation with a report we received from the bureau. The disappearance of a scientist six days ago caught our attention. Why the bureau flagged this, I don't know. It feels like we are grabbing for air here. We have been at this for days now with no luck. At one point we were hunting a ship called the MLK Gridlock. I don't know what kind of political fallout would have come out of that if the Meklarans learned we were hunting one of our own, but that went nowhere. We ended up traveling to the Institute of Nekomon Technologies in hopes of trying to get more information. More details to come"
There is immediate static noise for a brief moment before it disappears and I start hearing more voices. There were two other men in the recording. One sounds like dad in terms of mannerisms and voice but not tone. Must be his partner. The other voice was really young. At least half his age. He sounds a bit shaken up.
"Case: 82171. This is Burk. I am here with my partner Jun. This is the questioning of Professor Ion Palmer. Say hello."
"Good morning…sir."
"Good, we will start with the basics and move on. Tell me when you saw Professor Henderson."
"This again, sir? I already told this to the local authorities."
"This is just precautionary."
"And you and the other guys still haven't told me why Federal Investigations is involved. So I'll ask again, is he ok?"
"Ion." said Jun, "We are just asking questions. We cannot tell you anything until we know more. Let's do this instead, Burk. Skip over the intro questions and come back to it later."
"Fine." dad says as he shuffles through the papers for a moment. "What was Henderson working on before his disappearance?"
"Like I told everyone else," he said in an annoyed tone, "He was working on another solution to the Starfire problem."
"Solution?"
"Do I really have to explain this again?"
"Sure." Jun sarcastically says. "For the audience."
Ion sighs in annoyance before taking a deep breath. "You can only generate a certain amount of power to move something through space at jump speed. The bigger the object, the more power you need. You see where this is going?"
"Yes."
"However the invention of the Planetary Transport System or Starfire, changed everything. Planets that were deemed impossible to inhabit, even with the current terraforming technology, suddenly were on the table. Nekomon is a great example. Its government towers are repurposed Starfire engines. Since then, people have been trying to find ways to go bigger, to push science to the absolute limit."
"So he was a pioneer, then?"
"Some would say that. Some would also say he was a lunatic."
"Why?" Dad asked.
Ion pauses for a moment.
"Henderson was researching Starfire's exchange with Jump Space."
Dad and his partner didn't say anything. They were either extremely shocked by the matter or were confused as to what was happening.
"Should we be worried?"
"Not quite. An engine that big cannot enter jump space."
"Really?"
"Think back to the energy rule. Starfire is too big at that scale."
"I see."
"Starfire brought a lot of controversy when it was first invented, but it was extremely important. Hell, we restructured our years around Starfire's invention, it was that important. Henderson was looking more into the positive side. Considering all of the changes we go through, he wanted to see if we could use it to our advantage."
"Science fiction if you ask me. Did he find anything?" Jun asked.
"I don't know. He said he was on the verge of a huge discovery, but he wouldn't tell me what it was."
"Did he tell you anything before he disappeared? Anything? Even the most out of place comment will help."
"Hmm. The only thing I can think of was a comment he made about transporting his data."
"What comment?"
"He had a contact in the Meklar Sector who would help him interpret the data he was collecting. He stopped transporting it through normal means when started thinking he was being followed."
"Followed?"
"Yeah. He had some pilot who works for a Meklaran battleship move the data. I forget the name. Starts with a 'G,' I think. It was a part of the Latverian K. Fleet."
"Latverian? MLK? The Gridlock?"
"What are the chances?" Dad asks.
"Now I am starting to wonder how deep this hole is we are going down."
"Let's go find out."
The recording cuts out and the disk ejects. The hell was that about? I eject the disk and search for the next one in the folder. After finding it, I place it in the reader and it starts to scan. This one acts differently, however. Nothing plays on the other end. In fact, my heart sinks as the disk ejects out of the reader. An alert plays through the speakers.
"Warning, contents of drive could not be read. Ejecting."
No. No, no, no! I place the disk in the reader again. The same message plays. I start to panic. The same error plays over and over and over again, as if a part of me was hoping that the dive could read differently if I re-enter the disk. Nothing changes. Enraged, I throw the folder across the room, crashing into the door and sending papers everywhere. I sat back in my chair and stared into the ceiling.
Seconds later, the door slides open and a voice calls out to me.
"Commander? Are you ok?" It says in a cautious manner.
I push the chair back down to see who it is. To my surprise, Stella pokes her head through the door. She nods and enters the room with Lewis following behind her. Lewis is a bit taken back by the mess. He doesn't say anything, he just observes.
"Did I interrupt something?" Stella asks
Embarrassed, I scramble to try and pick up the papers on the desk but Stella waves her hand and leans on the wall.
"Stella, I am so sorry you had to see this. Wh-what are you doing here?"
"Is everything ok?"
"I…yes. Sorry I feel a bit all over the place."
"Clearly."
"Can I help you? W-what are you doing here?"
The door opens again. This time Dillon sticks his head through the door. He observes the room as well as the papers on the floor and smirks a little.
"Are we ready to go, Star?" He asks
"I'm about to tell her. Hang on."
"Tell me what?" I ask.
Stella walks over the papers and sits in the chair across from me.
"Princess Cadence is gathering people in the castle. She wants you to attend."
"She wants me."
"Yeah she does."
"Wait…right now."
"That's why we are here." Dillon says.
I quickly turn my attention to my outfit, which is the standard uniform I am to wear on the ship, but it's not exactly presentable for a princess.
"I am not exactly in suitable attire."
"You'll be fine. Come on."
Dillon walks back through the door. Stella stands from her seat and starts to follow him out before stopping to wait for me. I head for the door and follow them out, but not before glancing at Lewis who is still staring at the floor and looking back at me.
"I'll clean it up when I get back." I said.
Right…" He says and closes the door behind us.
We head to the hangar where their ship is waiting for us. Two SDF officers open the doors and allow us aboard. All of the ship's seating is aligned against the ends of the walls so we would end up facing the windows as we flew. Stella sits next to me by the door as Dillon sits across. The door shuts and we take off and leave the Luther, flying down to the surface of Sulis III.
We arrive back at the castle in the mountains and veer right toward a standalone tower connected by a single bridge. The ship lands at the top of the tower on an extending landing pad. As we exit the ship, a light wind starts to blow across my face. My suit did allow me to truly enjoy the breeze but only my legs and face could feel it. The rest of my body still felt hot. This was mainly because the suit accounts for the average temperatures of the starship but not quite on the surface of a planet, which is genuinely warmer.
We arrive inside the tower and the landing station starts to retract. A guard notices us and points in the direction of the meeting which was down the hall. We arrive in the room where everyone is sitting around a large square table. The back of the room had a massive blank display. The rest of the room consisted of white walls on all corners and a sliver of glass up top where another smaller room sat. Cadence sat in the back of the room facing away from the screen. The table seats ten people with seven of the seats already filled. Four were men and three were women, scattered all across the rest of the table. I don't know most of them but one stood out to me, Admiral Han, from the Rosa. Interesting to see him here. The three open seats sat closest to Cadence on either side of her. Two on her left and one on her right. The three of us spread out to our respective seats. A guard approaches my chair and pulls out the seat. I thank him and sit down. Cadence smiles.
"I like your uniform, Demi."
"Thank you." I said.
She nods and observes her brother, making sure he is in his seat before they begin.
"Good Afternoon everyone. I am glad we are able to make it today. We have a lot to get through so let's make it quick."
She stands to her feet and the display behind her begins to change.
"Ladies and gentlemen. I know yesterday was a bit of a shock. It most definitely put my plans into a tailspin. But fear not, I have an idea. The people will surely thank me after this."
Cadence signals to someone upstairs in which the shadowy figure runs behind a large box. As the lights begin to dim, a nauseous feeling falls over me. I can't quite explain it, but as I look into the corner of the increasingly dark room, a dark figure with purple eyes stands there looking at me. It is D, clearly it has to be. This time he doesn't say anything though. He just stands there, looking at me like a menacing figure stalking its victims. I turn my eyes back to the screen, pretending like he isn't there. The screen switches to the rubble of Cloud 9, or at least what's left.
"Cloud 9, the jewel of the Nekomon Republic. We finished the investigation into the cause of the destruction. The story was all but confirmed. A planet arrived at our doorstep."
There is a low chatter in the room. A man in the corner of the table stands to his feet.
"Have we figured out how the planet was even able to pass through jump space in the first place?" He asks.
"No." Admiral Han interjects, "We are still investigating that matter."
"We have, however, found the source of the planet's movements." Cadence continues, "It's last known location."
The screen changes and displays a planet. I don't recognize it. I don't even think I have seen it before. It looks mostly barren with a light atmosphere. An overall boring looking planet.
"This is the planet, Ralia. This is our target."
"What are we looking for?" Another man asks.
"A ship. Its name is the MLK Gridlock.
Gridlock. No freaking way. Where have I heard that name before?
"MLK?" Han asks. "I didn't know our target was meklaran."
She returns to her seat at the end of the table.
"This will be our chance to show the galaxy what I have been working on. We have put together a joint task force for this. Nekomon will be working with our neutral force, the Sulis Starfire."
"How many of your ships will be active?"
"Just one, that's all we'll need anyway. The rest will be ready at a later date."
"Very good."
"When do we start?" Another asks.
"Very soon. First, Estelle, take Demi to the armory, she'll need a weapon."
"Yes ma'am." She says.
"Everyone else is dismissed. We'll reconvene in six hours."
Everyone nods and leaves their seats and exits out the door, scattering down the hall toward the bridge crossing back to the castle. The nausea I felt from before still didn't go away and I couldn't follow Stella to her ship. I head into the restroom first to wash my hands, hopefully I'll be ready for it if it gets worse. As soon as I am in restroom, the nausea goes away and I am quickly greeted by D, who stands next to me in the mirror.
"Was this your doing? What do you want?" I ask him.
"We need to talk, because I am confused more than anything."
"Of what?"
"You heard what the princess said in there."
"So."
"So…why aren't you asking the question?"
"What question?"
He moves closer to my ear, as if to hide whatever he is going to tell me from evesdroppers.
"Why is she lying?"
"Lying? What makes you…?"
"Think about it. You know it deep in your soul. Where did you find the planet's last known location before Cloud 9? You wrote the report, remember?"
"Dekara. She changed it?"
"Isn't that the question."
"But I was there when she read it. Why would she change the details in front of me? Could they have not done their own research?"
"What if she didn't know it was your report?"
"True, but if that's the case…Han saw it too. Before her."
"You think he's in on it?"
"I honestly have no idea."
D stands tall and faces me.
"Then we all know where this leads."
"The Gridlock."
"Father briefly investigated it. Why?"
"We have only one way of finding out then, right?"
D smiles and cracks his knuckles.
"Let's go get armed."