Carpathia IV: Episode 242 - Aionaptara
Bridge, NCCS Shadowdancer-A
Ryuu: It's a very ancient aptaran language, lost thousands of years ago. Translated, it says,
I am Aionaptara, seeking thee,
Whose ears may chance upon this humble script,
And with great fervor I do yearn to say,
That I beseech thy presence for a meet.
Amenaru froze momentarily with every joint in his body tightening up painfully. Only Lazmaedia could have been a worse demigod for Ryuu to mention.
Amenaru: The bat demigod? The one who can manipulate sound to make you hear anything he wants you to hear?
Ryuu: He can do more than that, but that is his favorite.
Amenaru: Captain to the bridge! Ryuu, was there anything else to that message?
Ryuu nodded.
Ryuu: Coordinates. I presume to tell us where he is. Where are we now?
Amenaru: Baal, put our current location on the viewer with X, Y, and Z axis labels showing.
Baal: Getting the map now, Lieutenant.
A 3D projection of space appeared, hovering over the plotting table at the front of the bridge, with grids and a red dot showing the Shadowdancer's location.
Ryuu: Oh, he's close. Two days travel at our usual cruising speed. Zoom into that star cluster near the nebula.
Baal did as he was told and the viewer zoomed to a group of five solar systems that were grouped closely to each other.
Baal: We haven't done a close survey of that area yet. It'll be a bit of a rough go getting in there since there are so many gravity eddies, but we do suspect at least one habitable planet orbiting Star P5B-9.
Baal marked that planet on the map.
Ryuu: That's the one.
They didn't have a chance to go any further, for the lift doors opened and Aire burst out, his purple dressing gown flapping in the breeze he created.
Aire: Lieutenant, this had better be a demigod or...
Amenaru stood as soon as he saw the Captain. The chair, sadly, was no longer his for now.
Amenaru: It's Aionaptara, Captain. He's close.
Aire rushed to his chair and sat down.
Aire: How close?
Ryuu: Aionaptara sent a message through this asteroid with a request to meet and coordinates for a planet about two days from here.
Aire: Initiate Condition Yellow. Kit, Send to all ships, stations, and outposts, Omega Directive Level 4. This goes a little beyond a mention.
Kit: Initializing Omega Directive Level 4. Sending request for retinal scan, handprint, and voice match to your console.
Aire checked his console and the square for his handprint appeared. First, he leaned in for the retinal scan and then placed his hand in the square.
Aire: Captain Aire Geoffrey Valro, NCCS Shadowdancer-A.
A message appeared on Aire's screen, "Authorization approved. Message sent." With that finished, he swung his chair back around to Amenaru.
Aire: You're sure this is Aionaptara.
Amenaru: Ryuu seems sure, so yes.
Ryuu: I'm sure. The message was clearly meant for dragons since we're the only ones left who would understand it. He placed a message in that asteroid in an ancient aptaran language that died out thousands of years ago.
Now, the other bridge officers came spilling out both of the lifts, alerted by the condition yellow, all in various manifestations of sleepwear. For some, this was little more than a t-shirt and underpants. They made for their chairs, lower ranks making way for the senior staff. Teek at helm. Nalma at tactical. Joust, taking his usual seat to Aire's left.
Aire: Kit, get me Admiral Zhang.
Kit: Contacting Admiral Zhang, Captain.
It only took a second's pause for another to ask what all the newcomers were thinking.
Trex: What's going on, Captain? Shall I have security at the ready?
Aire: Not just yet, Trex. We have a demigod situation and it's a big one. It's...
Kit: I have Admiral Zhang. Putting her on viewer.
The star chart on the viewscreen jump cut to Admiral Zhang.
Admiral Zhang: Captain. Casual day?
Aire took a cursory glance down at his dressing gown.
Aire: A rush to the bridge, Admiral. You should be receiving an Omega Directive message shortly. We may have located Aionaptara.
An audible gasp arose on the bridge while, on Admiral Zhang's side, a beep from her console.Admiral Zhang looked down momentarily, and, when she raised her face for the viewer again, she carried a much grimmer expression.
Admiral Zhang: Level 4, it says.
Aire: It seemed like the right choice. I think it's best if Lieutenant Pendergast and Ryuu explain. They were on the bridge when the discovery was made.
Admiral Zhang now turned her piercing gaze to Amenaru expectantly. This was a part of command that no test and nobody could have prepared him for. As an ensign and as a lieutenant junior grade, he was, more often than not, generally ignored by the brass. Now, the longer she glared at him, awaiting his story, the smaller he felt. Amenaru steeled his mind and focused as much as he could about the story and nothing else, managing to make it all the way up to the part where Ryuu entered the bridge without embarrassing himself too terribly much. From there, Ryuu finished up the remainder of the story.
Admiral Zhang: I see. An interesting means of making contact. What is your assessment of this, Ryuu?
Ryuu: Of course, we should be cautious. Whatever else he may be, he is incredibly dangerous. That said, I think he's scared. If he wanted to make a nuisance of himself, he could have simply come to Draconis, but he wants us to come to him. He would unquestionably be upset that Lazmaedia destroyed Aptaria and that could make him a very powerful ally. Still, caution is wise. He wouldn't be our ally out of any love for us. He would just want Lazmaedia dead. After that, who knows what he'll do. Finally, I think there's a very good chance that he doesn't know there are still aptarans in the universe.
Admiral Zhang: Right. In that case, I should speak with him myself. The Furious Spectre is here, so I'll have them bring me.
This caused a very considerable eyebrow raise from Aire and most everyone else.
Aire: Admiral, do you think that's wise?
Admiral Zhang: I have no idea, but this could be the most important alliance we ever make, assuming this is successful. Ryuu, do you think he might respect a rank?
Ryuu: He'd probably eat a politician on the spot, but I think he would appreciate you.
Admiral Zhang: Then I'm coming. Captain, your orders are to head for the coordinates that you have. Scout the planet. Send down away teams. See if you can locate Aionaptara. If you can locate him, wait for me if he doesn't contact you first. We will plan and revise continuously while I'm in transit.
Aire: We'll head there now at Q8.
Aire gave a nod as he pointed at Teek, who returned with his own nod. Without a word, so as not to interrupt the conversation, he set the coordinates into the computer and engaged Q8.
Aire: We're on our way. Will there be anything else, Admiral?
Admiral Zhang: That will do for now. I will contact you again when I'm underway on the Spectre. Zhang out.
Admiral Zhang vanished from the screen.
Aire: Commander, we're going to have to choose the away teams for this mission very...
Aire turned his head to Joust's chair to find that he wasn't there. He looked up to see if Joust had perched himself on the ceiling. He looked up just in time to see Joust scramble into a maintenance hatch and watch the door slam shut with a thunk that reverberated throughout the entire bridge.
Aire: ...carefully. Okay then, Trex, you have the bridge. I'll be in my ready room. Let me know if anything out of the ordinary happens.
Trex: I will keep sharp eyes and ears out, Captain.
Aire: Baal, assemble a report on absolutely everything we know about that star system.
Baal: It's not much, Captain, but I'll get everything I can.
With everything in hand, for now, Aire headed up the stairs to the ready room while Trex took the Captain's chair.
Commissioned art in this episode from:
AvareonArt
Zelbunnii
Less_End
Thatwildmary
Colourbrand
Falke2009
