Authors: Craig Gaydas
I walked up to Kale and extended my hand. “Nice to meet you.”
His head bowed slightly and looked at my hand. Although I couldn't read his facial expression I was pretty sure he looked at it in disgust, based on the muffled grunt that came from his helmeted head.
“Let's get one thing clear, human,” Kale's voice dripped with venom. “I am no fan of your kind and am adamantly opposed to you even being a part of the scouting party, much less the Cartographer.”
I took a step back and shoved my hand into my pocket. “Well, I guess that means you can cross me off your Christmas card list, I suppose.”
I felt Satou's hand on my shoulder long before he physically placed it there. Although I had been used to being talked down to (Natronix came to mind) I didn't appreciate the extra venom that seemed to add spice to Kale's statement. My witty rebuttal didn't faze Kale in the least.
“With that said,” he continued. “You were hand selected by Calypso and I hold no power over the Explorer's League. I just hope that you last a little longer than your predecessor.”
He picked up the walkie-talkie that he was working on and left the room. I stewed in my own personal rage juice when I saw movement at the corner of my eye.
“Well, now that the unpleasantness is over,” a mysterious voice called from the corner. “I guess we can get back to work, huh?”
I turned toward the source of the sound but there was no one there. All I could see was a large steel cabinet, a table with a rack of vials and an object that looked like a blender (later learned to be a chemical Fermentor).
“You can come out of hiding now, Wraith,” Satou grumbled.
The person known as Wraith exited the steel cabinet, but didn't open the door and simply walk out—he passed through the solid steel door and materialized in front of us. The Umbral named Wraith was completely devoid of hair and as white as bleached chalk. He was tall, about six and a half feet, lanky and although I could see him he still appeared
dim
like he was out of focus in a bad camera.
“I wasn't `hiding',” he retorted. “I was simply waiting for an appropriate time to make my entrance.”
“Nathan, I would like you to meet Wraith, our geologist,” Satou said with a hint of amusement.
“Nice to meet you Nathan, I promise I am much more pleasant than Kale.”
“Geologist?” I asked.
Wraith heaved his chest to make himself appear bigger, but it only served to make him look ridiculous with his lanky frame. “Yes, my job is to collect any solid or liquid matter from inhabited planets and analyze them in order to process that data and determine the history of the planet. Rock and mineral samples generally define the genealogy of a planet.”
“But that's not all,” Satou interrupted.
“Yes, yes I was getting to that,” Wraith huffed. “I also collect specimens to determine if anything of value could be extracted from them on behalf of the Consortium.”
My eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What happens then?”
Wraith held up his hands so quick that they vanished briefly. “Don't fret, Nathan, we never take anything by force. If there is something of value on the planet and the planet has a high potential threshold then that is where Kale comes in.”
“Kale will meet with the leaders of the planet and negotiate a trade agreement,” Satou clarified. “It does not happen often because the represented member planets within the Consortium usually provide us with everything we need, but sometimes there are exceptions.”
“Yes that!” Wraith waved his hands impatiently toward us before retreating to the cabinet that came from earlier. This time, instead of passing through the doors, he opened them, revealing several objects that resembled smart phones.
“Satou briefed me on your situation,” Wraith said over his shoulder. “I guess the first order of business is getting you up to speed with the equipment.” He removed one of the objects and held it out toward me. “This is your most important piece of equipment so guard it with your life.”
I took it and flipped it over in my hands. “OK, what is it?” I asked blankly which elicited a chuckle from Satou.
Wraith reached behind the object and pulled out an earphone attached by a wire and placed it in my ear, clipping the base to a belt loop in my jeans.
“This is an upgrade to your translator,” he said mildly. “It is also a communicator, allowing you to communicate to your team as well as your ship. Don't lose it, especially if you are separated from your team.”
The communicator hung loosely from the belt loop and I fidgeted with it. Wraith laughed and grabbed my hand. His grasp was cold and clammy and made me think of a fish pulled from the bottom of the ocean.
“Don't worry too much about that,” he mumbled. “You are going to get an environmental suit anyway which has a pouch for the communicator.”
Wraith stepped away from me as Satou handed me a rod, about twelve inches in length with a smooth, round end cap. The item had been constructed from a lightweight charcoal gray metal material, but the handle itself was like leather. I turned it over in my hand and looked at it, half-expecting it to come to life (you never knew what to expect with alien technology).
“Go ahead and try it out,” Satou said with a smile.
I gripped it tightly with both hands and swung it like a baseball bat. “Are we going to be playing baseball?”
Satou grabbed my hand and stopped me. “This is a graphite rod. Grab it with one hand and swing it like a club,” he grumbled and made a motion like he was hammering a nail into a board. “Practice hitting that pole over there.” He motioned toward a decorative column attached to duct work in the corner of the room.
I walked over and clubbed the pole with the rod and my arm went numb, a thousand pins and needles cascaded from my wrist to my shoulder blade. I dropped it on the ground with a clank and waved my arm up and down.
Satou roared with laughter. “Be careful with what you hit, Nathan. This weapon can drop most sentient beings but it will take a toll on your arm.”
Wraith brayed like a donkey. I held my numb arm in my hand and stared daggers at them both which only served to magnify their laughter. I was about to pick up the weapon and bludgeon the two of them when they stopped.
Their raucous laughter drowned out the sound of the door sliding open behind me, but I turned to follow their gaze. Calypso stood in the doorway with arms crossed and a fiery look. I noticed a glove dangling from his hand.
“Well, I hope I didn't interrupt your party,” he bellowed and tossed the glove to Satou, who snatched it in mid-air.
“No sir,” Satou mumbled. “We were just training Nathan with the use of the graphite rod.” His looked at the glove before asking, “Are you sure?”
Calypso nodded. “He will need more than that,” he said gesturing toward rod.
“I agree,” said Wraith. “But do you think it's necessary?”
“I'd rather play it safe,” Calypso replied.
Satou nodded reluctantly and held the glove out. “Nathan, slip your hand into this.”
I looked at the glove like it was a living entity, ready to bite my hand off at the first opportunity. Knowing Satou would never put me in a dangerous situation on purpose I slipped my hand inside. The material was like a cross between silk and chainmail—it slipped on easily and comfortably, but felt sturdy enough to stop a bullet.
“Now squeeze your hand tightly and form a fist,” Satou commanded.
I did as instructed and the glove crackled with a mysterious energy source. The object hummed with power like I flipped on some sort of alien power generator. After a while the humming felt like millions of hornets, flitting around inside their nest, except they extended from my hand to head travelling up and down my arm like a Christmas parade.
“Those are stun knuckles,” Wraith explained. “Much more potent than the rod. Let's just say if you strike someone with those, they are going to be in for one bad day.”
I looked at the end of my arm like I was holding a leper. “Um, well how do I turn it off?”
“Just unclench your fist,” Satou replied coolly.
I did as instructed and the numbing power of the glove washed away, taking the humming with it. I took it off and set it on one of the steel tables where Wraith retrieved it and turned it over in his hands. “Added to the list,” he said before placing it into a rucksack.
“What's that?” I asked, motioning toward the pack.
Wraith smiled his ghostly smile. “Well, Nathan, this pack will contain all of the equipment you need for scouting.” He reached in and pulled out a familiar hammer.
“My rock hammer!” I exclaimed.
He held it out for me. “Yes a very useful tool, especially when it comes to gathering geological samples.”
I grabbed the hammer and clutched it against my chest. Memories of my times exploring with Sam came flooding back, bringing the tears along for the ride. Those exploits seemed so long ago, in another lifetime. I felt the familiar pangs of homesickness wrap themselves around my heart and I closed my eyes to beat back the impending flood of tears that would soon accompany them.
“We figured that you would want something familiar with you on this mission and it was actually Wraith who came up with the idea,” Satou said and placed his hand on my shoulder.
Wraith loaded several bottles of water into my rucksack. He must have sensed me staring holes into his head and looked up. “What? I understand that humans are seventy percent water and need it to prevent dehydration, so I wanted to make sure you had enough.”
“Thank you,” I said and held up the hammer. He nodded his acknowledgement and continued loading the backpack.
Calypso's radio communicator beeped and a high-pitched voice howled from it, reminding me of nails against a chalk board. “Sir, we are now entering the planet's orbit. Shuttle Navetta is ready in Docking Bay Seven where Captain Jasper will await your party.”
“Thank you,” Calypso replied. “We will be heading out shortly.”
Calypso reached into a nearby cabinet and brought out a uniform and handed it to me. It reminded me of a wetsuit but it was the color of an olive. It also came with several pockets (and I assumed that the pockets were what Wraith alluded to earlier).
“This will be your environmental suit,” Calypso explained. “It is designed to withstand most environmental anomalies as well as temperatures up to 212 degrees Fahrenheit. The suit can also handle cold temperatures down to negative 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Go ahead and slip it on over your clothes.”
I took it and slipped it on. At first it was like trying to pack a sausage, but eventually the fabric gave way which allowed an easier transition over what I wore. I looked at myself in the reflection of one of the steel cabinets and admired how form fitting it was. I picked up the communicator and slipped it into one of the pockets, fitting the ear piece carefully so it wouldn't slip out of my ear.
Wraith handed me the rucksack and I swung my arms through the loops, fastening it tightly to my shoulders. It wasn't as heavy as it appeared but it was a tad bulky and awkward. Satou grabbed a large sidearm I supposed was a hand cannon from the weapons rack. He proceeded to strap it to his left thigh before grabbing another weapon from the rack. This one resembled locking pliers with a trigger, except the top of it had a canister with tiny filament needles floating around in a viscous substance.
“Neutralizer,” Satou said when he caught my gaze. “Since this is your first trip to an alien world and we had limited time to train you, we decided that it would be in your best interest if you were an observer when it came to these weapons.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I grumbled and strapped the graphite rod to my leg which conveniently had several loops similar to Velcro that fit it perfectly.
Satou and Wraith completed their preparations and I followed them out the door. Before I entered the hall, Calypso grabbed my elbow, leaned in and practically kissed my earlobe.
“Nathan, I know this is short notice, but we have full faith that you will be an excellent Cartographer,” he whispered a faint smile playing at the corner of his lips.
I turned toward him, my face a mask of seriousness. “What makes you think that?”
Calypso stiffened and his smile faded. Flickers of fire burned within the deep catacombs of his eyes and he narrowed them to match my solemn look. “Because you are not like the others,” he muttered.
I was about to ask what he meant by that when Satou interrupted us from down the hall. “Come on Nathan, we need to move quickly.”
I gave one final look into Calypso's fiery eyes before trotting down the hall after Satou. I played his words over in my head, wondering what he meant by “others”. Did he mean the other crewmembers? Or was he referring to other Cartographers? So many questions swirling around in my mind distract me so much that when we entered the docking bay I practically walked face first Gard.
“Are you OK, Nathan?” he asked.
I stepped away him and backed up more when I saw the shuttle. At first glance I thought a school bus had found its way into the loading bay. I looked further and saw that it had two metal bars extending from its sides in which it was balanced upon, instead of tires. Rocket propulsion vents extended from the rear of the vessel and it reminded me of something one would see on the NASA space shuttle. A ramp extended from underneath and led up into the front of the “bus” where I assumed the cockpit was.
Gard rolled past me and disappeared up the ramp. Standing at the bottom of it was a tall man, about six feet, wearing a uniform not much different than Natronix's but happened to be studying me through feline features. He reached up and pulled at one of the whiskers that tickled his upper lip. When he saw me he moved with cat-like grace and stood before me, staring at me through vertical pupils.
“You must be Nathan Chambers,” he rasped and his pupils dilated, becoming mere slits. His voice reminded me of someone who smoked cigarettes and chased it down with a gallon of gasoline. “I am Captain Jasper.”
A figure moved to stand next to Captain Jasper and I was relieved to be looking at a familiar face.
“Are you ready to do some real work?” Madoc said smugly.