Precisely ten minutes later, Giodol entered Lord Yan’wal’s quarters, and was momentarily stunned by what he saw. The room was gigantic, even by Juirean standards. Like most Juirean living quarters, it consisted of one huge room with partitions separating the sleeping and working quarters. But along the two opposite side walls were massive, twenty-meter high drapes of purple, orange and green, flowing from floor to ceiling in swaths of fabric. The varying angles of the drapes produced deep black shadows, contrasting with the vibrant colors; recessed spot lights cast brilliant pyramids of light on the drapes and accentuated the sharpness of the colors. The whole affect was stunning, and reminded Giodol of a fiery sunset on Juir from his early years.
Overlord Yan’wal sat behind an ornate stone desk at the far end of the room. Giodol approached and was motioned to take a seat facing the Overlord. To the left of the desk was a two-meter-square monitor resting atop a marble stand. On the monitor was a frozen image of what Giodol recognized as the office of the late Counselor Deslor. In the image, the Counselor was seated at his desk, and standing before him, also frozen in time, stood four other creatures, guarded by a handful of heavily-armed Rigorians.
Yan’wal looked up from his inlaid desk monitor. “Lord Giodol, I know the present situation has disrupted your normal career path,” he began, “but I assure you that your efforts on behalf of The Expansion will be rewarded.”
“That is not necessary, My Lord. I only live to serve.”
“Very admirable, but nonetheless, your efforts are appreciated.” He then turned his attention to the large monitor. “As you know, the activities of Overlord Oplim and his Senior Counselor did not go unnoticed by the Authority. Oplim was a very gifted and promising young Overlord. As you know, all of our abilities are carefully monitored by the Authority, and from such monitoring, career paths — and expectations — are formulated.” He slowly shook his head. “So when a promising young talent such as Oplim requests assignment to an obscure Sector, notice was taken and questions asked.
“You may not know, but Oplim’s obsession with the Klin myths and rumors goes back over twenty years. He has been tracked following up on Klin folklore throughout most of The Expansion. So it was concluded that his request for assignment to The Fringe must have been as a direct result of his research. And so he was monitored even closer.”
Giodol was only slightly surprised by this revelation. He, himself, monitored the activities of his senior staff; it was common practice among Juireans, not because of any real suspicions, but rather as a way of sorting out the best prospects for advancement. Juireans seldom requested advancement on their own. Most times it was offered to them based upon their performance. And the best way to judge a person’s performance was to keep a watchful eye on all their activities.
“The transmission I’m about to show you was taken in Counselor Deslor’s office just minutes before he departed for the Klin ship — and his inevitable demise. I need your help identifying the individuals he’s addressing.”
There were four creatures standing before the desk. One was a Fulqin, a small, rodent-looking creature about a meter and a half tall. Another was a Belsonian, taller and sporting the distinctive jaw appendages that dangled below their ears, and was part of their sexual organs. The other two creatures were of the same species, both primes, about two meters tall, and with slim, muscular builds. Giodol did not recognize the species.
Not seeing a reaction in Giodol’s face, Yan’wal filled the silence. “Those two are Humans.”
Immediately, the significance of the transmission became clear. Giodol’s eyes widened and he looked closer at the image. “Are these the Humans Lord Oplim spoke of in his transmission?”
“They are of the same species. From your report, all Oplim mentioned was that the real threat was to come from this race. From the Humans.”
“So he had first-hand experience with them, prior to his death?”
“Yes, he did,” Yan’wal confirmed. “But whatever knowledge he acquired that promoted his link with you must have come after this meeting. At this time, Lord Oplim was already aboard the Klin ship and had not come in contact with the Humans. However, when I play the recording, you will see that by this time, Deslor did have previous contact with the light-haired Human, but not the dark-haired one.”
He pressed a button on his desk and the recording began playing. Giodol was shocked by the crudeness and obstinance of the Humans, as they showed no respect for Counselor Deslor — nor any fear concerning their situation.
So these are Humans, he thought. An arrogant, disrespectful race of barbarians…
The recording ended when everyone in the room left to board the Counselor’s shuttle to the Klin ship. Yan’wal then pressed another button and an image of the Counselor’s shuttlecraft appeared.
“It’s been our belief up until now that everyone aboard the Klin ship perished in the explosion, including these two Humans.” The Overlord turned his attention from the monitor and faced Giodol. “Is this your belief as well, after your months of investigating the incident?”
“Yes, My Lord,” Giodol replied evenly. “The last shuttle to arrive was carrying the technicians who brought the computer core to the ship. However, there was the transmission from the Klin ship indicating that our forces were under attack, and that the Overlord had been taken hostage. I received this information well after the Overlord’s last transmission.”
Yan’wal nodded. “I have more information regarding that attack,” he stated bluntly. “From long-range sensors on the third moon of Melfora Lum, we have recently learned that at least one shuttle departed from the Klin ship just moments before the explosion.”
Giodol was shocked. He wanted to react more emphatically to the news, but held back out of deference to the Senior Overlord’s position. “Why have I not learned of this before, My Lord? Who was aboard the shuttle?”
“The shuttle was of a Silean configuration, and was reported as part of a pirate attack that occurred over four years ago in The Void. As to why you were not informed of this, shortly after the incident, the Authority had all information regarding the Klin ship diverted to Juir until an assessment could be made as to its significance.”
Giodol was not surprised. “So pirates attacked the Klin ship, and then departed just before it exploded? Why would they risk the attack?”
“That is why I wanted to speak with you in private,” Yan’wal said. “The Fringe Pirates attacked the ship initially, and now we learn they came to the Juirean stronghold of Melfora Lum and blatantly attacked a Klin starship.”
“They know!” Giodol declared. “They know it was Klin!”
“That was the Council’s conclusion as well,” said Yan’wal. “And if they knew they were attacking a Klin ship in the first place, then they must have some knowledge as to their movements within the Sector.”
Giodol shook his head. “My Lord, I personally interviewed two of the three pirate captains who attacked that ship. Oplim had tasked me with recovering the missing computer core, believing the pirates had it. I was convinced that they did not, nor did they know of the significance of the ship.”
“The captains may not have known, but their leader may have.”
“I know the name of the pirate leader,” Giodol said enthusiastically. “It’s Riyad Tarazi. His reputation is well-known within the criminal elements of The Fringe.”
Yan’wal was silent for a moment as he thought. Then he asked, “Do you know the race of this creature?”
“No, My Lord, only that his pirates fear him, as I’m sure any leader of a band of renegades must elicit.”
“Lord Giodol, I need you to find this pirate leader. I have reason to believe that he is one of the Humans who was aboard the Klin ship.”
“That would make sense,” Giodol agreed. “Why else would the pirates risk an attack on the Klin ship right off of Melfora Lum?”
“And there’s one more thing,” Yan’wal said, turning his attention to the image of the shuttlecraft on the large monitor. “This was Counselor Deslor’s shuttle. It was presumed to be destroyed in the explosion.” He paused again for effect before continuing. “The transponder for this particular shuttle was activated as little as two days ago.”
Again, Giodol was shocked into a momentary silence. Then recovering, he asked, “Where, My Lord?”
“A planet called Hildoria.”
“That would mean someone else escaped in the shuttle before the explosion.” The implications were streaming through Giodol’s head. The voice of the Overlord broke through his thoughts.
“I also want you, through your most trusted agents, to track this shuttle and find out who is operating it. Obviously, no Juireans are in possession of the shuttle. My suspicions are that both of these Humans somehow escaped from the Klin ship, and that they may have even been responsible for its destruction.”
“With a nuclear device?”
“That is what I want you to find out. The pirates and this missing shuttle are our two most-direct leads to the Klin at this time.” Yan’wal then looked hard into Giodol’s eyes. “Only you, my Counselor, the Council and I know all the details of the last transmission by Overlord Oplim. Only we know of the Humans. Until we assess this new threat, it will remain so.”
There was no doubt in Giodol’s mind that the Overlord was serious.
Giodol was provided a luxurious stateroom aboard the UN-444; it was actually more opulent than his Sector Overlord quarters on Melfora Lum. Once he was settled in, he set about devising a game plan for assisting the Senior Overlord to find the Klin. This could be an incredible opportunity for him to prove himself worthy of the trust the Senior Overlord had expressed in him.
One of the trails he had only superficially followed during his initial investigation was the connection between the mystery Klin ship and the planet Nimor. He knew the ship had been brought to Melfora Lum from Nimor, and backtracking from there, he had been able to piece together a rough history of the ship over the six days or so from its initial discovery until its destruction.
When Giodol had invaded the pirate base on K’ly, he had learned that the ship had been originally attacked by the Fringe Pirates. After that, the picture became rather murky. For some unknown reason, the pirates abandoned the kill before having a chance to fully strip it of its valuables. Then the ship had been brought to Nimor as a salvage. And it was from here that the records had been erased from the Library.
Overlord Oplim had sent him on a mission to find the missing computer core from the ship, which Giodol now knew contained the location of the Klin’s ultimate destination. But how did the Overlord know the core was missing in the first place? Giodol was so frustrated with the actions of Oplim and his Senior Counselor. They had erased vital information that would have made his job so much easier.
Once the ship was at Nimor, the initial salvage survey would have noted the missing computer core. That was probably when Oplim had sent Giodol after the pirates to recover it.
But the pirates never had it. That left only the salvagers as the likely thieves. Could they have activated the core and learned of the Klin’s location?
Giodol suddenly became very excited. Oplim had eventually recovered the core — and he didn’t get it from the pirates. It had to have come from the salvagers.
So who were these scavengers, these beings who could not only scare away a contingent of Fringe Pirates, but also manage to get their hands on the most valuable computer core in the galaxy?
Giodol was determined to find out.
With already having an agent in mind to track down the Counselor’s shuttle, Giodol checked his list for another agent he could trust to follow up on the Nimor lead.
One stood out from the rest. But he hesitated. This agent was undercover, a Nimorian himself, who had been feeding intelligence to the Juireans for many years. By giving him this assignment, Giodol would be instructing the being to reveal himself as an agent for the Juireans. It would destroy his value to him, not to mention his continued existence on Nimor.
Giodol would probably have to offer the agent a severance package of some sort to gain his cooperation, and something far away from his home planet. That could be arranged. If these scavengers did indeed have information regarding the location of the Klin, then the price would be well worth it.
Giodol wrote out the orders, and then sent the secure transmission to Nimor. All he had to do now was wait to see what his agent discovered…