Chapter 7: Farewell

I arrived at the cave and entered the airlock. Just inside were two new holo-projectors waiting for me.

“Ivan, are there any special instructions for installing these?” I asked.

“I made them as simple as possible. Unplug the old units and replace with the new units.”

“Once installed, how do I activate the force field?”

“Use your communicator to direct me. I can toggle it from here.”

I picked up the holo-projectors, which thankfully weren’t too heavy, and left for the waterfall.

D’Monds was waiting for me, holding the ladder.

“Brian, what are those?” he asked, pointing at the devices in my arms.

“These have more big magic, for extra protection.”

I leaned the ladder up against the cliff wall and climbed to the location of the holo-projector. It took me longer to unplug the cables, since it was ancient and exposed to the elements somewhat. I brought it down and installed the new one.

“The waterfall looks the same,” he said.

“Just wait while I install the other one, then I’ll show you.”

We moved the ladder to the other side of the gap and I replaced the second holo-projector.

D’Monds looked at me, waiting for an explanation.

“Walk with me,” I said.

We stepped through and out of the fake rock face.

I pulled out my communicator and called Ivan.

“Ivan, please turn on the force field,” I said.

“Confirmed.”

You couldn’t tell anything was different. It made no sound or visual change. I looked at D’Monds and gestured to the rock face.

“Please try to walk back through,” I said.

He stepped into the wall, and the force field stopped him. I was glad I didn’t encourage him to run at it, or he’d hurt himself. He turned to look at me.

I picked up a small pebble and tossed it at the wall. It bounced off, as if it were an actual wall.

“The wall is solid??” he said.

“For now. If the Trauts arrive, this will stop them from entering your settlement.”

He grinned at me.

“Ivan, the force field worked perfectly. Please turn it off now,” I said into my communicator.

“Confirmed,” said Ivan.

I gestured to D’Monds, and we stepped through the wall.

“We should check on your niece,” I said.

I followed D’Monds back to the settlement, to another structure.

Ella was sitting in a chair outside a structure. Another female was tending to her. At least she was conscious.

“How are you?” asked D’Monds.

She waved at the other female, who stepped back. She had several nasty bruises on her face and arms.

When Ella noticed me standing next to her uncle, she groaned.

“Were you the one who brought me back?” asked Ella.

“We both rescued you,” said D’Monds. “A Traut patrol captured you and had you tied to a tree.”

“They tried to make me tell,” she said.

“They failed?” asked D’Monds, pointing at the bruises on her face.

“I didn’t tell, but they pointed this way,” she replied.

I sighed. In time the Trauts would find out, or extract it from a captive.

Ella heard me sigh and faced me.

“What you care? You leave soon,” she said to me. What had turned her against me?

“Brian gave us more big magic, to protect all M’goo,” said D’Monds.

Ella turned to her uncle before looking back at me with a puzzled expression.

“I protect the M’goo,” I said.

“But after you leave...?” she asked.

Then I had an idea. I pulled out my communicator.

“After I leave, you will protect the M’goo, Ella,” I said. I smiled. Her eyes opened wide in shock. Her uncle D’Monds looked at both of us in confusion.

“Ella, you have spoken with the cave spirit,” I said. She slowly nodded her head. Even D’Monds nodded. She’d already confessed to speaking with a cave spirit.

“The cave spirit has chosen you for an important role,” I said.

I called Ivan on my communicator.

“Ivan, I am giving my communicator to Ella. Once I leave, she will tell you when to open or close the waterfall,” I said.

“Acknowledged, Captain,” replied Ivan.

“She will be your connection to the M’goo,” I said.

“Acknowledged,” replied Ivan.

I turned to D’Monds, who appeared to be in shock.

“D’Monds, are all your scouts inside the waterfall?” I asked.

He looked at me and nodded.

I turned back to Ella and handed her the communicator.

“Just press that button to talk to Ivan, the cave spirit. Ask him to close the waterfall,” I said.

She tentatively took the device and looked at it cautiously. Then she looked back at me to confirm what I’d said.

I nodded. She pressed the button.

“Ivan, this is Ella. Please close the waterfall.”

“Confirmed,” replied Ivan.

I think I’d just created a shaman for the M’goo.

“Ella, your role is important. While the waterfall is closed, none may enter or leave. The safety of the M’goo is your responsibility,” I said with all seriousness.

She stared reverently at the communicator in her hands.

“Don’t go showing it off to others. They won’t like it. Work with your uncle to protect the M’goo,” I said.

She nodded.

“And you can’t run off again. Your people need you.”

“I understand,” she said.

I smiled.

“Now your uncle and I need to rest. I’ll see you tomorrow before I leave.”

I guided D’Monds to come with me, and we left.

I walked with D’Monds back to his structure.

“Brian, why you give to her and not to me?” he asked.

“She ran away. Now, she has a reason to stay,” I replied. I also considered it better not to put all the power in one individual, but I kept that to myself.

He nodded.

“You must work together with Ella, for all M’goo.”

“I understand.”

“She is special, but don’t let her become too proud of her role,” I said.

He smiled.

“The cave spirit called you ‘Captain’ and obeyed your commands. Are you a leader where you come from?” he asked.

“I guess I am.”

“Where you come from, people rely on you?” he asked.

“They do. That’s why I must go tomorrow.”

We arrived at his structure.

“Now rest,” I said.

He nodded.

I left him and walked to my structure. This was my last night on the planet’s surface. The M’goo were secure from the Trauts. Ella had a reason to stay with her people.

I lay on my bed, imagining the Baglogi vessel in orbit, while the natives were blissfully ignorant.

Three Wolfe class vessels travelled through hyperspace on their way to a remote star system. They were on a top secret assignment for Her Imperial Majesty.

Aboard the lead vessel, a Gober known as Yuhi sat in her meditation chamber. Around the walls were images of Brian. A jacket he once wore lay on a table nearby.

Yuhi focused on her target. She knew they were on course and closing in on him.

At one point recently, she thought she had a fix on him. She tracked him travelling through hyper space. Yuhi sensed the boredom in him. She used her abilities to plot an intercept course which she gave to the Captain.

Then suddenly Brian wasn’t there! She’d lost all trace of him, like he no longer existed.

Days later, she picked up his trail again. It came from a different sector, on a planet surface. Somehow, he’d travelled an impossible distance.

Gober hyperspace technology couldn’t travel that fast. When she told the Captain, he at first didn’t believe her intel. It was impossible to travel so fast.

Since then, she’d confirmed his location. Images of a flying creature, lots of walking, and a waterfall confirmed her fix on his location.

And something else. She sensed a link from another being, searching for him. She wasn’t the only one tracking him. No, correct that, not tracking but drawn to him, and closing in on him.

“So there’s another pursuing him,” she said to herself. She had competition for her prey.

Yuhi felt frustrated. She’d didn’t find him last time on Dentra. She never failed. This target was a difficult one, perhaps the hardest she’d ever hunted.

This time, she wouldn’t fail.

Jem sat on the sofa, watching things unfold on the tactical display.

“Commodore, we’re now in orbit around the third planet,” said Ship.

“Scan the surface. Keep a lock on Brian’s position,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“I wonder what mission he’s on,” said Laine.

“And does it involve dinner plates...” said Saria with a grin.

“Commodore, I have his location. He is in a settlement, populated with Baglogi,” said Ship.

“What?? Ship, confirm there are Baglogi on this planet,” asked Jem.

“I detect several hundred Baglogi life signs,” replied Ship.

“Wow! I wonder how they got here,” said Jem.

“I could contact the Captain,” offered Ship.

“No, it’s nighttime. He’s probably asleep. Contact Ivan instead,” said Jem.

“Commodore, the native population are descendants of my former crew,” said Ivan.

“So there’s a Baglogi colony on this planet?” asked Jem. She sat on the edge of her seat.

“Over several thousand years, they’ve devolved into a primitive race,” replied Ivan.

Jem sighed. “So they’re no longer an advanced race.”

“Confirmed. The Captain has declared this a protected planet,” said Ivan.

“Our rendezvous with him should be in a remote location, to avoid exposing them to our technology,” said Jem.

“I cannot provide you a suitable location, as my exterior sensors are offline,” said Ivan.

“Understood. We’ll take care of that,” said Jem. “Ship, re-task several of your defensive probes to defend this system and this planet from unwanted visitors.”

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“We shall await a call from Brian in the morning,” said Jem.

She got up from her sofa and left for her cabin.