Chapter 8: Leaving

After dinner, and lots of catching up, I felt exhausted. It had been a long day.

I gave my regrets, stood, and left for my cabin.

As soon as my head touched the pillow, I was fast asleep.

Sometime later, I awoke lying on my back in a strange, yet familiar, forest. A fine mist in the air diffused the light from far above me. Everything looked surreal.

I hadn’t visited this forest in a long time. I recognized this was a dream.

“Bri-an,” called a male voice from somewhere nearby.

I sat up, knowing from my last visit to be careful because it can be disorienting at first.

“Hello, who is calling me?” I asked.

“You knew me as Quon. I need to warn you of something,” he said in Ori.

Call me suspicious, but hearing the voice of a dead being put me on the defensive.

“If you’re Quon, you’d know where we last had a drink together,” I said.

“That’s easy! It was Gorn’s on Ori Major.”

I tried searching for the voice, but found no one. I wondered why he came and not Koluna.

“And whose memory did we drink to?” I asked.

“We drank to the memory of Yarin, late husband of my sister Mina.”

“Forgive me for being careful,” I said, waiting for his response.

“Bri-an, I need to warn you of something,” said the voice. “I don’t have long.”

“Go ahead,” I said. I wasn’t sure I liked where this was going. Last I remembered, I was back aboard Ship.

“Bri-an, you and Jem have a psychic connection. It’s something special, but it has consequences,” he said.

“I wondered about that. What consequences?” I asked.

“You can reach out to each other. You can sense each other. In time, you could send messages. But beware others can sense you too.”

“Others?” I asked.

“If you use it too much, it acts like a beacon, that draws unwanted attention. A malevolence is tracking you, and you’re not ready for them,” he replied.

“What should I do?” I asked.

“Don’t focus on Jem. Your thoughts control the connection. The more you think about her, the stronger the beacon. Instead, imagine yourself hiding. You must obscure yourself from your pursuers.”

“I’ll try,” I said.

“You’ve done it once before, and you survived.”

“I don’t remember that.”

Silence...

I really didn’t. Perhaps, like so many dreams, I’d forgotten it.

“How long do I have?” I asked.

I waited for his response, but none came. Finally, I could no longer sense his presence.

I lay back down on the grass. Then the trees faded.

I awoke early in the morning. I was unaware of how long I’d slept, but it wasn’t enough.

After crawling out of bed, I went through my morning routine. But I had a strange feeling I was missing something important.

It was only when I was sipping on my first coffee that I remembered.

“Ship, have you deployed planetary defences?” I asked out loud.

“Confirmed, Captain. I’ve assigned Ivan to monitor and direct the cloaked probes,” replied Ship.

“Please tell Ivan he may have unfriendly visitors soon,” I said.

“Understood, Captain,” said Ivan.

“Ship, I assume you’ve updated Ivan?” I asked.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“Ship, be ready to leave orbit and exit the system. I need to talk to the Commodore,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“One last question, Ship. Does Baglogi technology include any psychic shielding?” I asked.

“Negative, Captain,” replied Ship.

Ah well, I had to try...

I left my cabin and went to Jem’s cabin. Her door was open, the lights were dim, and she was asleep in her bed.

I nudged her on her shoulder. “Commodore,” I said.

She rolled over and smiled. “Brian!” she whispered.

“Please wake up, Commodore. We need to talk,” I said in a serious tone.

Her face changed at once. Jem sat up as I moved back. She swung her legs out over the side that faced me.

She took my coffee cup and sipped it. Then she looked me in the eye.

“Report, Captain,” she ordered.

“I have credible intel that a hostile force is coming this way. They have a means of tracking me, and may arrive soon in this system,” I said.

“You have credible intel?” she asked.

“Yes, but it’s rather unconventional,” I said.

She looked at the empty cup.

“Let me get us more coffee and I’ll explain,” I said.

I went to her food dispenser and fetched two cups of coffee. When I returned, Jem now wore a jumpsuit. That was quick!

“Let’s take our coffees to the main bridge,” she said, pointing at the two cups.

I smiled.

We exited the elevator and sat on the sofa in front of the tactical display.

“Tell me more about your credible and unconventional intel,” she said.

“The enemy is tracking me, or rather us, psychically. When I say us, I mean you and me,” I said.

“Continue,” she said.

“Have you ever noticed that we have a special bond between us? You can sense things about me, even when I’m far away,” I asked.

She looked at me, thoughtful.

“When we first met, I thought I already knew you. It was like we’d met before,” she said.

“When the Lagaid captured you, I knew where to find you,” I added.

“It explains a lot of things that happened. But what about this hostile force?” she asked.

“Well, they can track our psychic bond. The link between us is like a beacon, drawing them to us,” I replied.

“Crap!” said Jem. “What do we do?”

“Our thoughts control the link. We mustn’t focus on each other. Instead, imagine yourself hiding or invisible. Maybe imagine an invisible shield hiding you from prying eyes. I’ll do the same,” I said.

“That’s almost impossible. Whatever you tell me not to think about, it directs my focus to it. I can’t stop thinking about it,” said Jem.

“It should be easier now I’m back. I’m not in danger of being eaten by flying reptiles on a planet, or captured by hostile primitives,” I said.

“But you’ve just told me we are all in danger. How soon will they arrive?” asked Jem.

“I don’t know exactly, but soon.”

“Do you have any more intel on the hostile force?” she asked.

“No, I don’t. I just know they’re drawn to us. We need to do the psychic equivalent of cloaking,” I replied.

“That’s a good analogy.”

I sipped my coffee, all the while trying to remain mentally cloaked. I couldn’t tell if it worked.

Then a thought struck me.

“What would you do, if you were hunting something, and you lost the signal?” I asked Jem.

“I guess I’d search at the last known position,” she replied.

“So if we could hide ourselves, they will arrive here soon,” I said.

“We can leave the system.”

“But what of the local inhabitants?” I asked.

“Our system defences should handle them.”

“But if they are dangerous to us, they might easily defeat the system’s defences.” I countered.

“What do you suggest?” asked Jem.

“We need to leave, and lure away our pursuers,” I said.

“Agreed. Ship, are we ready to leave this system?” asked Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“Break orbit, and proceed to the next system on our patrol,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“Ivan, we’re leaving the system in your care. If you get unwelcome visitors after we leave, tell them we left. It might dissuade them from causing trouble here,” I said.

“Understood, Captain,” said Ivan.

By now the image on the tactical display showed us leaving orbit. I hoped we’d leave the system before they arrived.

“Ship, what’s our next destination?” I asked.

“Our next destination is the Herlao system,” replied Ship.

“Uninhabited?” I asked.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“Why go there?” I asked.

“The ancient database suggests there’s an obelisk on a planet there.”

I turned to Jem.

“That sounds like an excellent location to face our pursuers. I want to limit the collateral damage,” I said.

“Laine had the idea to search systems that had an obelisk. It increased our chance of finding you,” said Jem.

“That was a great idea. I’ll make a point of thanking her,” I said.

“She will appreciate that. Your loss upset her,” said Jem.

“It upset me too.”

“Did you find an obelisk here?” asked Jem.

“There once was one on the planet. It was long since destroyed by religious zealots,” I replied.

She nodded.

“In time, we’d have found you. Your distress call cut short our search,” said Jem.

On the tactical display, Ship had reached the edge of the system. Soon, the hyper-drive cut in and we winked out of normal space.

A little while later, Laine and Cathy joined us in the main bridge.

“Good morning,” said Laine. “Did we already leave?”

“Yes, we had reason to move on,” replied Jem. “Perhaps we can invite Saria and update everyone.”

“Ship, please ask Saria to join us,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

Soon Saria arrived. She saluted Jem and stood at attention.

“Good morning, Lieutenant. I’d like to inform everyone of a threat,” said Jem.

“Threat?” asked Laine.

At once, Saria changed. She suddenly had a weapon in her hands, and she looked around for threats. I hadn’t a clue where it came from.

“Yes, there’s a hostile force tracking us. Brian has informed me of it. They’re, as he described, rather unconventional,” said Jem.