Out of The Shadows Part One

(2) Admiral Merc says "Check the status on when Shadow Fox will be able to do a Gravdime jump, also get me Captain Kahn."

[14:37] "Shadow Fox this is OCE SS Yong. Commander Kybor speaking, request update on GravDime jump readiness and the Admiral wants to speak with Captain Kahn"

[14:37] "Commander Kybor this is Shadow Fox station Cmdr Keester speaking, we have a little problem here. The GravDime Engine will not charge and no one knows the whereabouts of Captain Kahn. The last report was that Capt Kahn took out the Dragon Slayers squadron for training but has not returned."

Admiral Merc breaks in. "Captain Sholakh, begin evacuation of Shadow Fox station immediately."

John Sholakh is already docked. "Aye Admiral, preparing to evacuate the station."

He switches to station comms.

[14:39] "Move along to the shuttle if you don't have an assigned evac pod. We will be taking everybody to the Island for their safety."

Isabella Ingram hastily finishes her coffee. "Um, evacuation." Grimly, she decides to stay at Merci's elbow. She doesn't ask questions, but records and makes notes diligently.

[14:40] Director Merci: "Capt. Sholakh what is the status?"

[14:40] John Sholakh: "Night Serpents in weapons range in about 20 minutes. Everyone needs to leave now. No time for baggage."

[14:42] Director Merci<< "I will take some crew on the Wild Cat."

John triggers the klaxon sounding evacuation of the station.

[14:45] Cmdr Keester gets on the Station wide Comms. "Evacuate station immediately. All crew head to your assigned evac pods. All VIP guests and command staff meet Captain Sholakh in the shuttle bay. Station being set for self destruct in 20 minutes."

[14:43] John Sholakh: "Designated personnel, please board my shuttle immediately on Level 4. We will be departing when all are aboard."

At the moment, Bella's the only VIP guest aboard. As she follows Merci down to Level 1 from the coffee station on Level 3, Bella wonders how much recording she can do before someone scolds her personally for sticking with Merci instead of obeying Sholakh.

Tech McBribe, two levels away from his assigned pod and seeing the path to it blocked by officers evacuating upwards, heads for John's shuttle with his tool kit.

Sholakh doesn't question his choice, saying, "Tech McBribe, welcome aboard, stow your gear and take a seat." McBribe does as he's told.

Bella finds herself running across Level 1 about a meter behind the Director.They enter the umbilical connecting Merci's personal craft, followed by Level 1 crew. The lock cycles, and the group steps into the ship.

Director Merci sees there is no time to tell Bella to go to the Shuttle John is flying, "Please take a seat, we be leaving right away."

Bella nods and obeys. Internally she's satisfied, but she keeps that expression off her face.

Merci drops the umbilical and heads away from the station.

Ahead of Wildcat, a collection of crew pods streams downwards. A few are headed in the general direction of the island base, but overall the vapour trails demonstrate that many are on widely, even wildly, different trajectories.

John Sholakh scans the station looking for others that need to evacuate. Seeing no human-temperature heat signatures, he seals the hatch and depressurizes the landing bay. "Departing the station now." He programs the navigation computer, making a jump to the air above the island, lands in daylight, and opens the hatch before hitting fleet comms. >>Admiral we have arrived. Passengers are departing the shuttle now.<<

Admiral Merc taps the comm button "Roger that Captain. Good work."

Bella spends the short trip down to the planet chatting with the Level 1 crew, getting local colour and initial reactions to the emergency. Disappointingly, the area of Wildcat where they're all strapped down has only two small ports, both out of her line of sight, in the external hatches. When Wildcat lands and the all clear's given to unstrap, she's the first one out.

Breathing the islet's fresh air, and enjoying it despite the circumstances, she walks across the bowl of the islet's centre to where McBribe stands in front of a long white tent. "How was your flight?" she asks. She glances into the tent. Kaori's carrylab is under one of the cots - predictably, by its open entrance.

Chief Tech McBribe nods and continues to look stony faced while standing on guard at the command tent...

Bella glances up at the clear sky - the station should be blowing up right about now.

(3) "Daylight," Kaori mutters in the bunker's ops room. "An orbital explosion and a full daylight emergency craft landing. If the Night Serpents didn't know the Empire was on the planet before, they do now." She leans forward, reflecting deeply. "Hm...now have the Night Serpents taken Kahn, or did she decide commanding the station wasn't enough after all? And I wonder if they're still talking about unity and nothing else."

From somewhere outside the bunker, there's a rumble. Kaori looks up. "I hope that's the thunder," she says. "That the storm's come on quickly enough to hide the blast from this part of the surface." She turns to the external sensors to check.

A moment later, the commset produces a blast of sudden static. Shocked despite the warning, Shana says, "The Station has self destructed!"

Shadow Fox self destructs as it was designed to. First it jettisons the Gravdime, pushing it away from both station and planet, then initiates a reverse build up in the solar generators causing fire to spread rapidly through the station while a full data purge is executed on the ops center computers.

Pieces of the station begin to flake off. Inertia keeps them in orbit at first, but gradually most of them fall down to Naeya in little balls of fire. This will go on for hours.

On the islet, Bella flinches irrationally as a round glow, bright enough to rival the sun for a few moments, shows in the clear sky overhead.

The Fire Jackets Battle Group continues to approach Naeya and monitor the Night Serpent ships while additional groups of Night Serpent ships begin to encircle the planet.

Admiral Merc begins to collect the data on the Night Serpent ships and instructs her crew to send the report on the encrypted channel to Director Merci.

Below in the bunker, Ester drawls, "Well...."

Kaori looks away from the external sensors where she's been checking the weather. "The storm should hide the visibles, at least in this region," she says. "And the lightning may explain away any bits of debris burning up in atmosphere lower down." She looks at the precipitation index and winces at the quantity of water falling from the sky. "Hopefully the stream doesn't rise above breakwater level!"

"Does this mean Naeya is our new home?" Shana asks. She pauses and stutters, "I didn't realize this was a one way mission."

Kaori shakes her head. "There's a battle group in the region, remember? They'll take us off when they need to - Night Serpents allowing." She's learned just enough about command to sound more confident than she feels.

Shana nods, feeling better. She can't help but admire Ester for her seeming calm composure.

Ester says, "Well this is a right and proper Hamilton at the Gates, I would say. Blowing the station up does seem rather hasty."

"I suppose one of the carriers will pick up the GravDime drive," Kaori says. "It wasn't the only important thing on the station, but it was one of them - and not something Verne would want in the hands of the Night Serpents."

"And do we know if these Night Serpents are going to attempt a landing here?" Ester asks.

"There's no way to know," Kaori answers. "We'll just have to stay alert."

On the islet, Bella turns her padd away from the sky. "Well," she says. "Chief Technician, would you like to share any thoughts on the end of Shadow Fox Station, which you tended for - how long?"

"We all do our duty Ma'am," he says in his stony faced soldiers act, although he can't help but feel a strong regret.

Bella smiles sympathetically. "I appreciate that. But your duty was keeping one of the Empire's great remote stations safe for its crew and its research team. Shadow Fox wasn't just another piece of tech, was it?" She looks to the left into the tent as a person who's been napping on one of the cots gets up. She nods to indicate friendliness. The person, intent on her own thoughts, doesn't nod back.

Chief Tech McBribe looks over his shoulder at the Ranger as she steps out, then back to Isabella. "The Admiral knows what she's doing, ma'am. I don't question her." He continues standing guard at the command tent.

Bella says, "You don't need to question her to regret the station's loss, or to respect its history, or the role you played in creating that history."

Director Merci walks over to Chief Tech McBride and says "Chief follow me. Let's talk in private."

McBribe nods and follows.

Bella looks at the dark-clad woman in the tent. The clothes aren't quite...modern, somehow, so she jumps in with a guess. 'Hello! Bella Ingram, Central Planets News...and I suppose you're one of the Rangers stationed here on Naeya?"

Balam Nolae looks at the red-haired stranger with the deluxe-sized padd, then at the unexpected groups of people she can see through the tent's opening. She looks at Bella again, then hastily walks out in search of someone known who can explain this breach in the islet's privacy.

(4) Director Merci and chief tech McBride enter the Wild Cat one and close the doors. Director Merci begins sharing the intell sent her from Admiral Merc, saying, "Chief. keep this confidential but I would like your feedback on the intel. You need to know the situation since I believe you will be in command here very soon. The crew of the Shadow fox is spread thinly all over Naeya now."

Chief Tech McBribe studies the data that the Director has sent to his data padd. His left eye involuntarily waters when he sees Shadow Fox Station explode on the screen but he remains stony faced. He nods to the director. "They seems to be a part of an expeditionary force. Their formation would indicate that these. although well armed. are a scouting force. If it's an expeditionary force, then the reinforcements we are to receive had better get here before the main force arrives. In my opinion. O' course I could be wrong, Director."

By way of distracting Shana, as much as because it's necessary business, Kaori looks down at the ancient Aerok on the page of the book she's brought down from the library.. "I've been learning more about the blue and black crystals we were all given on the station. This book is about about 1450 local years old - about 900 cycles. It was written when the second generation of settlers was trying to get their minds around the effects of the crystals - before the culture developed rituals around them. The recommendation is to sleep with them - meditate on them before going to sleep - keep notes on anything unusual that happens after deliberate contact is started. I suppose literacy was still a habit then." She pulls out her own crystal, which has replaced her Buddhist icon on the cord around her neck. "I've been sleeping with mine. It's - changed." And it has. The black has been replaced by purple.

Ester looks at the crystal and back at Jo, then pulls out her own. Its black has gone emerald green.

Kaori continues. "According to the book, the colour doesn't change for most people - but it does for those with specific psionic gifts. Purple for telepaths - green for true dreamers. For empaths, the black goes clear." She looks at the blue and purple of hers. "Odd. Empathy was my original gift - the telepathy's taken a lot of work to make active. I'd have expected the empathy to dominate -" She shakes her head. "Shana, if yours hasn't changed colour, it should at least flash when you touch it, if you've bonded to it."

Shana listens intently, then pulls her crystal out of the depths of a pocket. It flashes, as it should, but it's still black and blue.

Ester grips her crystal and closes her eyes. Kaori opens her mind to passively observe whatever the healer might be feeling. She tosses the distraction of her headscarf onto a nearby console, but keeps a grip on the book.

Shana looks back and forth between the healer and the Priestess, wondering what is taking place between them...

Ester pulls one of her legs up and chants to herself "sewe qe wṛgjō bhilis deikō "

The comm crackles. Verne's voice comes out of it. "Expedition. Plans moved up. Start up the mountain tonight. Night Serpents clearly want Naeya."

Kaori notes, with relief, that Merc understands the need for minimalism. "Shana, let the admiral know Nolae's not here. Fewest words possible. We don't want the Night Serpents to locate us."

"Yes. Priestess. I will let her know immediately." She sends the message to the Admiral, encoded - and she keeps it short.

"So the Night Serpents are going to do an invasion?" Ester asks.

"We don't know - but they've come in force." Kaori reflects. "Hm, and I picked that up from what Verne didn't say, not from her words - the crystal at work already on my telepathic abilities?"

"Well then, they doubtlessly can track that reactor so we need to get out of here."

Kaori glances over her shoulder. "The reactor's well-shielded. The problem is that the comm can't be shielded; its messages need to get out of this space. Ester, do you feel comfortable leaving Elin? How's she doing with your antibiotic?"

"Well, comfort has little to do with it. Plus I suspect these invaders will simply kill her and her family if we stay here."

"We can't know that. People are widely scattered on this world - and likely not dangerous enough to the Serpents to hunt out for their own sake. If the Serpents do turn out to be rogue NARI, of course..." Kaori can't fully suppress a shudder... "the population's living brain tissue would be useful. Wiping out all those brains would be wasteful. But we should pack what we have, and go. No doubt Nolae will be able to track us when she returns."

The comm crackles again. Mercedes Verne says, >> Nolae was investigating the presence of Shadows - much larger than expected. May be recovering in a safe zone.<<

Kaori breathes out. "Shana, send that we will leave as soon as the storm breaks - that Nolae will be able to track us." She grins a little wryly. "The mud will slow us down - but it'll also leave a clear trail. Clearer than we want, no doubt."

"Let's consider this logically," Ester says. "This planet has been here a long time. So the planet isn't what the Serpents want. The Station has to be their objective, likely they will want the personnel from the station. If anything we are incidental to them."

Kaori shakes her head slowly. "Maybe. We can't take chances, though."

Shana is packing her knapsack efficiently... "Or they didn't have an interest in the planet until they found out we were here, in which case there may be spies in our Fox crew."

"There is that too, Scribe, but all I see the station...hmm..." Ester's voice trails off.

Kaori looks over the crystals. "There's more than the Station. But the station is certainly the most immediate disaster."

Shana says, "We must focus on survival and the mission. What is our new objective?"

Ester says, "I think The Monk."

(5) Kaori nods. "Yes. Clearly that's Verne's priority, as she's ordered us up the mountain."

"Which also gets us away from any Serpent kill teams," Ester adds.

Shana says, "Then we must be fleet of foot. Perhaps we should travel at night to avoid the natives."

Kaori breathes out. "We'll be on a mountain, without a guide. And it's a pilgrimage path. I think we should start this evening, but catch a few hours sleep and after that, we travel as pilgrims, in the same way they do."

"Aslo, what is sending me these dreams?" Ester asks.

Shana says, "Perhaps the Monk can shed light on your dreams, too, Healer."

"And by the time we arrive, we may know if the crystal is having any effect," Kaori says. "I gather it's about a two day climb, which gives you a couple of nights to sleep with it. And if not - the Monk should know how to bind us to them, according to current local practice."

"Indeed Priestess," Shana says.

The three make a mad dash through the rain from the library to the pilgrims' hostel as soon as the worst of the storm has passed. Hastily, they pack up their necessities, including provisions - sausages and cheese, oatmeal and fruit - fortunately there's enough for two or three careful days on hand. They've already purchased straw sleeping mats in preparation for the pilgrimage, but not blankets; they appropriate those from the hostel, leaving some of their stock of silver coin in payment and apology.

Kaori changes into wool and leather, with leggings and practical boots beneath her skirts and headscarf arranged to eliminate flying ends. Besides pack and pouches and armbands, she picks up a long wooden staff - something she's trained with back in OldTown's dojo but that passes as a mere support for walking.

The rain's pretty well stopped; the clouds are thinning, but dusk is deepening when Kaori closes the hostel door and cuts behind the library to reach the foot of the path leading to Unity Mountain. A few minutes later, Shana and Ester, similarly prepared, follow. They leave a candle burning to suggest that they are sensibly staying indoors on this damp and chilly night.

Situation Summary, Week 6:

The Expedition and Shadow Fox crew are stranded on Naeya. The Expedition, with no guide, is starting the two day journey to the monastery on Unity Mountain. The Shadow Ranger will catch up to them eventually.

The Fire Jackets battle group is evaluating what the night Serpent ships are doing. It appears they are forming a blockade around Naeya.

There's already much talk of the fire falling from the sky among Naeyans in regions below Shadow Fox's final position that are not currently experiencing storm activity. Word will likely spread slowly to regions from which burning debris cannot be observed. In the village of Bocastraeon, the news will be brought by fishermen who have been following a school of tuna travelling in the direction of the islet.

The Unity Monk's retreat is above Bocastraeon's storm, with less atmosphere between it and space than most Naeyans live with. If anyone there has paid attention to the sky this afternoon, their view of the explosion and its falling fragments will have been one of the best on the planet.