INVASION

Part X
The Hub of the Universe

And so it begins…
DK was in his cube asleep when the klaxxon sounded. In the small space it felt as if it echoed in his head. He unzipped his sleeping bag and floated free. Still half asleep, he made his way along the narrow passage through the center of the habitation module. As he slowly ascended the central passageway from the hub he met Barry, who now slept in the spacious observation lounge in order to be able to monitor Ray's condition. DK sped up his travel along the handrail to match Barry's speed. "This isn't a surprise drill, is it? 'Cause if it is, then I am heading back to bed."

Barry grabbed the handrail and stopped suddenly. He allowed DK to continue moving forward. "This isn't a drill, man! its started!" 

DK grabbed for the next rail, missed, and his body rotated away from Barry, back first. "What's started?" DK tried to act as if he had planned this foolish maneuver. Before Barry could respond DK's rotation stopped abruptly with the far wall of the node. "Ouch! Now that's gonna leave a mark…"

Barry disappeared into the Command Node.

DK pushed off the node's wall and headed through the small hatchway behind him. The large common room was a converted research module. There were two officers on duty to monitor the Crichton anomaly. He was full of questions but it was one of those times to just listen.

Barry slipped into foot holds behind the monitor station while DK moved back and clung to a handrail as the officer read off information at an astonishing rate.

"Vector 001 mark 000 mark 002 Tracking one metallic object exiting distortion zone of the Crichton anomaly."

Barry shifted forward as he scanned the large monitor's data. "Heading! 23point 45 degrees trajectory…." There was a nervous tone to her voice as the officer continued reading from the data. "Its heading in, sir!"

Barry looked back at DK. "This is no drill, DK." His eyes seemed to look through DK as if he was dead. Finally he turned back to the commanding officer stationed in front of him. "Can you get a radar lock on it?"

"Yes, it appears to be uncontrolled." The officer moved quickly over the keys of the work station. "Its in an erratic rotation."

DK pushed from the wall and stopped at Barry's side. He did not look at Barry but kept his eyes locked on the streams of data on the screen in front of them. "Is it a space craft?"

"Not anymore… Look at it!" Barry pointed to the vector projection of the hurtling mass. "With that trajectory it looks more like debris. Its going in too steep - it will burn up in the atmosphere." 

"Debris! What do you mean…." DK was surprised he had not heard anything about there being material that passed through the worm hole. 

The officer finally looked up at DK and he could tell she was another "I hate civilians getting in the way" kind of person. "We track them from time to time. 

Barry shifted forward. "Did you get a visual on it?"

"We are composting now"

DK floated closer to the command officers station. The image was blurred. "It could be a ship?"

"Perhaps, then again it could be a washing machine for all we know." Turning to the officer, "Have a team clear that image up and send it off…"

"Yes sir!" The on duty officer did not look up from the five things she was already doing. DK noted that she was obviously very well trained for this situation. How does one train for alien invasion?

"You have Washington on the link?"

"Not yet, sir! its 03:05, Commander."

"Track the debris and make sure that NORAD has a lock on it."

"Sir, NORAD confirming trajectory." 

"Good! Have the pilots do pre flight on the SSTO's I want them ready if this washing machine does come to life!" Barry unstrapped from his station and DK tried to back out of his way. 

"Barry!" DK grinned. With Ray out of commission and Barry being the highest ranking position on the ISS, the title and responsibilities were placed back on him. He had been in control, but with Ray on board he fit seamlessly into the command role. Barry had made sure that Barb allowed Ray to do what he did best, command. But now, with Ray not up for the challenge, it all fell on Barry again. DK made sure to bug him about it every chance he got. "Commander! Where are you going?" DK was surprised that he would be leaving at a critical moment.

"Well, with Ray down for the count, I am gonna fly the remaining SSTO."

"Why does that not fill me with a sense of security?"

"Relax, DK, this is all foolhardy. It is preposterous to think we can just go out and form new wormholes and send them packing on their way!" Barry's face was getting red as he spoke and DK instantly knew where the conversation was heading." Instead of trying to stop them we should be trying to meet them make them understand…."

"Ya, Ya I know. I have heard this tirade a hundred times… live long and prosper…We come in peace crap!" Barry turned away from DK, obviously not planning on listening to any more.

DK heard the same alarm again and looking back at the command officer at the controls of the satellites that monitored the worm hole he saw that something else had arrived.

Barry pushed past DK sending him reeling to the far wall of the control room. He stayed there watching them lock on to the latest visitor.

"It's a ship! Locking on…" The image of a strange almost organic looking craft rotated about its axis. It was an odd mixture of black and red.

Barry's voice sounded strangely upbeat. "Have ye evva seen anything like it!"

He was not speaking to DK, it was more to himself. In a strange way this was the first second that it all became real. Till now it was blurry images on spy satellites, countless interviews with witnesses, but here in front of them was a ship from another would heading to earth.

Barry strapped himself into his station. "What's it's speed and heading?"

"It is accelerating towards the earth - 09-89 35kmh." Her voice was nervous. That speed could not be right.

Barry's tone was humorous. "Launch the space planes." He turned back to DK. "Not as if they have a chance to catch up to something like that!"

"Sir, the ship…it's changed course! It is diving deep into the atmosphere."

Barry moved forward. He did not wish to loose this craft for a second. "Track it and project it's heading!"

They watched for the next few minutes as the alien craft accelerated in the atmosphere and shot out on an intercept course with earths barren companion the moon.

DK watched the tiny blip disappear behind the moon. "Well, Barry, I assume the boys at home have a plan to deal with this contingency."

Barry look haggardly at DK…" Of course."

DK laughed sarcastically "You're kidding!"

"No. I am dead serious. I am sure they are right now trying to figure out a way of getting these nukes parked outside the station to the moon."

"Awe, come on, they cant do that! Its idiotic!"

Barry sat back in his Velcroed station. "Now you are beginning to sound like me."

Touchdown
Their crippled marauder flew in low from the spinward direction of their world. The Tracking signal grew stronger as they came upon the lights of a tiny city. Luck was on their side - they flew toward the city under the cover of darkness. The ships' systems were failing with every microt and Ulric looked for anything that looked like a landing port. They were out of time. 

Bialar pointed to the closest of the towers. "There, Uli, put us down on one of those towers!" 

Ulric was unsure. He had known from Jack the tech level of earth was far too low to have a spaceport that they would be accustomed to, but the alarms of failing systems and the heat of the command area dictated the closest tower was where they would come to rest.

The marauder struck the base of the mast of the illuminated antenna at the center of the tower and, recoiling like a hurt animal, moved back towards the edge as the last of her power fought against the pull of earth. It came to rest on one of the four large metal structures on the roof of the tower. 

Bialar looked at the surprised Ulric. "Not bad, considering you are no pilot!"

Ulric smiled at his friend and chuckled at the backhanded complement. He looked around at the damaged systems - this ship would never fly again. He realized that the structure they had landed on was holding them for now. "Bialar, let us get out of here before the living death renders you completely useless."

The two men made their way to the circular hatch at the base of the ship. It strained to open. Three attempts and the raise in heat sent them heading for the service port at the rear of the storage bay. The door opened easily and the cold wind from the rooftop was a welcome break from the pain that accompanied the rising heat irradiating from the inner hull.

Ulric kept from touching the superheated skin of the marauder. The smell of overheated shielding could be detected in the cold stiff wind that blew across the rooftop of the tower. Ulric turned back in time to see Bialar place his hand outside the hatch.

"Bialar! No!" he yelled as his voice was overshadowed by Bialar Crais's own curses. Ulric watched as Crais fell to the metal grating that was bent downwards towards the massive ship. Ulric grabbed Bialar by the arm and pulled him clear of the ship. "That was foolish, Bialar! The exterior is still over two thousand above standard. Any first year cadet knows better than to touch the aeroshell after re-entry!" 

Still clasping his hand, Crais pulled himself from Ulric and stood. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped and looked down at the burnt palm of his hand. And laughed. He looked back at Ulric. "You are right." He laughed again. "I am getting old."

"No, you have just been away from the Peacekeepers too long," Ulric said with a sarcastic grin. "Just getting soft."

Bialar surveyed their ship from the damaged walkway. He stood near the end of the walkway where he could view the city easily. Ulric followed after him, watching him take deep breaths. "Smell that, Uli?"

Ulric sniffed the air but he did not detect anything other than the lingering smell of overheated shielding on the marauder. "I smell nothing?"

"You wouldn't," Bialar chirped. "You're from a breeding colony. Born for the glory of all." He turned back to the city before them. "I, on the other hand, was given as tribute to the Peacekeepers. That smell in the air is the calling of winter. It is past harvest on this world and it is now falling into the depths of winter." 

Ulric stood next to his friend and looked out over the city. The lights beyond did not look much different from those on many commerce planets he had visited in his life. He marveled at the ornate decoration that adorned many of the smaller buildings and thought that they must all be religious structures. His eye was caught by the nighttime reflection of impractical structures in the blue of the mirrored tower that stood nearby. "I find it strange that they choose no uniformity in their structures. Everything looks different. It is quite chaotic." 

Ulric's statement got a small chuckle out of Bialar as he turned and faced Ulric. The smile was gone, a bitter frown in its place "You miss it, Ulric, don't you?"

This change surprised Ulric as he straightened slightly. "What do you mean?" Ulric's own grin was replaced by a steely stare." The cold breeze that was just moments ago a comfort now sent a chill down his spine.

"Our way…" Bialar broke his bitter stare. "The Peacekeepers' way."

Ulric did not respond at first, he only stared at his friend. He thought of how Jack would answer such a personal question. He chose to answer as Jack would expect him to… Bialar deserved the truth. "In a way, yes… But my life is my own now; it is what I make of it. I could not have Enra or Jack in the Peacekeeper world. That above any comfort I once had with them is far more important." Ulric stared at Bialar. "I choose my family over the life I once had." He stepped closer to Bialar as if his proximity would cause him to answer truthfully. "You are trying to find a way to go back to them, aren't you?"

Bialar looked away from Ulric. "We should get going while it is still dark. Do you have the scanner?"

"Crais!" Ulric let his anger slip slightly.

Bialar looked at his friend. Ulric was all that remained of his life of before. The Command Carrier… Gone! His career… Gone! Tauvo… Gone! "Ulric, if there is a way… Yes! I will go back! But on my terms. Not that half breed's! Or anyone else's. On my terms!"

Ulric was stunned. He had thought that Bialar, being out away from the Peacekeepers, would have seen by now… But no. He could not make the leap to freedom. "We should find access to the ground." Ulric passed Bialar as if he were a ghost. For now, his traveling companion may be his biggest threat.

They found the rusted door at the center of the tower. The door was sealed but Ulric fired his pulse gun and the lock yielded to the energy pulse. He did not look at Bialar. "Make sure you are at point 2-chamber compression."

"What! That will barely stun a tralic beast. Ulric are you mad?"

"Bialar, we are not going to kill anyone." He turned back to Bialar. "End of conversation!"

As they headed through the door they heard a strange sound from the roof. It was a strange squealing sound and they stepped back on the walkway to witness the marauder sink into one of the four huge metal boxes suspended on the roof of the tower. It slipped slowly and the metal beneath crumpled with accompanying screams as the massive ship compressed it further. They watched in silence. Although it seemed as if the Marauder would continue to sink through the building, it finally came to rest on the dirty roof of the tower.

"I told you, Uli. These were no landing platforms."

"You did not!" Ulric spat, annoyed by his comment.

Bialar's laugh did nothing for Ulric's feelings as they headed back into the tower and the unknown of Jack Crichton's home world.


Pilot's Den

Aeryn climbed over the control cluster of the small pilot's den. It was a smaller version of the one on Moya, but she new if Talyn was allowed to grow that it would expand to a size where it could fit one of Pilots kind. She recognized the equivalent to a maternal reaction that she hoped Talyn would decide to be Joined with a pilot. Where it was just the remnants of double helix that she still carried of Pilot's or that it was her wanting more for Talyn she could not decide.

Aeryn had to pull back her loose hair again. She searched for the telemetry controls but the copper portal was deadlocked in place. She next found the small translucent rods that controlled the DRDs; as if she had trained for this all her life, her hand passed over the copper rods and metal pedals in sequences that assigned different duties to assess and repair key systems. 

The small red machines that now inhabited Talyn disappeared quickly. She monitored their actions on the clamshell viewer on the far wall of the den. Aeryn had to concentrate and guide each of them in their task. She needed dirty field repairs; there was not time for anything else.

Aeryn's abilities that she had inherited still scared her. Each system she would touch she knew the bond that she had made with pilot years ago still held strong. Her essence had been changed her double helix had been forever altered to give her these gifts.

Her distracting thoughts dissolved with the chirp of her com. "Aeryn, John is stable He seems to be coming around." Zhaan's voice seemed weak, with a hint of alarm.. "We are getting very close to that world."

She found it difficult to focus. Her concern for him was almost smothering. She turned deeper into the safe cold place where she had one time lived. "Yes, Zhaan, I know. We are going to get a lot closer." Aeryn terminated the coms. She could not allow that kind of distraction now. If they were going to survive she couldn't let her guard down. "No…Not now!" 

As scanners slowly came back on line she scanned the gray world ahead. As she did Aeryn caught a glimpse of it. The blue sphere rising on the horizon of this created gray place. "Earth!"

Return to the Fold

Gorran bounded through the ship like a school boy. He greeted a few of the surprised support crew who had been assigned watch on the Defender. None questioned his presence, although they were surprised to see him running though the corridor at this time of the night. The ship was as much Gorran's as it was anyone's. 

He had started removing his clothes as he ran to the command core. By the time he reached the Fold he was half naked. For the first time, he did not fear entry into the hellish machine. 

The hatch opened slowly. The warm moist air caused a strong shiver in his spine. He stepped forward and placed his hands on the yellow hemispheres inside the hatch. There was a strange sensation in his hands not unlike the synaptic fibers penetrating his scalp. He had an urge to remove his hands but knew better. His body was simply not used to this new stimulation. 

"If this works Enra... By the Gods, I will travel to the core and back for you." 

The illumination from the two hemispheres beneath his hands faded leaving them a sickly yellow like the rest of the tissue inside the fold. As he started to move towards the seat, he stopped and giggled drunkenly. The chair's shape had changed. It was no longer the small upright chair of someone of much smaller stature. It now looked almost comfortable. 

As his naked form receded into the seat. It was as if it had taken on his shape. The Fold began to fill with amnexus fluid and Gorran tried to relax. The warm unnatural sensation of drowning came next. The change in the seat did not detract from the awful feeling. The metal tasting fluid was suffocating him. He found even the handrests now fit his fingers as he squeezed against the urge to struggle. 

Gorran's ears popped as the pressure equalized and his body once again grew accustomed to breathing the liquid. He looked to the ceiling as he waited for the worst of the hell that was interfacing with the Fold to begin. The fibers grew from the synaptic core above him slowly drifting down towards him. He felt the same strange sensation as they penetrated his skin. 

Yet it was different. It was as if a cold knife were cutting into his brain. With every strike there was a small flash of light in his vision. Soon the flashes became brighter and less jarring. 
He spoke in his mind the one word Enra said… Join! He felt a strange warm sensation in his head and his neck, jerked by the tightening of the synaptic cluster moving. This was unusual but not unheard of. Gorran was disappointed he was expecting more. He noted his vision slowly dimmed, lost to the Fold, replaced by the sensory net of the Defender Castra. 

But this time there was more. More than even the gods could imagine. Gorran scanned out into space and saw them: fiery paths, the shadows of StarBurst. He listened and he heard them clearly. They sang like the giant Dects on Casival, huge oceanic creatures with a vocabulary of billions of sounds that could communicate great distances. Here now he sensed the realm in which the Leviathans lived. It was far richer then he could have ever comprehended. 

Space itself looked alive to him. Gorran felt as he had never felt before. The Castra shuddered in its mooring, a reaction to Gorran's pleasure of being immersed in the Fold. He felt the ship no longer as a tool but as an extension of himself. It was nothing like he had experienced before. 

He scanned deeper into space, covering vast distances. The worlds he glimpsed seemed impossibly distant. And in the void between lay unnatural streaks of light. Gorran realized they were the wakes left by the artificial machines, made by all the others. Their Hetch drives punctured the very fabric of space. He was sickened by their presence. 

Gorran stopped his deep scans. The feelings he was experiencing were not his own but more projected onto him. He returned to the deep scan and again the anger and loathing returned. From where? From whom? How could he be emotionally influenced by this ship? These were questions for Enra; she would have the answers. Until then he would keep deep scanning the heavens. 

Gorran brought his attention to internal systems. The clarity and depth of information was exponentially greater now. As he studied the shunt that blocked the memory core, he noticed his senses would dim or be extinguished. Not even the newly found powers he had could allow him to breach the lockout system. They had protected the Castra's secret well, but he sensed something more behind the lock. 

A shock traveled from his brain to his feet. The Castra was truly alive! Not just biological systems, but some rudimentary intelligence. It was sentient. And the shunt protected this sentience. It had been this entity that called him back to the ship when Starric tried to steal her. Gorran felt the fold react to these thoughts. He felt every muscle in his body tighten as if he was being electrocuted. His skin felt on fire, pain increasing as he tried to concentrate on it. Unable to control his actions, Gorran touched the release pad and felt the amnexus fluid dissipate quickly into the floor vents. The pain was gone He realized the punishment was of his discovery of the truth, a truth he had known on some level, but a truth the ship obviously was trying to keep from them. He remember Petra one time saying she knew the Castra was alive, not just a living mass of biomech technology. 

He did not feel the synaptic clusters pull from his head as it had done so many times in the past, but as he turned in the draining fluid, he felt a slight twinge as a finger thick cluster separated from his scalp. Still holding his breath he felt the terminated interface at the base of his skull. The synaptic interface remained in his head. He touched the area gently. It was slightly tender but had little pain compared to what he'd had to endure in the past. His finger felt a small opening in his skin. He felt the bump of what he guessed was the terminus of the neural net, its micro fibers woven deep into his brain. 

Gorran leaned forward and heaved as wave after wave of life-sustaining fluid poured from his mouth and nose. With raspy coughs the last of it uprooted from his lungs. It did not sting as it had in the past. 

He stood slowly from the chair, hunched over in the small chamber. He turned back to the ceiling of the small chamber and patted the warm ceiling. "Don't worry, Castra, your secrets safe with me." The chamber door opened and a flush of cold air rushed in. Gorran walked out quickly. 

He realized that the support crew were staring at him. His raspy laughter rang loudly in the command node of the last remaining Defender. He looked at the poor young souls that could not understand what he had just witnessed. 

As he gained his composure he called to the duty officer. "Get me the Chancellor." His voice still rough from the amnexus fluid.

The duty officer moved to the Overseer's console. He turned back briefly to Gorran.
What's wrong? Gorran smiled at the impossibly young man. "Don't worry, she is expecting my call."
Through his indecision he spoke. "Sir, perhaps you should have trousers on before I open a link."
Gorran looked down as his soaked naked form and again broke into laughter. "By the gods! Thinking like that will make you an admiral some day"

No Decisions Right or Wrong.
Jack walked into the command tier quietly. With his ever-present smile, he glanced at his mother and D'Argo. Enra then noticed he was trying to sneak up on a DRD that was working at the base of one of the control stations at the center of the command tier. As he approached, the DRD turned one of its eye stalks around and looked at him. Causing Jack to laugh uncontrollably. He ran away with the DRD in hot pursuit.
Enra sat back and looked at D'Argo. " I would give half my blood to have his energy." 

She smiled, Enra had never met a Luxan before. The tales of their savage lifestyle seemed to be as much a fairytale as that of the Vladics.

She hoped beyond hope that they could somehow all stay together once Ulric returned. She had known as much as he that to get John home would be the greatest gift that either could do in the memory of Jack Crichton, and yet she still worried selfishly that it was too risky. She realized D'Argo had spoken to her. "I am sorry, what did you say?"

He shifted forward seeming almost uncomfortable with the question he had just asked and now more so at the thought of repeating it. "How was it possible? For you and Ulric to have Jack?"

Enra was surprised by the question. "I assume the same as you and your mate…" Enra paused as she tried to remember her name. 

D'Argo offered it with a touching reverence. "Lo'Laan."

"Lo'Laan… I assume that Jothee must have had significant double helix manipulation to allow for her to even carry him?" She was surprised by his question. D'Argo just looked his hands which seemed to be holding the edges of the table as if waiting for some great force to try and knock him over. "D'Argo, why do you ask?"

D'Argo's face seemed to strain as he started. "When we decided…" He smiled as retraced his memory. "We went to a healer who had the ability to give us the greatest gift. But we…we had to make choices. Lo'Laan was adamant that our child would be as natural a bonding as could be accomplished. "

He looked away from Enra, his deep voice cracking slightly as he continued. "I wanted him to be as close to either Sebacean or Luxan as they could achieve." He signed as he chuckled slightly. "The hours we argued." 

Finally, looking back to Enra with a slight glossiness to his eyes, he continued, "I finally agreed that our son would be a merging of each of us." His voice became tense. "Jothee could have looked for the most part Luxan or could have looked Sebacean. But we choose a path that now makes him an outcast." 

He looked away again, this time his voice seemed racked with guilt. "If I had known then, I would have demanded that he be Sebacean dominant. Not because they are better or worse than Luxans, just that it would have given him a better chance." 

Enra shifted forward. She sensed where his initial question was leading. It opened memories she had visited before and that always came with a level of guilt and pain that did not seem to wane with time. "D'Argo, you are better than I am. I selfishly made those decisions with out Ulric's consent." She remembered the day that the AutoDoc confirmed her suspicions that she had become pregnant.

"With the knowledge I was pregnant also came the conclusion that in order for the fetus to survive it would need alterations to account for the differences in our species." 

She moved even further forward as if trying to keep her secret between them. "Unlike Luxans, Vladics and Sebaceans are, or were, braches from the same tree genetically. So the ability to pick and choose what traits was not as imposing. But still I choose Jack to have as much of his fathers traits as the AutoDoc would allow. There is a point where the genetic splicing would end up being, for all intents and purposes, a clone of Ulric and I don't think the universe could handle that." She smiled bitterly at the still quiet Luxan. "So, Ka D'Argo, I choose for Jjack to be as much like his father as I could, not taking into account what Ulric's feeling were. So as I look at my son, I now see that his destiny is my fault…"

D'Argo shifted and looked intently back at her. "Destiny?"

She bit her lower lip as she spoke. "I had accounted for everything to allow Jack to seem Sebacean. His digestive system is designed to process food similarly to Sebaceans but I didn't think of Ulric's ability to… If I had thought that…" She stopped. She was surprised that this argument she had had with herself on countless occasions was now being shared with another. "I wanted Jack to be able to induce the rapture so that he could be witness to rituals and rights of my people. 

"I had no way of knowing what it would do with the trait of Ulric's ability to communicate with the Biomechs." She laughed sarcastically. "Once the Sebaceans know of Jack's ability, they will come after him with such force no one will be able to protect him!" Enra composed herself, her tone darkened further. "And my people look at Jack as an abomination! As a something dirty!" 

She looked deeply into D'Argo's eyes, knowing that they shared many of the same pains and regrets. " So you see, Ka D'Argo, there is no right answer. Just know that at least you and Lo'Laan had made the decision together!" Enra sat back and crossed her arms. A coldness came to her voice as she continued, "I, on the other hand, am alone! I can share this pain with no one!"

D'Argo moved forward, clapping his hands in front of him. "That is where you are wrong, Enra. You can share them with me. I understand better then I wish to…"

Pilot's image appeared in the clamshell viewer over her shoulder. "Excuse the interruption, but I am receiving a tight band transmission."
Enra rubbed her eyes and composed herself. She looked to the main projector and spoke quietly. "Thank you, D'Argo." She got only a smile in return, one that in a way bonded them for life. They shared common concern. Enra cleared her throat and shifted back again in her chair. "Pilot, open the channel!"

Top of the Hub

The small filthy staircase ended at a rusty metal hatchway. Bialar moved to one side and Ulric opened the door slowly. He whispered to Crais, "Point two!" pointing at his pulse gun.

Crais turned his pulse gun on its side and adjusted chamber compression. "Point two," he mumbled in disgust.

They surveyed the corridor beyond. Ulric had seen decoration as elaborate during his assignment on Delvia, but only in temples Could this tower be a temple of some kind? He stepped silently into the corridor, Crais following closely behind him. Their footfalls were silent in the gold fabric-covered floor. 

There was noise of a crowd ahead. Ulric noticed the smells of exotic spices and cooked foods. His stomach protested against the lofting aromas that were alien yet very familiar. Bialar moved up next to him. "Is this a temple to food, or perhaps a place of offering to their gods?"

The notion was preposterous. Jack had never spoken of such things, nor had John in the discussions of earth. As they continued towards the noise they came to eight golden hatchways beyond which were red ropes that ended at what looked like some type of wooden tactical station.

Ulric placed his pulse gun in the holster and instructed Crais to do the same. As they passed the first set of hatchways a small chime rang and a large red arrow pointing down illuminated at the top of the furthest hatchway. The two men ducked back into the recess of the closest hatchway pressing their backs into the doors to keep their profile narrow in case of a fire fight. There was no cover here. 

They watched from the edge as four humans dressed in elaborate clothing exited the hatchway. Ulric whispered to Crais, "Level risers! That's how we are getting out of here."

Once the small crowd was down at the far end of the corridor near the red ropes, they headed for the open hatch. The red arrow flashed and chimed and its doors began to close. Before they could get in it was sealed shut. They stood at the golden doors trying to open them but they would not move. The whooshing sound of the level risers descent was all they could hear. Suddenly behind them the chime again rang. This time they had no time to seek shelter. Ulric looked at Crais, who seemed slightly panicked as the doors parted. Ulric grabbed Crais and spun him around so that his back was to the opening door. He shushed Bialar's objections. 

As the second wave passed them, Ulric noted only one of them even noticed them. The tall sender man grinned in a very suspicious way then turned back to his friends. Bialar pulled Ulric by the collar towards the empty elevator. They surveyed the strange writings on the control consol on one side of the level riser compartment. If Ulric didn't know better this transportation interface was remarkably like the transport sleds of a common carrier. Ulric found the lowest button and pushed it. 

"What are you doing, Uli!" Bialar spat as he pulled Ulric's hand from the depressed circular button. His question was answered when the doors started to close. Someone from the hallway beyond spoke to them, "Hold, please!"

Ulric looked at Bialar. "Hold what?"

"You're asking me?" Bialar surveyed the compartment for handles or support rails. Nothing, just the same mirrored glass, wood and metal as the corridor outside. Bialar looked at his reflection. The gash on his head had stopped bleeding, but the dried blood made it look that much worse. 

As the doors closed a hand slipped between them and they suddenly started to open. As if bracing for an attack, Ulric move back from the controls and his hand slipped down over his pulse gun. The doors opened and a group started to enter the level riser, each looking strangely at Ulric and Bialar. They seemed to look away from Bialar quickly, the side of his head still covered in dried blood from their initial collision. 

Ulric and Crais found themselves being pressed to the back of the level riser. 

An extremely large female was almost pressed against Bialar. He looked to Ulric with an evil grin. "See? As I said, Uli, this must be a temple to food. Look at the size of this one!"

"Crais!" Ulric looked nervous as he made eye contacted with them. He smiled and bowed his head slightly knowing better than to try to speak to them. The doors closed and the level riser descended quickly, almost with the speed of the internal transport sleds of a carrier. Ulric was impressed by the acceleration.

Ulric realized that without translators, their language must sound like the squeals of Fellip spiders being milked for their nectar. This would make it that much more difficult to blend into the population. Looking back at the bloody face of Crais made the idea of blending in impossible.

The large woman looked over her shoulder at Bialar. then back to her friend. "The Top of the Hub has certainly slipped. First, no valet pahking for the cah, then they lost our resahvations, and look at this." She looked back at Ulric then Bialar. "They let anyone in. No dress code. I tell you, Muffie, this is the last time I evah botha to come heah."

Ulric felt a strange surreal sensation. As if this were some impossible dream that he would wake from. If the situation was not so dangerous, he would find great humor in it. He felt the weight of deceleration as the elevator came to a stop. The doors parted and they exited out into a cavernous room, its walls decorated in wood and green stonework. 

They waited for the group to disperse. They needed to be outside in the darkness; here they were exposed. They passed bank after bank of elevators. As they approached a large section of what looked to be a commerce area with carts and shops, it was strange to see something familiar in the strange world. They headed away from the commerce area; there were too many people there. As they turned past the last bank of elevators they came to a huge glass. As if drawn to it, both men walked quickly to survey an escape route from this place. Through the glass curtain of one side of the tower was a wide passage with craft traveling in both directions. These were the vehicles they had seen from the edge of the tower, but now were on the same level with them. 

Ulric noticed they had wheels. "Look, Bialar, they are wheeled vehicles!"

"Uli, I fear they are lower than we thought on the tech scale. Are you sure they will be able to help us get back?" 

"I don't know."

As they followed the glass wall that overlooked the thoroughfare, they came to a guard station. Ulric was so entranced by the view outside they had continued walking right up to the large desk. One glance at these humans and they knew these were some kind of military guards. They wore black uniforms and what looked to be weapons and PK restraints. There were three guards just staring at them as Ulric stopped walking.

One of the guards stepped forward. "Err-ah, What do we have heah?"

Bialar shifted closer to Ulric and directed Ulric's eyes to the large wall of glass. Ulric smiled at his old friend. The both turned towards the window as the guards started to walk towards the strange couple. Ulric and Crais drew their pulse guns and fired at the large wall of glass. Even at point two chamber compression, the entire wall of glass ruptured outward. The stunned guard just stood there.

Bialar grabbed Ulric by the shoulder and shoved him towards the window. Ulric was as surprised as the guards by the destruction of the wall of glass. The two men sprinted out onto the long walkway as onlookers tried to figure out what had happened. The first intersection with a smaller street they came to, they turned. Ulric followed Crais's lead as if he had been here before. It was obvious that Crais had some knowledge of running in a city environment. They continued for a short distance until they came to a dark passage between two buildings. It was wide enough for a marauder but was poorly lit. Bialar pulled Ulric into the shadows to one side of the small passage. Bialar's chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath.

Ulric smiled at Bialar. "Something tells me you have done this before?"

Bialar laughed between breaths. 
"Yes… 
When I was a boy we… Would bring our harvest to…The tribute station at the commerce plaza… Every year Tauvo and I got into a little bit of…Trouble…."

Ulric looked back at the well lit passage beyond, seeing if any had followed them. "As always, Bialar, you are full of surprises." 

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