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“They’ve found the key.” Summer sounded anxious, worried and a little perplexed but still incredibly sexy. I became aware of how long I haven’t seen her. Blasted work. “Marсus! Wake up! I said they’ve found the damn key, and now they can open the Black Abyss and release the thing inside. All the years of our work will be for nothing. In the end, it didn’t even matter!”
“But they didn’t open it yet. The fact that they can doesn’t mean they will.” I tried to calm her down. We haven’t seen each other for months and haven’t spoken in weeks. It was late night where I was, and a moment ago I was blissfully asleep after a rowdy evening out with some local friends.
“You don’t understand.” Summer’s voice filled with sadness. Her eyes looked tired, as if under a weight of many centuries. “The key itself will make them open the door. It cannot be resisted. It oppresses, enslaves, possesses and controls. They will do whatever it wills.”
“Alright. Maybe you’re right. How much time do we have and what should I do?” I was fully awake now and even sneakily took the anti-hangover pill I saved for the morning.
“The key is at the Oars station right now. It’s a godforsaken town in the fringe sectors, near the border of the Old Empire. I don’t know how it got there or where did it come from. We have a special ability to trace such things when they surface. The first place where we got a signal from the key was the Oars. I think the Imperial and Federation goons also already know about it and should be on their way there. You’re the closes one of us to that place. Go there at once. Kill everyone there if you have to, but find the key! I’m on my way, but it’ll take me some time to get there.”
I turned off the comms and went to freshen up. No more sleep for me today. Then I looked up the Oars, and it was indeed quite close to my location. The fastest option was to rent a ship from the UMC, or buy one. I had to fly as soon as possible.
As soon as my ship entered the system where Oars was located, I was stopped by a patrol cruiser. The system was swarming with ships. My radar screen was littered with dots. There were two dreadnoughts near the central station. One of them was an old Imperial rust bucket that has seen every war of the last thousand years. The second was clearly a new one, of Ellydium design. Both dreadnoughts came with a full support fleet, and it was clearly impossible to get past them.
The patrol cruiser that stopped me turned out to be Imperial, so they took me to their dreadnought. It was a typical warship on the inside. Minimum of decorations and comfort, maximum of sharp angles and twisted metal. The dream of any militarist. The convoy that stopped me took me to an unassuming door of one of the cabins and pushed me inside. There was a typical Empire Security Service officer sitting behind the desk inside. White uniform, golden shoulder pads and all. His service cap was on the desk beside him.
“Olaf Larsen, Tribune of the Empire Security Service,” he introduced himself. “And who are you and why have you come to the quarantined area?”
“My name is Marcus Chromeus,” I introduced myself. “I’m a journalist, the author of the All This Science blog. Maybe you’ve heard of it?”
“I have,” Olaf looked at me, more interested. “What business do you have here?”
“As you know, I’m interested in anything unusual that happens in our area and I’m extremely curious. When I heard about a new pandemic of a disease with unusual symptoms, I decided to find out the details and share them with my readers.”
“Your blog hasn’t had a new entry for a few years.”
“Yes, I’ve been on sabbatical. Writer’s block and all that.”
“What changed?”
“I think a new experience will cheer me up and breathe new life into my work.”
“Aren’t you afraid of getting infected?”
“There’s a certain risk. Maybe that’s what I need.” I smiled.
“We can’t let you in or let you go yet.” Olaf got up from the table. “You will be given quarters on our ship. You are not a prisoner, but we will restrict your ability to travel. Temporarily, of course, citizen Chromeus.” He waved his hand, and the steel palms of his soldiers turned me towards the exit.
I did not stay imprisoned for long, and it was impossible to see my detention any other way than being imprisoned. After a couple of hours, I was taken to the same room again. This time there was another man inside. He was also wearing military uniform, but it was Ellydium for a change.
“Have a seat, Marcus,” Olaf now seemed more courteous, pointing to an iron chair and releasing my escort. “How are they treating you?”
“I’m fine, thank you,” I gave the Federation representative an expressive look.
“We have clarified that you are a citizen of the Federation, and so I invited commander Robert Ramirez of the super dreadnought Defiant to speak with you.”
Ramirez smiled and I recognised him. Summer had shown me a picture of him once. How long ago that was...
“Nice to meet you,” I smiled back. “I hope they’ll let me out of the Imperial custody now?” I made it sound like I was half-joking.
“Ha-ha, it’s not like you’re in a dungeon,” Olaf laughed. But his eyes were dead serious.
“Of course we’ll help you, Marcus,” Ramirez interjected. “We have a duty to protect our citizens.”
At this point, I vividly remembered my adventures in the Ellydium Security Service custody. I knew how exactly they “protected” people. No, thanks. I remained politely silent, of course. My senses told me a big game was about to begin. They were clearly trying to use me. And I’m always up for a game like that.
“Unfortunately, we will not be able to allow you to travel to the orbital town of Oars or leave the system at this time,” Ramirez continued. “As you know, there is an epidemic of an unknown contagion in the town. The system is under quarantine and we’re not letting anyone out to stop any chance of spreading the disease throughout the galaxy.”
“As far as I know, the disease is only transmitted by direct contact with the infected?”
“That may be so. But we’re not absolutely sure. Besides, maybe you’ve already been in contact with someone infected. We have to stay vigilant.”
“How long do you intend to keep me here?”
“We don’t know yet. But we can transfer you to the Daring. The conditions there are more comfortable,” he suggested, and I grimaced in response, as if to acknowledge that the option made sense, but I’d like for him to propose something else.
“We can offer you another option, though,” Olaf entered the conversation. “We can allow you to continue to the orbital town, but on one condition.”
“I’m all ears.”
“What do you know about the contagion?” He suddenly changed the subject.
“All I’ve heard is that it’s like the Black Plague. A deadly disease. Very quick. Transmitted by direct contact with the infected.”
“That’s correct. Unfortunately, the explorers and medical teams we sent to the town are no longer in contact. We’d like to get more data on this disease. We believe it’s artificially induced and that there is some source of the infection in the town. We desperately want to know what or who it is so we can contain the source and prevent the disease from spreading.”
“Why don’t you just destroy the town?”
“We’re not sure that it would help,” Ramirez said uncertainly.
“And there are some technical obstacles for that,” Olaf supported him.
“Okay, but why me?”
“We’ve made some inquiries about you, and we think you can not only infiltrate the orbital town and find the source of the contagion, but also survive.”
“Thank you for your confidence,” I smirked, “but I’m afraid you overestimate me.”
“We think you underestimate yourself, Marcus.” Olaf looked at me with an imperial squint. “Do you agree or not?”
“Of course I do.” I easily withstood his gaze. I had good teachers.
“Then we will provide you with an escort to the town. But be warned, no one inside responds to signals from the outside. The docks are shut down.”
“That’s all right, I can get inside.” I got up. “Let’s get this over with.”
To be continued.