George Atmell

After recruiting Sel to our little group, the three of us decided what to do next. Sel was okay with going anywhere now, given that her involvement with the Felinian pirates were now erased due to joining our crew. It was courtesy of Iren, of course, so everyone would believe Sel to be dead in space. She was fine with this, noting that her life had practically changed when she joined a pirate crew.

While Sel did have reservations towards us, even after we had told her that we were simply explorers, she slowly warmed up to us when she realized that we were not acting like pirates. I mean, it was rather obvious, right? She trusted Zarya's words, especially after the Vyrnian told her about her job. But it was because Zarya was female, and she respected females. Felinians were built on a matriarchal society, meaning that in a Felinian family, the females were traditionally more respected than the males.

"In our society, the females are given harsher training and discipline," said Sel. "While the males are...well, relegated to housekeeping duties. But honestly, it doesn't matter anyway. It isn't illegal for anyone to take any jobs and, well, no one cared."

"Because you look the same?" I asked. Well, that sounded rather wrong. Of course, they, like humans, had evolved enough to know subtle differences of their own race.

"Felinians are rather androgynous in appearance, even for us," replied Sel, who either misunderstood my question or simply tried to change the topic. "Give me your tab for a sec."

She took my tablet and put something in, and then showed me a picture of two female humanoid lion heads. Well, they looked like female at first glance, but I remembered the 'androgynous' part.

"Uh...which one's the guy?" I asked.

"See what I mean? If you want to know, it's the one on my right. It's easier to tell if they're naked. You can simply see what they have between their thighs."

"Don't they wear something more...masculine?"

"Given that you're a pre-space, let me tell you this. You don't point at someone for wearing something that does not suggest their gender. It's very rude."

"Oh, well...yeah, sorry."

I felt that I could not see the difference because they were Felinians. Even back on Earth, I couldn't differentiate one hellhound with another if they did not have a different fur color, eye color, horn shapes, or even the type of dog breeds they were from. The same was true to Cait Siths.

Sel was, however, raised in space, and her view was rather progressive. She did not care about our status so long as we did not cross her, betray her trust, or being anything related to pirates. She got her reasons, and I understood it.

We traveled onward to Vyrn. Sel told us the same information we already knew: Vyrn was inaccessible and all transports there halted. Arcturus then asked about the other planets in the system, where he remembered they had built colonies on them. This question came just before we got out of warp.

"The Arcturus system," declared Zarya. "Well, what's left of it, anyway."

I was surprised by this. I knew that 'system' referred to a star system. So, the planet was orbiting a star called Arcturus, which happened to be the name of our friendly 'wyvern'.

Of course, I asked him about it. I expected him to be embarrassed. On the contrary, he simply said, "Star names were a trend back when I was young, and it ran in the family. My father's name was Domel Andrates, Andrates being the name of a star 5 light years away. I also had a friend named Orionsis."

"But is it normal to give you a name out of your own sun?"

"Arcturus is a noble name, you know," said Arcturus.

I turned to Zarya, who shrugged and said, "Can't argue with you on that one. The name of our sun is from an ancient Vyrnian hero."

Then it was not so weird, after all. Naming a child from a hero was considered a way of respect or a wish. Still, I guess that Vyrnians regarded their heroes greatly to name their own sun with the name of said hero.

But then the planet came to view, and the planet's situation became apparent.

The planet, Vyrn, was abandoned by its original inhabitants, and it looked lifeless. You must be there to know what it felt like. Believe me, I knew what both Zarya and Arcturus felt when they saw their own planet in plain view and in contrast with the bright Arcturus star.

Between the two, the one who got hit the worst was Arcturus. Couldn't blame him. He had been asleep for three thousand years, thinking that his planet had fallen to a fanatical cult, only to realize that things became even worse. Zarya seemed to be sympathetic to Arcturus's reaction on seeing his planet.

The planet Vyrn was once a thriving planet. I remembered Arcturus talking about the golden color of his planet when seen from orbit, with the occasional patches of water. But the one that made him feel proud was when he told me about the dark side of the planet, essentially the part that was experiencing night. He described the night lights visible in space as they illuminated the darkness of the planet. It made him know that the planet was alive and full of Vyrnians doing their jobs and being generally content.

When we saw the planet, it was no longer golden, and the dark side was dark. No lights were visible, not even fire. The planet was as dead as a sphere of rock. Arcturus was visibly distressed by this.

"It has been like this since the Exodus," said Zarya. "No one ever step foot on the planet, not even scavengers. The planet is dead and abandoned."

The part where she said 'not even scavengers' intrigued me. A planet that was once the beacon of civilization would've left a lot of technologies and knowledge. A whole planet could not be stripped clean that fast, even if more than a hundred years had passed. I told Zarya about this inconsistency, and she simply gave me a response that I half expected.

"There is an emphasis on 'dead', George," said Zarya. "Vyrn cannot be accessed because there's a planetary shield that prevents anyone to come out or in. This is the reason why Vyrn is called The Sealed Planet."

"Planetary shield?" I asked.

"A versatile shield to protect the surface from meteorites and crashing ships. Some of the older Vyrnians hoped that one day, the generator would fail, and the shield would drop, but 500 years later, it's still there. How a generator can stay on that long eludes me

"And no one investigated for more than a hundred years?"

"Some tried. Without access to the planet, there is no way to tell."

It was clear that the mystery wrote itself. Everything had a limit, even generators. I remembered reading a short story about a group of underground dwelling people sheltering themselves from an atomic war. The story ended rather bleakly, where they all died because of their over-reliance of the central battery that failed after 500 years. However, the situation on Vyrn was clearly the opposite of it. We had no answers and could only resort on seeing the planet from where we orbited. Zarya even told us that if we attempted to land, we might land on the surface of the shield instead.

Then Arcturus, who by this point had been stricken with the reality of his home planet, remembered something. He then said, "The Lekan. How about the Lekan?"

"What about it?"

"There was a colony on Lekan in my time. Is it also abandoned?"

"Yes, it's also abandoned. Lekan was never intended to be a full-fledged colony for many reasons, one of which was the difficulty in expanding the small colony already there. I remembered reading Arkari's history that research suggested that it was better to expand a more habitable planet than creating a regulated environment. Far more economically viable, given the situation post-Exodus."

"So, the colony was still there, abandoned? I think that's where we can go next."

"That's...not advised."

"Why not?"

"Because this is an abandoned star system," said Sel. She had been sitting by the corner in silence, listening to our conversation. "An abandoned star system means dangerous people have taken residence in whatever colony is left standing. You do realize that, don't you?"

"But Lekan, even in my time, is a database station. There's bound to be some answer not in the net left in there. We might even get the reason why Vyrn was sealed."

"Sel is right, Arcturus," I said. "You don't assume an abandoned colony to be completely abandoned. Even back on Earth, you don't assume a cave to not be a dragon's lair."

"Alright, you proved your point there," said Arcturus, convinced. "But there's still one other mystery on our hand. I can't see the gateway."

"What gateway?" asked Zarya, confused.

"A gateway that is shaped like an eye. Where is it? It's supposed to be near Vyrn, enough so that it could be seen on the bright sky. That thing must have something to do with this whole Exodus business."

"Don't ask me. Okthaipans don't know what happened before the Exodus in detail. My parents did not tell me about a giant gateway in space."

In case you forget, there was a recording from Arcturus's father about the gateway that caused a lot of problems to Arcturus. This gateway was apparently the start of a revolution (and somehow, the slow decline of the Vyrnian civilization) and was referred as a symbol. That same thing was not visible near the planet or anywhere nearby. There was no way the recording was fake. Arcturus had told me many times about it. In fact, he had seen the thing itself.

"And you think the answers will be in the database colony," said Sel. "So, even with the danger, you just want to risk it."

"I have to know what happened to my planet. I don't want to just sit back and accept the fact that the planet where I was born is no longer accessible. I just want to know why. Was it quarantine gone out of hand, was it a secret invasion? I want to know."

This mystery intrigued us, even Zarya. Arcturus's argument was also sound. In fact, he unintentionally tapped into that sense of adventure I had longed. So, we decided that Lekan could be a good place to start. Lekan was Vyrn's first and biggest moon. There was a colony built on its surface, which apparently dated from ancient times (or in this case, Arcturus's time). Even back then, I was skeptical as to how the place was still standing, though Arcturus said that it was preserved due to the vacuum. Based on Arcturus's recollections, before the station was converted into a database station, it was a research station focusing on colonization project in non-atmospheric environment. The research had been satisfactory enough to permit colonization on satellites with similar situation like Lekan. However, after it had served its purpose, Arcturus told me that it became a database station where backup data were stored as a contingency in case something happened to the central database on Vyrn.

"Which actually served its purpose," said Arcturus. "Especially since Exodus."

As we landed on the Lekanian colony, Arcturus gave me a small device. As I put on my jacket (a new one given by the Vyrnian colony Zarya belonged to), the device blipped, and nothing happened. I did not know what happened until Sel, who noticed my confusion, said, "It's a portable shield generator, for light spacewalk. Not as good when it came to radiation, unfortunately, but you don't need to procure spacesuits."

"Which is the one Felinian invented," I said, remembering that info I read before.

"The only thing we could be proud of." Sel sighed.

Then we landed on the colony. It looked rather dead, and dark. We landed on the bright side of Lekan, where it reflected the star's light on it to provide it light, and a much-needed warmth.

"Onboard sensors said that the colony is radiation-free, except a minuscule amount emitting from generators still powering the colony," said Zarya.

"Which can mean several things," said Arcturus. "Either the database computer is still taking in data, or we're going to have to fight."

"Either way, stay sharp," said Zarya. "And hope that this is not the end of us."

I nodded, keeping one hand on my sword's hilt. If we were to get into an unknown confined space, things could get messy quicker than we though, so it was better to stay aware.

Our first indication that something wrong happened to the colony was the broken airlock door hastily repaired and the decontamination system not working. The colony was dark and in disrepair, with cables hanging everywhere. Sel also noticed guns dating from one hundred years ago, all with their charges empty. Arcturus also noticed several burn marks caused by energy weapons on the walls and surfaces like the receptionist table, indicating that a battle happened there.

"This is a bad start," said Arcturus.

"These weapons are Vyrnian in design," said Sel while examining one of the rifles. "It's symmetrical and industrial. It is also designed so that a three-fingered winged being can use it without problem, not to mention its size."

"You know your guns well, huh?" I said.

"Working with pirates means working with guns," said Sel, though she did not look very proud of it. She shook her head and said, "Come on. Let's go to where the generator is working."

We went deeper into the colony, surrounded by darkness and possibly danger. As we travel deeper and deeper, it became apparent that something violent happened, mostly between Vyrnians. Aside from guns, we also found corpses of Vyrnians lying around, each with varying damage on their body. While it was not surprising to see dead corpses lying around in a conflict (well, not me. I had not been in a conflict before), the one that struck the most was Arcturus. I saw him inspecting one of the corpses and held a necklace with eye decoration on it. He put it inside his hands as his expression changed into seriousness.

"The cult," he said. "They attacked this colony."

"The cult? You mean agents of the former empire?" said Zarya. "Why would they do this?"

"Either they've become lunatics or there is something in this colony that they want. Something so important they do not hesitate to kill to get it. Ah, who am I kidding? That's what they do during the revolution, so why stop there? This place is like a treasure planet for them to make their nonexistent claim. Good thing history's not kind for them."

Zarya and I knew what Arcturus was into. That sarcastic remark quickly reminded us that he harbored deep hatred to the Vyrnians who destroyed his life, causing him to be lost in time. Still, as professional as he was, Arcturus shrugged this off and pressed on, intending to know what the remnants of the Holy Empire wanted.

Fortunately for us, while the colony seemed big when seen from up above, most of the systems were automated, meaning the living area was rather limited and somewhat cramped, like a spaceship. I always wondered how these space-faring races could live in claustrophobic-inducing places like the space station, a spaceship, or even a colony. Had the long history of space travel forced them to adapt to this living condition? I never had this kind of situation where the only shield we got from death was a sheet of metal and some transparent, but persistent, shield.

Another thing I felt different was their complete trust on technology. Back on Earth, even Ternorians, hailed as the most technologically advanced people on Earth, had no complete trust on their technology. Well, considering their technologies were still mostly hit and miss while the alien technologies were already so well-structured and well-used and developed, I could see why it was so different.

As I thought about the differences of Earth and space, Arcturus felt something and stopped us from going further.

"What is it?" I asked.

Arcturus silently walked forward and put his hand on the air, where we could see crackles of electricity shocking him, except he was not shocked. Instead, he absorbed the energy.

"Force field," said Arcturus. "Not a problem. Just need a little bit of Vyrnian trick and...there!"

What Arcturus did was that he absorbed part of the force field into himself and releasing it on the other side, essentially trying to be the force field, putting fact on the claim that his race was a living conduit. That way, he had limited control over the field which he used to literally pry open the supposedly transparent shield like a sheet of film. This move was surprising for all of us, who had never seen him do this trick before (I might've seen him did this when we were crashing on the Orian ship. He said he did this trick to escape his cell, which used force field, and got to me).

Zarya was amazed by this spectacle. As a fellow Vyrnian with the same natural ability, she clearly had never known how the energy absorption and conversion could be used that way, aside from healing.

"Good thing I learned how to bypass force fields back in the army," said Arcturus with a smile. "It's rather tricky."

"Look, tommy," said Sel with a sigh. "Don't deny it. You're showing off, aren't you?"

"Why would I show off at a time like this?"

Sel shook her head. "You just don't get it, do you?" and walked past Arcturus. Good thing we got someone who's rather forward about it. Arcturus did show off, only that he wasn't aware of it.

The fact that there was a force field blocking our path was enough to raise suspicion that there was someone else in the colony who had taken the place as their home. It made it even more apparent that as we walked through the corridor behind the field, there were sounds of machines that made the place alive somehow. Another clue was the existence of air, though we kept our shield up in case of an ambush.

At this point, we tried our best to keep silent, as we had practically trespassed. We did not know if the person taking over part of the colony were friendly or not, but either way, they'd not think of us as friendly for trespassing. I pointed this fact to the others, and the one who told me that it would be alright was a former pirate (Sel), which means no one cared about it except me.

As we walked together and look at each other's backs, I heard a weird shrill noise in my head. This voice sounded like a high-pitched scream, which became louder the more we walked. Before I could warn the others about it, the scream became so loud it felt like my brain was being pierced by several sharp needles. I could not describe the pain, but I remembered that I screamed in agony. I blacked out soon after.