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Missing Information; The Trail; Trap;
“Why can’t you do it from here?” Jack was willing to help, but he didn’t understand why it was necessary to go to another system.
“We don’t know exactly what will happen once we start the reactions in a quiet star. We need to first test it in a system that has no habitable planets. If it’s safe, we can do the rest from here.”
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“Velorek, it looks like the fourth probe went to Earth. I recognize the images from the returning capsule. Up to now we’ve only recorded scientific data into the probe. Andrea and I would like a few minutes to record some personal messages. I’d also like you to say something so they can hear your language.”
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“Hi Grandma. Now that you can hear my voice you know I’m okay, and that we’ll be able to talk to each other. It’s been quite a ride. I’m learning about some pretty interesting things, but one I find most amazing is we’ve met people here, and they look like us! I’m even making some friends. One friend in particular is a scientist named Quonn. We have really hit it off, but it surprises me because I have very little in common with anyone here except, of course, Jack. I’ll tell you more about my life here next time, but for now, send my love to my cousins and aunts and uncles. Love you, I’m really fine.”
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“Allison, Emma, this is going to be really short. I have the best and most exciting news. I have learned that John did get here alive. I’ve been on a planet where he’s been. Unfortunately, that was about two years ago, but I have very high hopes of finding your brother. The people we’ve met have been incredible, and they are helping me look for John. You know all that music I brought with me. They’ve made a bunch of copies and they are getting distributed to many different planetary systems. My hope is John will find me. Send me a message; I want to hear your voices. I love you.
This next is for DK and everyone else at IASA. I have asked the top guy here to say a few words so you can hear what their language sounds like. They have these amazing things called translator microbes, which enables the host to understand the speaker’s language. I don’t really understand how it works, but it does. Andrea and I now have these microbes and the only effect we can determine is we understand everything that is said to us. I’ve talked enough, Velorek, please say something and then I’ll translate it.”
Velorek speaks.
“It’s me again. Velorek said he is looking forward to the day when he can meet you face to face. Me too.”
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Gammak Base
“Scorpius, every thing is under control and on schedule. Why don’t you take the opportunity to relax a bit? It will help you recharge, and you’ll be fresh when we are ready to launch.” Braca had all he could stomach of Scorpius. It had been over a cycle since he had any time to call his own.
“You may be right. I’m just fussing over everything now and my judgment may be a little clouded. Contact Natira and have her meet me at Ryoner.”
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Ryoner
“Why Scorpius, what brings this on? I thought you wouldn’t leave the base until the project completed successfully. Don’t tell me you’ve finished.” Natira had completely healed from the destruction of the shadow depository, and had a new one thanks to Scorpius. She would never be out of his debt.
“Ah, good, I see you’ve signed in. Let’s unpack later. I’m hungry now, and I want to do some gambling.” Scorpius said.
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“Natira, when did you become an expert on wine? That was excellent.” As Scorpius and Natira walked to the casino, they could here music playing in the background. At first, Scorpius ignored the sound, but then he became aware of both the music and the words. “….. in all the old familiar places, I’ll be seeing you …” Scorpius stopped directly in front of Natira, throwing her off balance.
“What is it?” Natira asked.
“I think Johnny got fixed up correctly, after all. Well, now he’ll have to suffer in a whole body. You never know when information is going to be useful. I had to weed through much on the neural chip before finding the wormhole information. I thought it was a waste then, but now I’m not sure,” Scorpius said.
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Mrs. Greely:
Dearest Andrea, you don’t know how much the sound of your voice meant to me. I despaired ever hearing it again. Now that I know you are alright, I can hope to see you again. Your cousin, Kevin, is getting his Engineering degree this June. He is graduating with the highest honors. He is in awe of you and wants to be an astronaut. Actually, all your cousins are so proud. I think they all secretly want to follow you. Can’t you just imagine little Dana doing that! I think she thinks she’ll be able to act her way into going. I’ll have to end now, we love you and you make us very proud.
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Allison:
Hi Dad. I guess I’ll hold off selling your house for now. I can’t tell you how thrilled we were to hear you. You sound happy. I miss you terribly, but now I can hope we will see John again, so I guess I’m glad you took the chance. Only, please come back. I’m still satisfied with my job, even if it’s not as glamorous as yours. I like being a Librarian. Not everyone can be a scientist. Emma is anxious to talk, and she has a lot more to tell you than I. I love you. Give my love to John when you find him.
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Emma:
It was fantastic to hear you voice. DK even let us listen to Vel-or-ek, am I saying his name correctly? It blew me away. I can’t believe how much fun I’m having at the Media Lab. I’ll get a degree just to have fun! Oh, I also joined the tennis team. So you know I’m taking good care of myself. I have John to thank for my serve. I think that’s what got me on the team. I play in my first tournament this weekend. Wish me luck. Jamie is getting his MBA this June. Can you believe it? Did you ever imagine him as the man in the gray flannel suit? It’s been cool living here in Cambridge, but I wouldn’t recommend driving here. These Boston drivers are crazy! You’d think a stop sign was an invitation to play chicken at the intersection. Gotta go, DK’s giving me the high sign. Love you Dad, come back with John soon, or else I’m coming after you.
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DK:
Hi Colonel, you sent the probe literally in the nick of time. We were about to close down the project while keeping a minimum surveillance for any communication back. Getting this probe means we can get the funds to do much more. Please thank Velorek and the others for the information they’ve provided. It is a lifeline for all of us. We are very interested in the translator microbes you told us about. If at all possible, we would like a sample to study and perhaps replicate. There is more data stored in the probe, which their scientists can work on. I miss my best bud. Say hi to John when you finally catch up with him.
“We can send the next probes from here safely. The next one is scheduled for the next solar day. We are including a sample of the translator microbes. Andrea, I will need you to translate the directions on how to use them and how to replicate them. Then we will be able to communicate freely.
I think we need to set up some diplomatic relationships with Earth. I’m sure it’s obvious to your people as well as us that we can send more than probes back and forth. I’ve arranged for us to speak to Ormaan’s Governor.” Velorek said.
“Earth is very isolated from the rest of the Universe. There are many separate governments on Earth, and if one gets favoritism over another, our tenuous hold on relative peace will be broken. I am not a politician or diplomat, and my allegiance is with the United States of America, as is Andrea’s. We are a world power, but there are several others who would need to be included. Fortunately, the organization that is behind the Farscape II project is international. Let me include something regarding this after I meet with the Governor.”
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“Allison, Emma, I can’t believe how busy I’ve been since I came to this side of the universe. Meeting up with Velorek has a lot to do with it. But then, he saved our lives. We would not have been able to create a wormhole to come home without his help, and would have been stranded. I’m still looking for John, but this is a big universe. I only hope he happens into one of the places where Velorek’s people have planted the Earth music and the link to me. I’m still amazed at how far we’ve come. A month ago we couldn’t go to the nearest star, just four light years away, and now we can go halfway across the universe because of wormholes. We still can’t go to that star (haha). We are working with the planetary government to set up some diplomatic relationship. I can’t go into it more at this time, mainly because I don’t know more, but I find it very exciting. That’s something else I can’t believe, me a space jockey getting into politics. Take care of yourselves. I’m still very hopeful we will see each other soon, and John too. I love you both.”
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“Hi Grandma, there’s too much for me to tell you in the time I have, so I’ll keep it brief for now. I got your message and I’m thrilled Kevin wants to follow in my footsteps. He’d make a brilliant astronaut and I know he’d love to be here. As for Dana, don’t you think five is a little young to be going into space? It was so good to hear your voice. Keep those messages coming. Send my love. I love you.”
“Let me understand something. You convinced me my presence was not needed here to create a usable wormhole. I have been gone five solar days, only to find you cannot create a usable wormhole. What changed in that time?” Scorpius kept his voice in control as he asked Braca about the project.
“That was the information I was given. At the time, I did not know they would not be able to complete the project before you got back. Now the lead technician is telling us he can’t finish. You need to speak to Korin Be’ell to get the details. I do not know them.” Braca readily deflected Scorpius’s wrath onto someone else.
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“Sir, when we tried to test the system, the wormholes collapsed on themselves as quickly as they formed. There is something missing from the equations, something we aren’t seeing. Please look at them again.” Korin said.
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“The work is good. Everything checks out. A stable wormhole should have formed. Braca, we are going to Ryoner.” Scorpius said.
Braca was relieved Scorpius wasn’t angry with him. He was instrumental in convincing Scorpius to spend time away from the project. “I thought that was where you and Natira just recreated. What did you find on Ryoner?”
“Crichton, or that is, a trail to him.” Scorpius said.
“Yes sir, I’ll have the marauder ready in an arn.” Braca said.
“No, we’ll take the scout ship this time. Keep this to yourself. We’ll meet at the docking bay in one arn. Here is a list of things I want you have ready on the ship.” The wormhole project was close to being shut down if Scorpius didn’t get results soon. It already cost command a Gammak Base, numbers of marauders, prowlers, and scout ships. They would not tolerate Scorpius falling much father behind in the project. They also were skeptical as to its practical use, which Scorpius had yet to prove. It was his good fortune that he found a lead to Crichton.
Scorpius and Braca walked into the casino where Scorpius heard the Earth music. Another Earth song was playing, ‘Someone to Watch Over Me’. “Do you hear that Braca?”
“Yes sir, what is that dren?”
“That is my lead to Crichton. The neural chip collected more information than I needed, or so I thought. This is from Earth, and Crichton is the only one I know from Earth. This will lead me to him.”
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The manager looked from Scorpius to Braca and asked, “Are you John Crichton?”
Scorpius didn’t let Braca answer, “Yes, he is.”
“Follow me, I have some information for you.”
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Scorpius sat with Lt. Braca in the bar while he thought about the information he just received. The trail led to Crichton’s father instead. And he was on Ormaan, which was protected by some ex-Peace Keepers who were gaining in strength of late. He needed to formulate a plan to get the older Crichton without raising the suspicions of those on Ormaan. He was not in a position to muscle his way in. Furthermore, this was not good news. Up to now, he assumed John Crichton was the only human in this part of the universe. The fact that his father was here could only mean humans had found the secrets to wormholes. Neither the Aurora chair nor the chip had given him any indication that this was the case. “Lt. Braca, we are going to Ormaan. I will explain what I want you to do while we are on our way there.”
“Lt. Braca, what brings you to our base?” Velorek was not pleased. If Braca learned of the people who helped him escape execution, or worse, the living death, then they were in trouble. And he could not warn them in time.
“We understand you have a Jack Crichton with you. We wish to meet with him.” Braca said.
Velorek sensed there was more behind what Braca was saying. He needed more information before he would permit a meeting. “Please explain yourself.”
“We found you because of the music you left at Ryoner. The music is familiar to us because John Crichton is with us, doing research. He asked us to get his father.” Braca said.
“Maintain your position. We will get back to you in a quarter of an arn.” Velorek cut off communication and turned to the controller. “Do you see any Peace Keeper war ships? I can’t believe they only came in a scout ship. Were you able to see who was with him?”
“No, he managed to stay out of range. We could only detect a small edge or shadow. We have some prowlers out now. So far they are reporting nothing besides the scout ship. I’m very surprised.”
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“Jack, I don’t trust Braca. He has no loyalty but himself, and I saw him turn on more than his share of Peace Keepers. He rose through the ranks by pushing others down. And it’s been over three cycles since your son has seen you. Don’t you think he would come himself and not send Braca and whoever is with him?” Velorek was concerned, and he needed Jack around for when the Earth convoy would arrive the next solar day. He also did not want Braca around for that.
“I agree. But it can only mean one thing. They have John and he is in trouble. I must go to him. Andrea will stay here for the Earth representatives.” Jack was worried for his son for the first time since he met Velorek.
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Andrea stood back with Lilli while Jack and Velorek met with Braca and Scorpius. She and Jack had a long talk, he needing to convince her that she should stay behind and work with Velorek and convince himself he had to go with them to seek John. Andrea strained to hear the conversation occurring just ten feet from where she stood.
“Jack, I am sorry none of us can come with you. I would have liked to be there when you finally see your son.” Velorek said.
Before Jack left, he gave Andrea and Lilli a hug and said, “Don’t worry about me, I will be fine.”
Once the scout ship left with Jack, Velorek said, “Andrea you need to prepare for the Earth delegation. We will meet with Ormaan’s governor in two arns.”
“I hope Jack can find some of your contacts. It feels like he’s walking into a trap.” Andrea said.