The Summer Vacation
Chapter 1
By Rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

The star ship silently passes through space. It weaves through the oort cloud debris surrounding a star system. The inhabitants of the space craft are seeking a suitable planet to conquer and expand their hold among the star systems in their quadrant. The star ship comes to a stop before leaving the oort cloud, peering into the star system. Using this field to help hide its activities, they begin to scan the planets of the star system within.

“Sir, we have scanned the system.”

“What is the resource inventory here?”

“It is the usual assortment that we have encountered elsewhere. There are gas giants of various essential elements for our use. The four inner planets are all solid. Three of them can’t support life. The other one shows promise. But we need a closer look for details.”

“That's good, Tek. Arrange for a scout ship to have a closer look. I see that planet has two moons circling it. Have the scout ship park on the back side of one of them and commence with the detail investigation. You know what we are looking for.”

“Yes, General. I will contact our survey crew to get ready for the mission.”

Tek pushes a square symbol on the glass console and it lights up. A video screen comes on with a picture of a fellow crewman. “Brin, this is Tek.”

“Hello, Tek. What can I do for you today?”

“We have found a planet in this system. We need a detail survey of the system and the third planet for further confirmation.”

“Will do, sir. I will get the scout ship ready with the other crew members. We should be able to leave within the next two clicks.”

“Let me know when you are ready and boarded. I'll inform the General of your expected time of departure. Tek out.”

“Brin out.” The screen goes blank.

Tek turns around in his chair and looking at the General sitting in the command chair. “Brin will be ready within two clicks. He will let us know when he is ready to depart.”

“Thanks, Tek. I'll inform our Supreme of the progress on our next conquest. Dar-re you have the com. I’ll go deliver the news to our Supreme. You better check the E/M bands; we want to know what we are up against this time. The last one was very stubborn, but eventually they were dispatched.”

“Yes, sir.”

The General gets up and walks to a pad on the floor. He disappears in a flash of light. Dar-re walks over and sits in the command chair and someone else sits in the seat that he vacated.

“All right, Tek, continue with the scans. Check E/M bands and frequency sweeps and see if we get any signals besides the regular planetary noises.”

“Yes, sir, beginning scans.” Tek begins the sweeps. When a full click has passed, Tek is finished with the scans. “Sir, all the planets and gas giants are sending the usual background noise. However, the third planet we want details on, is exhibiting a stronger signal than normal.”

“It’s stronger than normal? How strong is it?”

“Well, it has its fluctuations as expected. But it does have strong peaks that warrant some detail that I can't get from here. Let me see if I can narrow it down.” Tek makes some fine tuning adjustments on the glass panel. “Here it is. Let me put it to sound and see if it is of mech. origin.”

As the noise gets lower, a squeal comes through very loud and then lowers in volume. Soon voices started coming through. However, all of the voices are jumbled; no distinguishable conversation can be heard or separated.

“Well, that answers that question, Tek.”

“It does, sir. The planet is inhabited. The scout ship will give us the details we need. The voices can be transmitted by mech. orbs or some other form.”

“All right, Tek. Inform Brin of this development.”

“Yes, sir,” Reaching to the console, he presses the square symbol again and the vid’ screen comes on and sees Brin in the Scout Ship.

“Hello, Tek. I was just about to call you. We are almost ready to depart.”

“That's good. There is one more piece of news. We 're getting comm. talk on an E/M band. Of course, we will need the details. I'm sending you a copy of the file.”

“Thanks Tek. I'll look into it.”

Another crew mate taps his shoulder and speaks quickly with Brin, Brin smiles. “I have just been informed that we are finished and loaded with provisions.”

“I'm confirming that. I'll relay your request to command. Tek out.”

“Brin out.”

“Dar-re, the scout ship is ready to depart.” He turns around and faces him.

“I confirm that, sending the release authorization to the docking bay.” He pushes a button on the arm console of the comm-chair.

“I confirm that the authorization is sent. The scout ship is underway.”

Everyone stands at their stations at attention and all exclaim, “For the Supreme!”

~~~000~~~
~~~000~~~

“So, you see. With the simplest of spells, you can protect yourself from serious harm.”

“I see, even though you might get cut and bruised you can still walk away. Master, what if someone or a wild animal comes along and tries to end your life?”

“Do you remember the distraction for the transport spell Cadmus?”

“I do, Master. I just have to be aware where I want to go and have a clear mind. I do not want to end up behind enemy lines.”

“That's right. By having a clear mind, you can go far as you can see. You might need to use it several times until you are clear of the danger.”

While the Master and Cadmus are talking, a glass sphere on a table nearby begins to glow. It has a yellowish tint to it. Cadmus notice it.

“Uh sir, it looks like someone is trying to contact you.”

“So I see. Well that concludes today's lesson with me. Is your next lesson with the Master Chef at our Lord's castle?”

“It is, Master. He is trying to expand my knowledge of eating well in the wild today.”

“That's good to know. You never know when you might be caught unprepared. I'm sure you will cook up a wonderful dish that will be the best tasting meal you ever had.”

“I hope so, sir. Well, I need to leave now. Same time tomorrow?”

“Same time tomorrow, Cadmus, unless something changes it. I'll let you know.”

“Yes, Master Wizard.”

They quickly nod their heads up and down to each other.

Cadmus leave the Wizard's cottage and walks to his horse that is nearby. He mounts it and picks up the trail back to his hometown.

Once the wizard sees the young man has left, he turns around and walks in and closes the door. He walks over to the table and puts his right-hand palm above the glowing glass sphere. Soon an image of a man appears above the sphere.

“Greetings, Wizard Eldwin.”

“Greetings, Wizard Renard.”

“What brings this call?”

“As you know, since I am the Grand Wizard for our world, I am more connected with our Ethereal Space. It seems we have an intruder spying on our beloved world. I just confirmed it with the First Ones in my kingdom and others.”

“A spy? An intruder? Are they here yet?”

“Not yet, they’re just beyond one of our moons. We do not know
their intentions yet.”

“This is not good. Just as soon as we get peace with some of our most difficult neighbors, someone comes along and disturbs it.”

“I know what you mean, Renard. We must keep our network connected and inform our Lords, Kings and Queens of the danger that could come our way.”

“I agree. We must react quickly if we need outside help. That's if it is beyond our means of self defense.”

“Yes, Renard. I'll inform the mystic orders there and to contact their Outside Helpers as well. I am sure they will be needed.”

“I will do the same here. May the Maker give us the perseverance and wisdom to succeed and bring honor to his Creation?”

“By the Twin Moons, I agree. I'll let you know if there are any changes in the Ethereal Space.”

“If it does, all on our world will soon know about it. We just need to pray for clear minds and civility. We don't need the chaos that we experienced in our past.”

“That’s true. Well, keep the faith Renard. Inform the Sisterhood as well. They are more sensitive to the animals and others on our beloved world.”

“I will do so. Same time tomorrow?”

“No. We will do a group conference meeting to be more efficient. Set up the spheres in your King's Conference chamber so that we can all communicate together.”

“That sounds good, Eldwin. When do we want to do this?”

“Meet in two days. Gather all information about what is happening in your kingdom and then see if there is a pattern showing.”

“I will do that, Eldwin. See you in two days at second mark.”

“See you then. Be well,” Eldwin nods his head.

“Be well,” as Renard nods his head at the same time.

Then the image disappears. “I had better contact the Sisterhood and let them know what is going on. I will also need to contact the Outside Helper for our Kingdom. I hope he is reachable. It has been a year since he was here last. Of course he will be surprised when he does see me. The last time we met, was at a meeting arranged by our Maker. The Maker told us it is time to have contact and help from other worlds. Some were very skeptical and wary at first. But it soon paid off when another world had a crisis it could not handle. That world's Outside Helper had the knowledge and resource to solve the crisis. Soon all peoples on that world realized they are not alone in the universe. I hope my contact can do the same again. He helped all of Twainor the last time he was here.”

Renard goes to a special ornate stand with a glass sphere resting on it and touches the surface after reciting a short incantation. The glass sphere begins to glow with a pinkish hue and waits for a response on the other end. He did not have long to wait. Soon an image of a lady appears above the glass sphere.

“Greetings, Renard, what brings this call?”

“Greetings Trianna, I just received a call from Grand Wizard Eldwin. He sensed a disturbance in the Ethereal Space of our world and the Twin Moons. There is a presence behind one of our moons. He thinks they are spying on us and gathering information about our world. To what end or purpose we do not know at this time.”

“Thank you, Renard, for informing me. I will have our Sisterhood check with the local populace and the First Ones within our kingdom. I am sure they are sensing it already if Master Eldwin already has.”

“I agree. Eldwin wants a world conference meeting in our King's Chamber in two days. That will give us time to gather any information, whether large or small. We will compare notes then and see if there is a pattern to be noticed.”

“I will definitely check with the First Ones in our kingdom. We have been fortunate to find a way to help protect them and keep contact with our past. For that I thank the Maker for our combined efforts.”

“Yes, go do that Trianna. I will inform our King. That way he will have time to bring his own resources together and see if we can come up with a solution. I am also going to contact our Outside Helper so that he is ready as well.”

“By all means do so. We must pray that the task is not too large for us or for him.”

“Yes, I hope so too. All right, see you in two days at our King's Chamber. Be well, Trianna,” as Renard nods his head with a smile.

“Be well, Renard,” she nods her head, as well as smiling.

Her image disappears as the pink glow fades from the glass sphere surface.

“Well, that takes care of that. Now I will need to contact our Outside Helper.” Renard walks over to a cabinet by his bookshelf. He opens it and sees that it is empty. He recites a few words and faces his palms toward the empty space. He smiles as an ornate box appears with a white glow around it. He smiles and sees that the box is still sealed by the Maker's special sign. The light fades from the box. He opens the box and sees a glass sphere.

Renard, can you hear me?

I hear you, Maker.

Don't wait for a response. He won't be there yet. As soon as you give the message, end it.

Yes, Maker.

Renard recites a short incantation with his right palm above the sphere. It begins to have a white glow. Then he speaks the message to the glass sphere with another special incantation so that it will be replayed when he notices the special white glow on a device he has.

“Greetings, Richard. I hope you receive this message in time. We had just received an outside contact on our world. They are behind our Twin Moons and are spying on us. For what purpose, it is not known at this time. But it is probably for evil more than likely. Come as quickly as you can. Be prepared for a fight. I will be at my King's Castle, giving an update on the situation, if I am not here in my cottage. We are gathering all information that is available. We are having a world conference meeting in the King's Chamber in two days. Come regardless, whether we need you or not. We must be prepared. I give high praise for the Maker of the Universe and the Twin Moons, Renard, Wizard of the Mystic Order, Master Wizard of Thryson Kingdom.”
“PS - Set your visual device to the correct frequency and replay this message when you're ready to come.”

Renard ends the message. He then puts the contact crystal away in the box and hides it in the cabinet with a disappearance spell.

A year ago I was not sure how he was going to receive it. But the Maker told me that the principal law of our crystal spheres is the same principal law in their communication devices, it is just applied differently. The Maker told me to have faith where the energy beam will go to and who will be our Outside Helper.

“I remembered some of the stories that our Outside Helper told me. One is that his world does not have magic anymore, because the Maker removed it from his world when they abused it several millenniums ago. He did, however leave some magic in two people. One is a man who wears a robe and another is found at a beach somewhere. Somehow their location changes when you least expect it. But that is just a rumor, he told me. In addition, most of the First Ones from his world are long gone as well; some died off, some were killed, even some moved on and left his world and came here. He did say there are rumors that some are left, but they are well hidden in the depths of the waters and forests. Also he said the Maker has clouded their eyes and ears so that some of them can’t be found on the surface or in the water. Only at special moments are they revealed in the past or present, slowly educating the current generation through stories perceived as myths or legends. Each group of people has their own stories of who they are.”

Renard puts his satchel onto his shoulder. He exits his cottage and closes the door with a sealing spell. He then recites the transport spell and disappears in a blink of an eye. He flies to Thryson Castle to inform his King of the latest news.

~~~000~~~
~~~000~~~

“All right, crew; that’s a good job on the stealth mode and parking the scout ship behind the furthest moon. Let's start our scans and see what's so special about this planet.”

A scout ship has four team members. Each one is trained equally on various duties to make the mission a success. They're also trained to react if anything should go wrong. They have been through the most extreme conditions for survival in space and being on different worlds. This mission is no different from any other mission.

Brin looks at an enhanced 3-d image of the planet at his command station. It shows the planet, the two moons and their position. He switches through various spectrum ranges to determine the tel-comm method of the planet. What's this? There are no mech-orbs around the planet. That's odd. I am getting world-comm, but there is no mech-orb to do it. So what that means, the communication is ground based . . . let me check those ranges again . . . Brin makes some more adjustments on the console. “Tran, come here. Take a look at this. There are no mech. orbs around the planet, but I am getting world tel-comm regardless. How are they doing it, with ground transmitters?”

Tran comes over and sits next to Brin and looks at the settings, the readouts and the 3-d image. “You're right. Let's narrow that spectrum some more.” Tran adjusts the control on his panel. While this is going on, the other two crew mates are at their station gathering their assigned data.

After a few clicks, “Brin, I just finished the resource inventory. This planet and its star system are rich for our needs. It will last us for twenty solar cycles at least until we need to find another system.”

“That's great, Tark. Log it and have it ready to beam it to the Supreme.”

“Will do, sir.”

“Have you found that frequency yet Tran?”

“I'm almost there. There, look at the image now.” Soon lines of light are crisscrossing to about two dozen intersections scattered about the globe. This makes it appear as a web network. “Will you look at that? They must be tel-comm through the air.” Then suddenly twelve rays of light emanate from those intersections and shoot out into space in all directions.

“By the Supreme!! What was that?”

“I think they just sent out a tel-comm out into space to contact somebody, Brin.”

“Do you think they know we are here?”

“I don't see how. Let me adjust the frequency again. Maybe there is something else, and we haven't seen it yet.” Tran begins to adjust the frequency to a lower end past the tel-comm lines. Soon the 3-d video image of the planet starts to show wave patterns around the planet's image, the two moons and their position as well.

Then they look on the screen. They see a light beam coming from the surface to their location behind the moon.

“Quick!!! Shut down all extra power!! We've been spotted! Quickly, send all data to the Supreme. Now!!!” shouts Brin.

Soon the entire scout ship is engulfed in white light. When the light fades, the scout ship is gone and is nowhere to be found near the moons.