The Summer Vacation
Chapter 7
By Rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

Even though I wanted to sleep in a bit more, I wake up very early the next morning at the urging of Renard and Trianna. Amber is still asleep in my room. But she knew we are gone when she woke up. We have our break fast meal in the Main Dining room before we leave. We had to leave early because Lord Keltan’s Kingdom is about four marks ahead to the East. They made sure my satchel had the essentials in it, money, contact sphere, light crystal and some simple natural foods that will keep well for the first noon repast, etc. They were impressed with what I brought along as well.

We walk down the hallways being led by the night guard. The guard opens the door to the King’s Conference Chamber where we had our meeting the other day. In the Chamber we see Lord Tierion and Caltron talking to each other. Then they turn to us as we walk in.

“We have come to see you before you leave. We wish you all a speedy discovery of the enemy’s plans and how to thwart the impending calamity.”

“Thank you, Lord Tierion, I am sure Richard will be able to seek out their weakness. We will contact you at the noon repast for an update on how we are doing, which should be your break fast.”

“That is fine, Renard. Any information is greatly appreciated; I will relay it to the other Kingdoms as soon as possible. Have a safe journey. I had a talk with Lord Keltan. He will have rooms set aside for you when you retire for the evening. That's if you're spending the night there.” The three of us nod our heads in agreement.

“Farewell, you have the blessing of the Maker and the First Ones. Return safely with great news.”

“Thank you, Caltron,” Renard, Trianna and I bow our heads to them as they do as well. Then we raise them.

“Before I forget, when I woke up this morning, Amber is still asleep in my room. She knew we were gone when we left.”

Caltron and Lord Tierion raise an eye toward me. “I’ll make sure she gets a safe escort to the forest.”

“Thank you, Caltron.”

Renard walks over to the table displaying the crystal spheres for the Kingdoms. Renard contacts King Keltan by picking up their sphere and raising his right palm facing sphere and recites the incantation. The image of Keltan appears above the sphere.

“Good morning, Lord Keltan.”

“Good morning to you too, Lord Tierion. Are you ready for the transport?”

“We are. Richard is here. Renard and Trianna are coming as well. They will assist him as well while working with your kingdom’s wizards.”

“I have no problem with that. All the help is needed if something goes wrong.”

“I agree. This is new territory for all of us. I wish you and your kingdom well in this venture.”

“Thank you, Lord Tierion. You be well also. Have you spotted the star ship yet?”

“It takes some great magnification with the Seeing Stones. But, yes, we have spotted it. It appears as a small sparkling gem against the darkness. It is where Richard said it would be. It tried to hide in the field of rocks out there, but it is noticeable.”

“Good, we will all keep an eye on it. That way at any given time, our world will keep it under watch.”

The King turns to Renard, Trianna and Richard, “Are you three ready for transport?”

“Yes we are, Lord. Richard, please place your hands on our shoulders for a group transport.” Richard places a hand on each shoulder. Renard and Trianna begin the spell; soon all three are gone in a blink of an eye.

All three are now flying almost half way around the world toward the rising sun. If they had taken the traditional means to travel, it would have taken them almost one week’s worth of sailing to get there. When using the transport spell, you become invisible. But you can see others who are with you or other people using the transport spell.

Soon the three friends see that they're arriving at the King’s Chamber Room. In a flash, all three appear in the room.

“Welcome to Castle Correlle, my honored guests.”

“Thank you, Lord Keltan. Where is Wizard Eldwin?”

“He is with one of the prisoners at Lord Dryden’s Castle, Renard. We were able to remove them from their small ship; all four are separated and are in separate castles and Kingdoms. They’re kept in a special room with no means of escape.”

“That's good. How far away is the small space craft from here?”

“It is located in one of the caves in the Grand Correllianne Mountains. It is guarded by several dragons. They know they must keep it whole. They are itching like crazy to demolish it, heh, heh.”

We all chuckle in the room. “I understand that. All dragons want to do something new when presented the opportunity.”

“Master Wizard Thaygard will take you there now. I will have an evening meal prepared for you when you retire this evening.”

“Thank you, my Lord.”

“Wizard Thaygard, please transport our three guests to the cave.”

“Yes, my Lord. Everyone who is going to the cave, please be together.” We all join hands and Renard and Trianna put our hands on his shoulders. Thaygard recites the transport spell and soon we all disappear. We start flying to the East, toward the mountains. We fly across the landscape and see that all is well. Soon we see some dragons flying around one of the cave entrances there. We make our descent and approach one of them, then in a blink of an eye we appear at the mouth of the cave.

Standing in front of us is three very large dragons at the entrance. Seeing them in pictures is one thing, but seeing them for real is a bit unnerving for me. We step forward and we are noticed by them.

“Greetingsss Thaygard, I sssee you have come for a clossser inssspection of thiss ssstrange craft.”

“We have, Lord Dragar. We want to go inside the craft and see what information we can retrieve so that our world will be saved.”

“Then do s-so, Thaygard.”

We all walk inside the cave. In one of the branches not far from the entrance we see the space craft. The three of us stand by while Thaygard walks up closer. Thaygard then puts his hands together and recreates the sound spell and emits the four sounds to open the door.

“That’s interesting, using sound as a door key. That is a unique approach without using a mechanical device.”

“We have traditional mechanical keys also, and keys that are magnetic. You’re always learning something new.”

The others nod their heads as well.

Upon entering in the space craft we see words written on various objects and the control panel.

“I see your confusion on the writing. I was able to connect with one of the prisoners to learn their language. Here, allow me. I will share their language with you.”

Thaygard recites the language spell and touches the forehead of Renard, Trianna and Richard while he touched his own. Soon, everyone can read and speak the language of the intruders.

“Thanks, Thaygard.”

“You’re welcome, Trianna. Where do you want to start, Richard?”

“I was told this ship is on reserve power only. That means there should be enough power to access the on board computers and run minimal systems like life support.”

I point to a station, “I will begin with that one there indicating the Commander.” I sit down in the chair in front of the terminal. I push a circle symbol near the corner of the glass console and the console is powered up with various multiple lights and displays. “Great, now let’s check their history logs and see where they have been. You might not realize it, Thaygard, you also gave me some passwords to gain access to the data.”

Going to the menu and selecting Historical Records, I scroll through the data; I see some alpha text I have not seen before. “Have any of you seen this text before? It has the title of worlds where they have been before. It looks like they scanned their computers and add it to their own and translated it for their use.”

The other three gathers around behind me and sees several different alpha text groupings.

“I do Richard. I recognize at least two of them right away. They were part of the gathering of the worlds when the Maker invited the Outside Helpers to aid us. The Emissaries showed them to us before they left.”

“You know what that means? I have an idea, but I want to hear it from you.”

“It means that those two worlds and their star system no longer exist.”

“That’s right, Renard. According to this log, they take all natural resources in the star system for their own consumption and use it while searching for another system to consume.”

“By the Maker, they … they’re hungry animals,” as Trianna tries to get the words out with emotion. “What of the people? What happened to them?”

“It is in another section,” scrolling through the data. I find it, “Here it is. According to this record about ten to twenty are taken from each system, this is to replace the ones who get old on the star craft or can’t give birth to regenerate their own kind.”

“What?!?! They rely on other planets to repopulate themselves? What kind of enemy is this that enslaves and kills people?” Trianna tries again to control her tears and emotions.

“I don’t know, Trianna. But we need to know more about this enemy and how their authority is structured and their history.”

“Yes, we need to know who is in charge of this star ship,” as she fights back the tears.

“Why don’t you three access those data stations over there and see what is there? Don’t forget to use the passwords to enter in or you will be blocked out.”

Soon all three sit at a data station and start to access the information.

“I have here that their weapons on board can create some serious damage. But it is their star ship that does the destruction of the planets and stars.”

“Does it show any weakness, Renard?”

“It really does not. They have four check points before you get access to their weapons control. There are other safety measures if any get compromised.”

“Does it show how to overload the system when fired? I am thinking the scout ship is similar to the star ship out there.”

“Yes, they’re the same design.”

“Great, now we have a reference point. Look into those four check points. I beginning to think they are structured that way.”

“Yes, good idea Richard, I will look into it.”

Typing some more, I find the access to the historical record. “Friends, I think I found their historical origin and where they came from.”

“Where did they come from?”

“Well where they came from is easy; just follow the path of destruction. They came from a star system that was dying. They built the star ship to travel and hope to find a new world to settle on.”

“That’s understandable. I take it something went wrong along the way?” asks Thaygard.

“Yes, they encountered a world they were not prepared for. They encountered a biological virus that practically wiped out their population. Only ten of them survived out of thousands. Their leader required constant energy to maintain his life support system. Well the virus caused him to mutate and get bigger. They were able to find a way to maintain the leader from getting too big. But in the effort to do so, he consumed too much energy of the reserves on the ship. They had to find more.”

“But to find more energy, they need more people to maintain the ship and the leader. The nine members of the crew were able to go to an uninhabited star system and retrieve the energy there from certain planets. But that was inefficient. They needed more people. So they devised a plan to conquer and enslave a portion of the populace at the next system.”

“I bet they encountered a problem there, as well.”

“They did Renard. The enslaved populace rebelled by not working for them. So the original crew members inserted implants at the base of the neck to effectively control their minds. It took some trial and error to get it right. Some were able to kill themselves when the slaves realized what is going on. But with the last two, they found a way to control them.”

“Oh, how barbaric. That is a sad story, Richard. Richard, I will keep looking in the records.”

“Richard, I looked into those four check points. It is the basis of everything, leadership, security, supplies, etc. But to get access to the original records you must have all of the passwords. If not, they are designed to block out all attempts. The passwords we know only got us this far.”

“That’s all right, Thaygard. I will look into it. It may take some time, but I will figure it out. Thanks.”

“Time might be in short supply if they start destroying our star system before we have a chance to discover how to shut them down. Have you found anything at the Commander’s station yet, Richard?”

“I think I did. I found some of their conquest records. You’re familiar with distractions to hide your true intentions?”

“Of course, it is basic to perception and deception.”

“All right here is the premise. You are a general with four platoons to guard the base. You would use three platoons to make sure the other does not falter. Each platoon supports the other. If one platoon is heavily attacked, the other three come in for support.”

“All right, so far so good. How does that get you into the base?”

“Would it stand to reason that if a war goes badly, there is an emergency exit or a secret tunnel to escape?”

“Of course, if all four platoons are heavily damaged. The leadership will need to escape and survive.”

“Well, if these four check points get so heavily attacked, they have to suffer some sort of damage. For me to take over a computer system, I have to make sure my attack goes deep into their software program for it to be a success.”

“Do you think their security program will account for every possible type of attack?”

“It is possible, Renard. But I bet they never encountered a civilization that could match them in sophistication like we have from my world. It will be a test of my knowledge and creativity that is for sure. If I can master their program, then I know what to do to make it stronger for the next generation.”

“So if these people see their computer systems being controlled by someone else, their leadership will try to escape and start all over if they can.”

“That is a possible outcome.”

“I think there is one prize to go for. We must find a way turn off the implant devices that control these abducted people.”

“Yes, Richard, then that will definitely end the crisis. But what about the people on the star ship, what if they still want a world to start over on?”

“That's a very good question. I doubt our world will welcome them, unless it was agreed by all of the kingdoms. Of course some of them could be encountering magic here for the first time. Will they be responsible if they want to learn it?”

“Either way it is a decision by all of the kingdoms.”

“Richard, we’ve been at this for three marks or so. Let’s take the noon break. I am sure we need to give a report to our Kings.”

“I agree, Thaygard. It is a good time for a break. It will help clear my head. I want to start attacking the security program right away. I am going to see if I can isolate a station from the other stations that way I won’t get any interference from the rest of the ship. I could trigger a countdown and the ship will get destroyed before we have a chance to know more.”

“It is a good thing we brought our food with us. It will revive us for the next couple of marks.”

Everyone agrees to the idea. Thaygard and Renard take out their crystal spheres to contact their respective Kings and recite the spell to make it a conference call.

Renard and Thaygard put their right palm above the sphere and focus on their crystals, in a few moments the image of King Tierion and King appear above the crystals.

“Greetings, Renard, how is it going?”

“Greetings, Thaygard.”

“Greetings, my Lords, We’re contacting you both during our noon break to give you an update and some information that will need some decisions on.”

“What have you found out so far?”

“We discovered their basic structure. It is based on the number four. There are four check points in the security program and everything else. Richard is going to try and isolate one of the stations and see if he can figure out how to gain access to the data and controls.”

“That is good news so far. Anything else we should know about them?”

“Yes, we discovered part of their historical record. When their original star system was dying; they were able to build a star ship to escape and search for another system. But they encountered several problems along the way.”

“That’s interesting. What problems did they encounter?”

“The first one was a biological virus from a star system that decimated their population from two thousand to ten survivors, including their leader.”

“That’s incredible. What happened next?”

“Well, the virus did cause their leader to grow very large. They were able to stop his growth, but it left them short on certain resources to keep him alive.”

“That is sad to hear. Go on.”

“When they found themselves low on certain resources, they started to harvest various different elements from other star systems. But found themselves they needed more people to do the job. So at the next inhabited star system, they captured and enslaved some of the people. When they did not cooperate, they devised an implant to control them. Some of them killed themselves when they saw what was happening. Through trial and error they found a way with the last two survivors of the slaves.”

“What? Not only they are taking the wealth of the star systems, they are enslaving and killing the people as well? That is not right!!”

“There’s more, my King. Remember the First Gathering of Outside Helpers? The Maker was able to bring about two dozen star systems in our local area to implement this.”

“I do remember it very much.”

“So, do I Lord Tierion.”

“Well it seems that two of the star systems in our group are now dead. The intruders were able to enslave a small portion of their population, though.”

“Yes, it is true. We were able to find the data entries where they saved their archived historical records. I recognized their language and the translation.”

“Do you know if these two worlds belong to our other Outside Helpers?”

“I don’t know. I need to verify it with our Kingdoms.”

“Lord Tierion, we must find a way stop this madness.”

“I agree, Lord Keltan. Hopefully Richard will find a way to gain control.”

“My Lord Tierion, Richard made a suggestion to end this quickly. If he can find a way to turn off the mind control implants, then the control of the enslaved people will end.”

“That is an excellent idea, Renard.”

“But that brings another problem up that will have to be discussed with the Kingdoms. The people can’t go home. Their star systems are dead. Should they continue to search for a planet to rebuild their lives? Should we allow them to settle here, or divide them among our local star systems? I can go on, but I think you get the idea.”

“You’re right, Thaygard. We need to discuss this with the other Kingdoms. I am sure some will be welcomed here, but some will not.”

“There is another consideration as well my Lords. Twainor is a magical world. What if the new comers are against it; or not responsible with such available power? That would put us at risk as well.”

“I agree, Renard. Thank you for bringing it up. We’ll have another Council of the Kingdoms tomorrow morning. We will let everyone know what we decide on if all goes well in stopping the intruders.”

“Well, I think that is enough for now. We will wait for the next update this evening at the Setting.”

“Yes, my Lords. We pray that Richard is successful in his endeavors this afternoon.”

“Yes, we will spread the word to the other Kingdoms.”

The images disappear above the glass spheres. The four resume having their noon meal. Richard is especially quiet while the others talk about what they found out so far. Renard notices his silence.

“Richard, are you all right? You have been quiet lately.”

“I’m sorry. I usually go into this quiet thinking mode going over possibilities to solve a problem. But, I realize it does not get solved until I try something. I’m also trying to remember some of the tricks I learned to gain access to an unknown system. These four check points are new to me, well at least that many. Other programmers try various tactics to protect their data. But most are too linear in their approach. This program is three-dimensional, so there are other paths to consider. If I can understand the first check point and get past it, it will provide me a template on how the other check points are set up.”

“I see, well we won’t bother you for now. We do the same thing when presented with a tough problem. Just speak up and we will listen.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that.” I open my satchel and remove the pad of paper and pencil. I start by writing the steps I will take to decode an unknown system. It is a short list, you send in what you know and see what the response is. Then you change tactics based on the result. After several attempts, hopefully a pattern will emerge on the host program. From that, you devise a means to gain access. The steps repeat themselves until all avenues are investigated. It is very simple in approach. Hopefully I will be able to find a way today. I am being counted on to help bring a stop to this potential travesty. Please, Maker, give me the insight into their secrets of their computer system. Hmm … I know what I need. I need some tools.

After we all ate and got cleaned up, I speak up. ”I need to find a locker here somewhere. Everywhere I have gone, there has to be a tool box in case something goes wrong. Whether it is for the ship or any other system, there has to be a resource to troubleshoot. With the complexity of such a ship, I doubt if they have the brain power to remember every little detail. This tool box could contain anything. So, let’s see if we can find it.”

We all split up and start opening up lockers, cabinets, anything that we can open. After a quarter mark or so, “Richard, over here, I think I found it.”

We all walk over to where Trianna is standing. We look down and see a floor locker open with various different tools. Some are tools to work in the engine room and weapons. But the prizes I see are some electronic devices. “I knew it. Thanks to the Maker. Thank you, Trianna.”

“You’re welcome, Richard,” she smiles.

“These people are not too far in technology from my world. One can be very advanced, but basic tools are needed to solve the most complex problems. I just have to figure out their purpose and put it to use. Even though their symbols and words are different, the Maker made sure there are basic laws throughout the Creation to follow. It’s what make his Creation a beauty to behold. It all has a perfect order. The only time chaos comes into play, is when you try to break one of those principals. I am sure you heard that before.”

“You’re right, Richard. Thanks to the Maker. Is there anything for us to do?”

“Well, it would be nice if you can find a way to copy the historical and conquest records and get them stored onto your crystal spheres. Then you can retrieve them for later use or have it printed out.”

“That is an excellent idea, Richard. It will allow us to share it with others and to remember the two star systems that were part of our local group and the others as well. We know exactly which crystal spheres we need, Renard.”

“Yes we do. Trianna, stay here while we go get those crystal spheres. We’ll be back shortly. How many do you think we need, Thaygard?”

“Let’s bring ten each to be on the safe side. That should be more than enough. If we need more, we can always bring more.”

“Yes we can. Let’s go to my castle since it is the closest. Then you can transport back to your place.”

Wizard Renard places his hand onto Thaygard’s shoulder. He recites the transport spell. In a blink of an eye they are gone.

“Now that they are doing that, Trianna, you can still go through the historical records and see if there is anything that gets your attention that we should know. I will be trying to find the schematics of their systems layout so that I can isolate this station.”

Trianna sits back down at one of the stations and starts paging through the historical records.

While she is doing that I have a closer look in the locker that has the electronic devices. What I find are some small boxes. When I open one of them, I find a set of rectangular pieces of glass. I wonder if these are it. Well there should be a reader here somewhere. I take the small box out and bring it over to the Commander’s Station. I set the box near by, open it and take one out.

“What do you have there, Richard?”

“I found this in the bottom of the locker. I don’t know yet, but they remind me of your crystal spheres.” I hand one to her.

“Yes they do. Do you think these are the schematics you are looking for?” She hands it back to me.

“I don’t know. I need to find a reader to see what’s on these glass cards. Let’s take a look at the consoles. They might have it there.”

We look over the consoles. Everything is a smooth surface, not a slot to put this in. Then I notice a square shape design the same size as the crystal cards. “Trianna, I think I found it. Look in the upper left hand corner of the console.”

“Yes, I do see it. It appears to be the same size.”

“I am going to place one of these crystal cards in that space. Hopefully that is the answer.” I place the crystal card there and it stays there despite the slope of the console. Instantly the square space lights up and shines through the card. Then the data screen changes to a two dimensional picture. “That’s it. This is a schematic drawing of the pathways. But I need to display it in three dimensions to really understand it.” I look next to where the card is being lit up and see a cube symbol next to it. I push the cube symbol, then the data screen turns off, and then in front of me a 3-dimension picture appears before me. “Yes, this is great. It is the cube symbol next to it. Now I can see what I need to do.”

“That is great, Richard. Praise to the Maker.”

“This 3-dimension technology they have is great. It is one of the questions I have back home. This is how I am going to improve it. But I must focus here and now and save those ideas for later.”

“Yes Richard. But do you understand the symbols?”

“Not yet. But a circuit is a circuit.”

“What’s a circuit?”

I think for a moment, “A circuit could be anything. Let’s take your world for example. You have a river with ports and towns along the length of the river. The river is the path to get from one port to another along the way. A circuit is the same thing, but in this case the water is the electricity.”

“I see, so what you are trying to do is to isolate the station so it does not get any interference from the others. But I’m guessing stopping a river is harder to stop than electricity.”

“That’s right. I can tell from this diagram and symbols that this represents a system near the engines. So I need to look through the rest of the cards and find the ones for the stations.”

I take the cards out one by one and place them in the reader. Trianna goes back to look through the historical records. I eventually find the card for the stations. I look underneath the console and find the access panel. It is easy to remove, just press against the surface, the small magnetic latches release the panel and I am able to see underneath the console. I get another surprise when I look inside.

When I saw the 3-d diagram on the crystal cards, I should have expected this. Everything I see is fiber optic and laser conduits. Well, there is no problem here. This is what we have been moving toward to for some time. But these components are generations ahead of us, but we’ll get there eventually. Now to find those text and drawing documents, it should describe what I need to do.

I get back up and look at the 3-d diagram. Okay, I see the symbols for the display monitor and the control panel layout. There is the bus connector to the main CPU for the station. So far so good, there has to be a feed from the stations and the ship itself. I page through the schematics. There are the CPUs' to monitor the engines and the weapons. There’s no fiber optics directly connecting, unless. I page some more. That’s it. There’s the answer. This is truly a 3-dimensional system; it’s all wireless with laser conduits for the larger power loads. I love it. Besides, I just saw how they created the 3-dimensional images. It is just like our holograms but with more clarity and finer than ours. That will be easy to do back home. Now I need to find their programming core. It should be on this card. I page through the images again, then I find it. Eureka, this it. Again this is a 3-dimensional program. We have something similar, but ours is a linear top-down approach. I recognize those loop patterns easily. This is too much. I can imagine how to create a 3-d computer with what we have now. I can innovate from there. Now finding those emitters for the signals should be easy . . . yes, there it is.

I get back under the console to look for the emitters. Now that I know where to look, it was easy to find them. I am surprised to see no fiber optic cabling between the stations for backup, but it is their choice. If there is redundancy, it is somewhere else; unless it is through the wireless system or the laser conduits.

“Trianna, I think I found out how to isolate the station. I want you to pay attention to your console and tell me what happens. I’m going back under and try something to block the connection.”

“All right, Richard. Just don’t get yourself hurt down there.”

“It should be safe. I just need something to block the signal effectively. I will take a look in the locker and see what is available.” I look into the tool locker box to see if by chance something is in there. What’s this, well what do you know? They did plan for everything. I take out a small package out and open it up. I was right again. This will definitely block the signal on the emitters. I sit down on the floor again and look inside again where the emitters are.

“Okay, Trianna, I’m ready.”

“All right, Richard, I’m looking at the monitors.”

I place the object in front of the emitters and attach the clip to the frame of the emitters.

“The monitors flickered, but now I get a message on the screen.”

I get up and take a look at the monitors to see what she is seeing. “That’s it. I isolated the Commander’s Station. The other three are now monitoring the ship. This is great. Now I can concentrate on the security program alone. You should be able to continue with the historical record search now.”

Trianna pushes a button on the console. “Yes, I can. Thanks, Richard. I can see now why the Maker brought you here.”

“Yes, I’m glad the Maker chose me. Now I’m ready to solve their security program.” I sit back in the Commander’s chair at his station. I continue to page through the program core. There . . . there is the security subroutine. There are four of them nested, I expected as much. Now let’s see how it is structured. After a few moments at looking at the programming scheme I find their weak point. I shake head my in disbelief. I am surprised they did not cover for that hole in the program. I am sure someone brought it up at one point. But who is to say how old this program is. They probably don’t have anyone qualified to upgrade their systems if there were ten survivors from the original group. Well, I know what to do now to take control of their systems without using the passwords. I just need to write the file that will allow me to do that and use our passwords.

During my concentration at looking at the screen, Thaygard and Renard return with the crystal spheres they need. They walk through the door that they opened and reseal the space craft. Upon entering I hear their clothes rustling which tells me they are back. Trianna puts a finger to her lips to indicate to them to be quiet. They nod their heads and step away from me.

When I get done looking at the file, I immediately reach for the pad of paper and pencil to write down what I need to do. When I got done with that, I give a big breath and sigh of relief. I turn around to face my friends and smile.

“Good news, everybody, I found it. I found out how to overtake the systems without using the passwords. It took some doing, but Praise to the Maker, it is possible.”

They smile back as well. We all stand up and hug each other.

“Thank you, Maker.”

“Thank the Twin Moons.”

They all gave thanks and praise.

“That is great, Richard. We came back with the crystals. We told our Kings what we wanted to do. They gave us some extra crystal spheres to make sure we make copies of the historical records for all of the Kingdoms.”

“Yes, by all means do so. I found the troubleshooting diagrams as I suspected in the tool locker box. It is these crystal cards.” I pick one up and show it to them. “It showed me how to isolate the stations if I wanted to. Then I found the security program.”

“Yes, it is similar to our crystal spheres. That is excellent, Richard. What is the next step?”

“I need to use this station and write a file that will self-execute and replicate. It will be coded so that it can slip through all four check points because of the hole that I found. Once it gets through, it will spread throughout the system. It will wait in silence until we send in the command for the takeover.”

“That is great, Richard. But do they have means for retaliation?”
“That depends on what I write in the file to control certain systems. Since they have hand-held weapons, it won’t reach there. But it can disarm the onboard weapons, the engines, even the escape pods on the ship, even the monitors and the on board force fields.”

“What about the mind control implants, can it turn those off?”

“We need to examine the four crew men that you removed. That will be our test case. It looks like these implants are independent from the star ship. It would be easy if everything is controlled on the star ship or from this scout ship. But I am guessing at this moment.”

“Why don’t we get the historical record copied while you take a break Richard, you deserve it?”

“Thanks.”

Trianna walks to the station she was at and pushes the cube symbol next to the screen. Then a 3-d image of the text and images appears. Renard places a crystal sphere underneath the image and recites a short incantation. A spherical glow appears superimposed on the data image. Then Trianna starts paging through the historical records while it is being recorded onto the crystal spheres. Soon, they copied the entire historical and conquest database onto three separate crystal spheres. It is a massive amount of information, it was incredible the speed that it went through.

Making copies from the original crystal spheres is the easy part. They line up the crystals in three columns with the original three on the top row. With another spell, they make twelve copies of the historical records. They put three crystals into one soft velvet bag, for a total of twelve bags.

“Well there it is. The historical and conquest records are copied. We were given word, the four Dwarf King’s don’t need a copy of these crystals at this time. They can get a copy from us later if they need it. Let’s lock up and get back to my Lord’s Castle. We have one of the prisoners there. Do you think you will need any of the tools in the tool box Richard?”

“I don’t know. I am not a surgeon. We are dealing with a life now. If that implant got turned off or removed some how, I do not know what the result is going to be. I doubt the information for the implants would be here. It is probably in a health center on the star ship.”

“I understand that very well Richard. When we touched their minds to learn their language, we sensed two minds at war. But one is louder than the other.”

“I think we can all understand that very personally, Thaygard.” I look at Renard and Trianna and smile at them. They nod their heads in agreement as well as they smile to me.

“If we can remove it without harming the host, then I have a chance to analyze it and see what can be done.”

“Well, let us hope that is the case, Richard. Are we all ready to leave?”

“Yes, I think we are. Let’s take one more look to make sure we are not forgetting anything.”

After doing one more final check, I turn off the power to the scout ship to conserve power. We put on our satchels and walk back out of the space craft. We close the door and Thaygard reseals the hole in the sealing spell on the ship.

Thaygard takes out his crystal sphere and contacts Lord Keltan. “Greetings, my Lord.”

“Greetings, Thaygard. How did it go this afternoon?”

“Everything went fine. We are finished here for the day. We’ll discuss the results with you and King Tierion when we get back. We will need an escort to the prisoner in our castle; we are ready to take a closer look at him. Richard was successful in finding the weakness in their security system.”

“That is good news. I will have the guards in the conference room ready for you. See you soon.” The image goes blank above the crystal sphere. Thaygard walks up to Belgaron the dragon.

“Greetings, Belgaron.”

“Greetings, Thaygard. Was it a good day?”

“Yes, we are finished for the day. Richard had some good success for today. We will be back tomorrow morning at first mark to continue the information gathering. We are getting close to stop the destruction.”

“Yes, that is good news to hear. We will keep the craft safe. Be well everyone. See you all tomorrow morning.”

“Be well, Belgaron and your clan.”

We all bow our heads to each other. I put my hand onto Renard’s shoulder. Then Renard and Trianna put their hands onto Thaygard’s shoulder. Thaygard recites the transport spell and we all vanish in a blink of an eye. We fly back to Lord Keltan’s Conference Chamber. When we arrive and appear, we see two castle guards standing at the door entrance. They come to attention as soon as they see us. Lord Keltan, Lord Tierion and Master Eldwin are there as well. I guess it is no surprise to see Lord Tierion and Master Eldwin. Another surprise is seeing the twelve commanders of Twainor there as well. They all want the information first hand instead of waiting for it.

We let go of our hands. We all bow our heads slightly upon seeing the Kings and Master Eldwin. Thaygard speaks to King Keltan.

“My Lords, Richard has found a way to take control of their star ship systems without them knowing about it.”

“That is great, Richard, congratulations.”

The commanders cheer and clap as well.

“Well done, Richard!”

“Congratulations! We knew you could do it!”

“You’re welcome, but the job is not done yet. I will need to make another trip to the scout ship to write the program tomorrow morning. Then we need another conference on how to deliver the program or any other people from here to the star ship safely.”

“That is a lot to consider, but like you said we need to make plans.”

“Quick question, has everyone learned the language of the enemy?”

The others look around. Some made a gesture ‘no’.

“We have not been given the exchange yet.” About six or eight commanders speak up.

“Well, let’s share it so that everyone can understand what is being said on the crystals we give you.”

Renard, Trianna and Thaygard walk around the room and recite the language spell to any who needs it. The guards already have the knowledge from Thaygard when the prisoner was brought in the first time.

“Commanders, here are the copies of the historical and conquest records.”

“That is great. We’ll start with that.”

“Hopefully, it will reveal some of their tactics.”

We hand them a bag each.

“Thank you, Richard.”

“You’re welcome.”

“We’re ready to see the prisoner, take us to him.”

Lord Keltan turns and looks at one of the guards, “Guards, you may proceed with the escort.”

“Come this way.” The first Guard opens the door, the second guard walks out, and we all follow behind him. Once we leave the room, the first Guard closes the door and follows behind us. They lead us through several corridors, stairs and ramps through the castle. We see a guard at the entrance to the holding area underneath the castle. He opens the door for us.

We walk down a hallway and see doors with small windows evenly spaced apart with glowing crystal spheres near the doors down one side lighting the way. On the other side of the hall I see rows of small squares near the top seam of the wall and ceiling. In the wall I see some different colored stone blocks that seem to indicate a door out line if connected. Near one of the colored blocks is a small shelf extended with a small depression. Large enough to hold a crystal sphere. A guard stands on both sides of a doorway.

“Well, let’s take a look and see how he is doing?”

A guard takes out his contact sphere and places it on the small shelf. He recites an incantation; then an image of the prisoner appears. He is lying down on the mattress asleep. The other commanders take out their contact sphere to get their own view of the interrogation. They connect to the crystal sphere on the small shelf.

Looking at one of the guards, “Guard, we are ready to enter; please come with me to be on the safe side.”

“I understand,” he switches places with the other guard.

The two guards that came with us remain in their positions on either side of us.

“Lord Keltan, Lord Tierion, Trianna and Commanders, I want you all out here to help out just in case as well.” Lord Keltan, Lord Tierion, Trianna and the others nodded their heads. “Guards, Thaygard, Renard, Richard and I are coming in. We need to examine him to see what can be done. He has an implant at the base of his neck that is controlling him. We are seeing what can be done to release him from this control.”

“Yes, sir,” all guards answered back.

“Trianna, please has this encounter recorded. We need a record for proof and playback.”

“Yes, I will do that, Wizard Eldwin.”

Trianna gets out a crystal sphere and gets ready to recite the incantation when we enter into the room.

“Richard, before you transport into the room. What can you tell us about mind control and implants from your world? It might help us understand what is going on here.”

“Yes, Lord Tierion, this idea of mind control has always been tried by various different means throughout the ages. The first one is the simplest. You constantly berate with questions, situations or conditions until they give in and tell you want to know. But even the best trained mind can thwart that.”

“Yes, that has been used for centuries here. I guess that would be common on most worlds.”

“I am sure it is, Lord Tierion. The second is the use of drugs. The simplest drug is alcohol, like very strong wine for example.”

Everyone nods in agreement with that.

“But even that is not reliable because of the side effects and how long they last. The last one is the device that is used here. It could be a small capsule that is sending out a signal. Or the capsule could send out a special drug to enhance the effect as well. The devices do wear down and stop functioning until it is replaced or gets recharged. There is always the problem of knowing how the original thinking of a mind gets changed. Does it go back to normal before the control? Or does it change the personality once it is removed? There are several possibilities. This is where we need to be careful. We are dealing with an entire ship full of these people.”

“I agree, Richard, it is a problem. But, we must make an effort to save them and ourselves. Master Eldwin, Renard and Thaygard do the best in examining the prisoner before it is removed or turned off. Ask questions and see if he responds to them. Maybe we can help him to find a way for his original voice to be heard.”

“That is a very good idea, Lord Tierion. All right, let’s go in.”

We all link ourselves together for the transport in. Trianna recites the recording incantation and has it linked to the Guard’s contact sphere. In a moment we vanish in a blink of an eye. When we enter into the room, we discover there is plenty of room for all of us. The guard walks up and stands near the head of the prisoner. The four of us walk up to the prisoner and kneel down to examine him closely. He is still asleep, or so we thought.

Then all of a sudden he opens his eyes and not moving a muscle. He looks around to see what his situation is.

“Do not worry, Tran. We have come to examine you to make sure you are in good health.”

“How did you know my name? How come you can speak to me and understand me?”

“That will be explained later. Please trust us; we have nothing but good intentions. But we do know your plan to destroy our star system and steal the wealth.”

“What? How is that possible? Our security is fool proof.”

“We will try to answer your questions, Tran. But the first question to be answered is that we had outside help to understand your computer systems.”

“What? Outside help… whom? Wait a minute; that one does not look like the others. He turns his head to Richard. “You’re the one who helped them. You’re not from this planet.”

“No, I'm not. I come from a world that is advanced, but in some areas we are still improving. My specialty is computer systems and security.”

“That makes sense for now. We were located behind your furthest moon cloaked. We were trying to determine how you communicated around the world. At a particular frequency we detected the rays of light going around your world like a web. Then in the next instance about a dozen rays of light shot straight out into space in all directions. I guess,” pointing at Richard; “you were contacted at that time.”

“Apparently I was. I came as soon as possible. I will let my hosts here explain their world. But there is something we need to do. Did you know there is a mind control implant at they base of your neck?”

“A mind control implant? There can’t be. I know we put implants into some people whom we conquer to add to our population.”

We look at each other and give each other a nod with a slight grimace.

“Well, we can prove it to you.”

“How can you?”

“Have you heard of magic?”

“There is no such thing as magic. Everything has an explanation scientifically.”

“It does here, Tran,” answers Master Eldwin.

“How can that be? It is always attributed to slight of hand and distractions.”

“That may be true on most worlds. But this world gives us the ability to use magic.”

“What? You’re saying that your planet is magical?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Well, prove it to me.”

“All right, sit up and lean up against the wall and stay still. I am going to move you around the room.”

The rest of us move aside to make room. Wizard Eldwin raises his hands toward him and starts to recite an incantation in a strange language. But, I recognize it as the same language when I learned to use my contact sphere, but the words were different. In a moment Tran starts to be lifted into the air.

“What, the… this is impossible… b… but it’s happening. Incredible.”

Master Eldwin moves Tran from one corner of the room to the other and back again. He then sets him down.

“You have my complete cooperation. You may examine me.”

“Thank you, Tran. Will you please lie down on your stomach so we can take a look?”

“Sure, give me a moment.” Tran lowers his shirt part way to reveal his neck and shoulder. He then lies down on his stomach with his hands to his side.

Wizard Eldwin kneels down and leans forward. He moves the hair away from his neck. He takes his finger and touches his skin surface lightly. “Yes, I do feel a small bump at the base of your neck. Renard, Thaygard and Richard you can feel it right here.” He points to it.

We all bend down and touch it to confirm it. “Yes, it is there, Eldwin. Tran, reach behind you and you tell us what it is.”

Tran reaches behind him and touches it himself. “That’s the mind control implant? I thought it was part of my neck bone structure.”

“Eldwin, I have an idea so that we can see it without removing it.”

“What is it, Richard?”

“Can you take a crystal sphere and superimpose the scan onto the back of the neck? Then with the incantation take a picture of the neck. Then we have a recording of it. By looking at that picture closely we can see how it is placed in there and determine what to do next?”

“I remember that. You told Ariella how to do that. If you just wait a moment, I will do that.” Eldwin takes a crystal sphere places it near his neck and recites the short incantation. Soon he has a copy of the implant. “You can get back up Tran; you can take a look at it as well.”

Tran sits up and we all gather around to look at the image. “Yes, that is the implant that is put into the people we capture. How come I was told it was part of my neck?”

“I think you were told on purpose, basically it is a lie. I think you were also told that this is normal. However, it is programmed. The leadership has you thinking otherwise.”

“We found the historical records when they first devised it. The first group they conquered gave them problems. There were more than two thousand people on board in the beginning. But at one planet they tried to conquer they encountered a virus that wiped out their numbers down to ten, including their leader.”

“But their leader experienced a horrific growth problem. To keep him alive they just about used all the resources on the ship.”

“You mean tell me that the Supreme’s star ship is just collecting resources to keep him alive? What?!?!...even if he cannot move?”

“How many are left of the original crew, Tran?”

“It is hard to say. I would think the General is one of them. There could be others, but I am not sure. What was the purpose of the star ship in the first place?”

“Their original planet was dying. They built the star ship to seek a new home. But they encountered the problems that we mentioned.”

“Oh this is too much… owww!!! My head!!! …. It hurts!!” Then he puts his hands to the side of his head. “Help me… I think I’m pass…” He slumps down…. Then a small different voice comes forth. “Help me…” Then he is quiet and does not move.

“Quick, we have to remove it. I think a fail safe program kicked in to kill the host when he learns the truth.”

“How do we do that, Richard?”

“When you do the scan of the neck again, use the transport spell to remove the object itself. But keep it enclosed in the Ethereal Space. We must be ready if it does something else.”

“Right, Richard; quickly lay him down as before.”

We come forward and positioned Tran as before. Wizard Eldwin puts the crystal sphere near his neck and displays the location of the device. He put his hands above Tran’s neck and focuses on the small bump in his neck. He recites the transport spell. After a moment or two, “I’ve got it.” Then in the next instant, the bump disappears. “Thaygard, create a sealing spell around the basin of water. I am going to put it in there. Be ready Renard if anything else happens.”

“Yes, I’m ready.” He steels himself to put another sealing spell around Thaygard’s sealing spell.

“Excellent idea, Eldwin, hopefully the water will act as a buffer.”

Wizard Eldwin then transports the device into the bowl. Once the implant hits the water there is an electrical explosion with some smoke coming up from the water. We all look into the water bowl and see the device has exploded into many small shards and pieces.” Thaygard and Renard remove the sealing spells.

~~~000~~~

“General, I just received a signal from the scout ship.”

“What does the signal match to, Tek?”

“It matches Tran’s bio-file.”

“That's good, Tek. That means the scout ship is still there.” Hah! That means Tran is dead. So far so good, our plans are safe.

~~~000~~~

“I was afraid this would happen. It would be nice to find a way to reconstruct the device. We can learn a lot from it. We only have three more to work with.”

“Yes, I have a spell for that. We sometimes use this spell if there is an accident in construction of a building. We modified the spell for something unknown. It does come handy to save a life quickly. We assigned our wizards in training to those tasks where they are needed.”

“Good, proceed to reconstruct the device. But, can you do it without putting the shell around it and the power cell in it? That way it can be examined more closely.”

“I think I can do that, Richard, hold on a moment.”

Wizard Eldwin recites the spell; then the implant device is reconstructed magically just like Richard requested.

“That is great, Wizard Eldwin. Now let’s take a closer look at it.” I reach down into the water and retrieve the device, the shell and the battery. Everybody gathers around to look at it.

“That is amazing, Richard. That is a very small device. I wonder how Tran is doing.”

We turn around to pay attention to Tran. We still see him unconscious and lying face down. “I better do a check up on him.” Wizard Eldwin turns him over with the Guard’s help. He checks for a heart beat near his neck. He smiles, “Yes, he is still with us. We’ll let him rest until he comes around. Hopefully he will recover from this ordeal.”

“I hope so too. What do you hope to learn from the device, Richard?”

“I will need to take it back to the scout ship. Hopefully there with the equipment and tools, we can get a better idea how to shut them off without hurting more people. You saw what happened when Tran learned the truth.”

“Yes, we must find a better way. What time is it? I think it is getting late in the day.”

“Let’s check in …”

Then all of a sudden, Tran wakes up in a fright. “Mother, father where are you? Our world is being destroyed!” He looks around quickly. “Where am I? Who are you people? This does not look my home world.”

We all look at each other with worried faces, then back to Tran. The guard stiffens up and gets tense, ready to respond.

“No, I think I know who you are. Was I talking with you a little while ago?”

Eldwin kneels down to his level on the mattress. “I’m afraid it’s true. Your star system and world was destroyed. The people who conquered you also took some of your people to help operate their star ship.”

“No. That’s not possible. We would have killed ourselves to prevent being enslaved.” The guard relaxes, but remains alert to any sudden movement.

“Somehow they were able to restrain you while they put this implant control device in the back of your neck.” I show it to him.

Tran looks at the device. “They put that in me? How did you get it out so quickly?”

“I was able to remove it with magic.”

“What? Magic does not exist. Everything has an explanation.”

“Normally, I would say yes. But our world is magical. It gives us the ability to do the impossible. Everyone on our world has the ability to do magic, but it depends on the person who can master the simplest spells to the most complex.”

“For instance my friend here, Richard, is not from this world. He can only master using the contact sphere and other simple spells. But he cannot do the transport spell to move himself from one place to another.”

“Moreover, when I go back to my world, I will lose these abilities. This is because my world doesn't have magic.”

“I see. You said they took others from my world to enslave and do their works? We must go and release them.”

“We very much want to and quickly. They’re on the edge of our star system getting ready to consume and destroy us soon. Will you help us to find a way to stop this madness?”

“Tran, they have conquered many other worlds besides yours. That device almost exploded in your neck. We were able to remove it before you were killed.”

“Killed? What kind of people are these? Wait, you said you need my help? What can I do?”

“Do you remember anything before you woke up?”

“I think I do, but the memories are faint. Like it was a bad dream; if I remember right, I was on a scout ship scanning a world with two moons.”

“Good, you do remember. Recovering the rest of your alternate memory won’t be so bad. It is just a matter of you accepting them or not.”

“How would you do that? Would you use magic?” He tries to smile.

“We could, but that is not necessary. It’s just a matter of relaxing your mind and recalling those thoughts and events that you’ve had.”

“So, if you are ready.”

“I’m ready.”

“All right, now lean back against the wall. Close your eyes; breathe deeply. Go back to the day you were captured.”

“Yes, I remember it clearly. I’m in the yard area between buildings. I see people running around from building to building in a panic. I see a light beam from the air. It is searching around looking for people because I see someone disappear in a moment. All of a sudden it comes to a stop on top of me.”

“What happened next?”

“In a moment I disappeared and appeared in a room. I see people pointing guns at me.”

===<<<<<<<>>>>>>>===

“Come with us. We won’t hurt you.”

“No, why did you take me? Who are you people?”

“Come with us and you will live. Your world is dying.”

“You’re lying! Our world is fine. We saw you destroy the other planets in our star system. Unhand me you monsters!!”

“That’s enough! Come with us!”

===<<<<<<<>>>>>>>===

“Then the next instance I felt a small shock and I passed out. When I woke up, I felt I was a member of their crew as I always was. Soon I was assigned to be part of the Scout Ship team to look for a star system for us to find more resources.” He gets quiet again.

We all look at each other with concern faces. Then we look down again as he wakes up.

Tran stirs again. He looks up at us. “Now I remember!! Everything! I even remember my earlier conversation with you. Tell me what you need. I will help you find a way to stop this horror.”

“Do you think there is an effective way to remove these devices or turn them off without harming the other people on board?”

“I doubt that you have enough wizards to do it. There are more than one thousand people on board.”

“I think there is a way. Earlier in the day I found a hole in their security software. My initial plan is to send a program that will self-replicate and hibernate throughout the star ship. One possible thought is to hitch a ride on the Scout Ship undetected send in the file hidden with another file. Then send in the command to disable all major systems on board to stop them before they destroy our system.”

“That is possible, Richard. But with this new problem of the implants, we need another plan.”

“I agree, Tran. But first we must go to your other crew mates and release them from the mind control. Perhaps with their help as well, we can come up with a new plan.”

“I have question for you, Tran. Is it possible that some of the worlds that the people come from might be enemies? Because that will add a new wrinkle to the problem once the devices are disabled.”

“I don’t know. I would have to check the historical records to make sure. That would be a problem.”

“There is something you might not be aware of. With Richard’s help we were able to copy the historical records from your Scout Ship.”

“Did you find anything useful there?”

“Two of the worlds you conquered were part of our local group. About a year ago our time, the Maker of the Universe allowed us to come together to establish the Outside Helper for our worlds.”

“More than likely, if not our world, another world will have the means to stop the star ship before it destroys another star system.”

“I see, here the people could be saved, but with another star system we could have been killed and no … no… one would remember us at all.” Tran starts to cry. Then he stops suddenly; then he bangs his fist on his knees in frustration. “No! It will not happen again! We must go and release the other crew mates, hopefully they will see truth.”

“We will do that, but that is late in day now. Are you well enough to eat a real meal? We have two of our Kings with us who would like to meet you. There is a total of sixteen kingdoms on our world.”

“I don’t think so. Not until we release the other crew mates, then we can meet them.”

Master Eldwin brings out his contact sphere and recites the incantation. Soon the images of both Kings appear from the outside hallway.

“Greetings Tran, welcome to the planet Twainor. I’m King Keltan of the Correlle Kingdom.”

“Welcome Tran; I’m King Tierion of the Thryson Kingdom.”

“Greetings, Kings, I’m sorry I can’t be more hospitable. I will not have a proper meal until my other crew mates are free from the implant.”

“We understand that. The water is there for you, we will provide bread and fruit if you desire.”

“Thank you Kings, the bread and fruit will be enough for now. This room will suit my needs for now. Let me know when the others are released and we can be together again tomorrow.”

“We’ll let you know. See you tomorrow, Tran, good night.” Tran lies down on the mattress to fall asleep.

“Good night.”

We all group together and Master Eldwin transports us back to the hall. We reappear with the others.

“Well done, everyone. The day ended on a positive note.”

“Yes, thank you, Lord Keltan. We’ll need to take a closer look at those records and makes sure there are no enemies among the population.”

“Yes, by all means do so. Come, it is time for the Setting and evening repast.”

“We have a lot to consider Lord Tierion. Richard will need to go back to the Scout Ship to write the program. We need to go to the other crew mates and release them from the mind control devices.”

“Yes, once that is done, we need a conference to plan our attack to the star ship and deal with the problems there. We only have the Scout Ship to get us there.”

“Well, let’s give it some thought. We still need to react quickly. They could start destroying our system before we are ready still.”

Leaving the two guards by the room, we all leave the holding area and walk back up to the main hall and the dining room area.

Sir Trenton walks besides me as he talks with me. “Well done, Richard. You showed us how we can remove the implants.”

“You’re welcome, Sir Trenton. We have something similar on my world to take a picture of the implant. Your magic allows it to happen faster. However, removing it will be tricky; you won’t know what will happen next.”

“True, but it gives hope that it can be done. Let me introduce you to the other Commanders of Twainor.”

Richard is introduced to them all and they thank him. However, two of them express a different sentiment.

“Richard when you here were last, I was very skeptical of your abilities and knowledge. We started to listen to our fishing captains and saw the catches that were brought in. We saw creatures that we have not seen before.”

“But when we saw the sea dragons come forth near the islands, we finally understood that we don’t know our world at all.”

“Please forgive us, Richard for not believing.”

“You’re easily forgiven Commanders. Like I said before, even on my world, the oceans are always the last frontier to discover.”

“To think our former Kings and Queens started a war without proof. They were told a bunch of lies by Ruald after they had eaten wild animal meat. The loss of life then is unthinkable today. We all learned a lesson that day. Thank you, Richard.”

“You’re welcome. But if I remember right, Ruald forced your former royalty to eat the wild animal meat.” I smile to myself and feel really good that I accomplished something meaningful.

We walk into the dining area and we see a long table set up for everybody. King Keltan sits at the head of the table. His Queen sits in the chair to the right. Lord Tierion is to his left. I sit on the same side with Renard and Trianna as Lord Tierion. Thaygard and Eldwin are opposite from us. The rest of the Commanders sit where they wish.

Eldwin is given the honor of giving Thanks to the Maker.

The meal was wonderful. On the table the chefs bring out a selection of various fruits, vegetables and meat dishes. Fortunately Renard warned me the dishes here have a different flavor and spice groupings than Thryson Kingdom has. It was not too hot, but some of the dishes did get my host’s attention.

“Are you all right, Richard? I hope it is not too hot for you?”

“No my Lord … ‘coughs’ … I will need a glass of water a little more often.” I take a sip of water. “On my world it is the same problem. Each region has its own unique flavor and spiciness. I was just not ready for yours. Now that I know, I will be more careful.” I smile and give a laugh.

Everybody chuckles at my discomfort and I laugh with them.

“I’m glad we had a successful day. How long do you think it will take to write that program, Richard?”

“It shouldn't take too long, probably about a mark at the most on the sundial. We should get the other crewmen interviewed quickly as possible within two or three marks at the most.”

“Yes, when that is accomplished we will need to come together and come up with a plan. We all have another long day tomorrow.”

“Lord Keltan, we’ll have to do the World Conference at Lord Dryden’s Castle, since it is our world’s capital. Perhaps set it for the noon repast or the next morning?”

“The next morning should do, Lord Tierion.”

“Yes, we must do that. Everybody agrees to that?”

“Yes, we agree.” Everybody assents for the Grand Council to be held at Second Mark the morning.

After awhile, with the meal finished. King Keltan asks for his Master Chef to come in for some thanks and praise.

When we get done with that, we get up and follow King Keltan to a parapet on the castle wall. We watch the Setting of the Sun and see the dazzling display of lights throughout the sky and among ourselves. It is gorgeous to say the least, just like back at Thryson Castle. Since the mountains and cloud patterns are different here, it did provide a different color scheme.

“That is gorgeous, Lord Keltan. I saw last night’s Setting. It is just as different here as it is there.”

“That is beauty of it. No two Settings are the same. It will be different here tomorrow night. Our artisans have tried to capture the color in paintings and in the art work. You should see them.”

“I will do that when I get the chance. I don’t know if you remember this. Your First Ones remind me of the ones we have for our myths and legends.”

“I remember that Inquiry you had last year, Richard. I can see why the Maker sent you to reconnect your world with our world.”

Once the dusk has settled and the light show is done, we walk down the parapet and back into the castle.

“I bid you all a good night’s rest. The guards are instructed to lead you to your rooms for the night.”

“Good night, King Keltan, thank you for your hospitality.”

“Good night, my friends; see you all at first mark of the morning for break fast.”

“Good night.” Everybody responds.

The guards leads us to our rooms. This time I was given a room of my own with a view of the forest and mountains when I look out the window. The crystal lights are already lit in the room.

I see the last of the sunset is slowly fading to darkness with the stars ready to light the night sky. I walk out to my window and look above me and I see the Crab Nebula and Horse Head Nebula in all its glory. I wish I could take a picture of it and bring it back with me. But I would probably be questioned endlessly on how I was able to do it from a different perspective and closer. Oh well, at least it will provide me a great memory.

I undress myself and give myself a wash and rub down with the hand towel, soap, basin and a pitcher of water. I dry myself with another towel. I walk to the other pitcher of water and pour out a glass of water. When I put the pitcher down, I see that level returns to the original height. Obviously they put a spell on it to keep the pitcher full at all times.

I take the cup of water and bring it over to the table and chair to drink while I am writing. I put on a night shirt provided in the dresser drawer. I fold my clothes and but them in a drawer. I recite another incantation and my shorts and undershirt are now clean and dry. I put those on for the evening.

I take out my pad of paper and pencil and start to write down the program that will be needed to infiltrate their computers.

I would not be surprised if we all come to agreement very quickly on how to get to the star ship. But please Maker; please let tomorrow be a very successful day. Time is running out.

After about half a mark I am finished writing out the program in a computer language that I know. Okay, I will have to wait and see for tomorrow morning. Hopefully their computer language is similar. If it is different, I will adapt. But at least I have the outline of what needs to be accomplished. But because of the hole that I found, hopefully this self replicating EXE file will work in their environment. But, that is the purpose of testing it on the Scout Ship before it gets sent to the star ship.

Well, time for bed. Goodnight my friends. Tomorrow is a brand new day.