Page 123 - The Chronicles Ser2 (6-10)

to recover damaged vessels and crew. As per his orders, the reason for their being present at this rift
was censured. Only the ships Command crew knew the real reason; that being to observe the results
of a penetration attempt by the outsiders to the realm of the Keterians. The future of both peoples
hung in the balance upon the outcome of this endeavour. Krysta and Gio were chosen to fly the
scout craft, the Vuelvo and the Nero. They had been informed that all communications from now on
would be in Interlac, and seeing as the two of them were well versed in the language, they had been
chosen above others of more experience. The Vuelvo and the Nero took up equidistant positions a
safe distance from the emerging rift. Using a secure private channel between the two scout craft Gio
talked with his older sister Krysta
“Well; what do you make of this sis?” he asked
“Damned if I know. All I was told was to expect the unexpected, you know how cryptic Henderson
can be” she replied
“Very odd behaviour even for him, did you see the look on the Captains face when you were
chosen? I thought he was going to explode. He’s got a crush on you!” Gio taunted
“Cut the chatter, I’m getting some strange scanner responses; check them out” she said and gave
him the frequencies she was using.
“Mass disturbances, that’s common, but they seem to be paired and matched. I see what you
mean.” Gio added. They monitored the same area sending the data back to the Luna Mechia. As if a
switch had suddenly been thrown the opening of the rift snapped into coalescence and the great
maw of blackness stunned with its presence.
“Oh; man, that’s something. I’ve never seen one
that wide before” Gio said astonished.
“If these readings are right there’s something
coming through, scratch that, two something’s
are coming through!” Krysta said excitedly.

Indeed; two disturbances could clearly
be ascertained, it was a few seconds before any
visual presence could be seen. There were two
faint glows from field interactions with the tract
of Hyperspace. These became clearer as they approached the boundary of the rift. Two small vessels
sheathed in writhing glows appeared and emerged from the rift. They were traveling at incredible
speed. They were braking hard using a reverse ejection from their Bussard collectors. It took the two
tiny craft about ten kilometres to reach a slow stop. The glow of their shielding fading slowly; it was
ascertained they were heavily modified speeders.
“I’ll try hailing them” Krysta said and sent a standard hail in Interlac. There was no response. She
tried again and an automated acknowledgement signal was returned. “Contact established” were
her simple words to the Luna Mechia. The recovery craft moved in closer, its pilot relayed his
findings
“Two occupants both seem unconscious, one is non-human, looks mechanical, possibly robotic.
There are some strange signals coming from the cockpits.” He said
“Robotic?” was the stunned response of the Captain. “Have the vessels put in tow and taken to the
docking bay” he ordered and added “I want all ships contingent assembled. I think it’s time I
explained our orders.” He concluded. The two speeders suddenly sent out a directed signal burst
back through the rift before going silent.

An echo from the dark
The Hellion received the burst signal that the two speeders automatic transmitters sent back
through the rift. It was meant as a sign that the ships had made it through the rift intact. They would
wait for confirmation from the pilots themselves when they were able to respond. From the delays
in the data signal and a significant Doppler shift they could tell that the tract of Hyperspace was
about half a parsec in length and that the speeders had been accelerated to a terrific speed. The