Page 155 - The Chronicles Ser2 (6-10)

She’brakda had a very eccentric orbit around T’Shon. The elliptical orbit slowly moved round
shifting the near and far reaches of the orbit in a cycle of about half T’Shon’s year. Summers and
other seasons on She’brakda therefore went through a cycle and at this time the orbit was reaching
the point where the moon would be at its closest to the system’s star P’rada. Temperatures would
be unbearable for around a month or two at midday. During this “High Summer”; it would be best to
work during twilight and night-time hours. If the Veklaar could make the trip quicker; then they
would have a longer time to study the ruins before this seasonal high, an advantage that could prove
useful.

Hubris returned from his visit satisfied that Killiris was fine in her
present condition. More so when he saw that her mate had provided well for
her. His only concern had been that she seemed to be distant toward future
relations, though this could have been down to her training in the Order of
Sisterhood. She did; however give him something her Vintar mate had wanted
Hubris to have upon his passing. It was a Puzzle Box, of a type said to have
come from ancient Earth. Hubris received the gift with appropriate reverence.
The Vintar had found it on a world in a system outside the very edge of the
known galaxy, hidden in a false brick in the wall of a ruin. The Settlement
seemed to have been abandoned many, many millennia ago. No Vintar had
been able to find a way of opening it; and no amount of research helped bring a solution to its
opening. Killiris knew this would pique Hubris’ inquisitiveness; so when her Vintar mate had
suggested leaving this to Hubris, she had agreed.

“Thi’gru was always finding object d’art in some place or other. The Order doesn’t like their
followers possessing huge collections, but are not strict in making them get rid of them. He used the
sale of many of his finds to finance the founding of this Refuge. He was old fashioned enough to not
let me contribute financially, but my skills were another matter altogether. As word spread of our
work, we accumulated more skilled personnel than we could accommodate. That’s when The Order
stepped in as they had need of many skills in the Protectorates. We would be a training
establishment and our graduates would be taken into service in the Protectorates by The Order. You
know my passion has always been to spread knowledge; this Refuge and my Thi’gru have made the
dreams possible” she had said when Hubris had met her. That was when Hubris realised that she
was truly happy for once, so had decided not to push the matter of renewal of their relationship.

He worked tirelessly with T’luha, Jenifer, Tom and the rest of the Engineering crew in
working out the finer details of Kryst data discs that Krysta had brought with her from Keteria. They
had worked out some of the strange grammatical structure of the Kryst language, but still, some
glyphs and their groupings defied logical deciphering. What wasn’t known at the time would be
accidental discoveries soon to be found would result in a better understanding of the Kryst and their
language.

“I give up; this defies logic, how could a race so advanced as the Kryst appear to be, have a language
that makes no sense. It’s as if they had a schizophrenic nature to them!” Hubris exclaimed,
stretching and rising from his desk

“Perhaps a break would help. A change of subject and task could help revive our wracked brains”
Jennifer suggested adding “I believe they have some old Earth recipes for what Terrans call “Comfort
Food” in the Mess Hall replicator library. I don’t know about you but I’ve concentrated so hard on
this; I may have skipped meals. What do you say we see what they have?” Hubris realised he too had
neglected to eat for some time