Page 190 - The Chronicles Ser2 (6-10)

“Dogora Vundapla. Jovhar Luntree modor leputianar. Kupandra Dogora resoktar bunt.” Hubris
bowed his head slowly. There followed a lengthy exchange in Vahamatese before the Kryst signalled
that it was tired and needed to rest. It held its stomach; which emitted a low growl.

“He’s probably hungry. From the information we gathered about his metabolism, he should be able
to ingest a light Hasperat salad” Evelyn said and ordered a take-out from the Mess hall. The Kryst
smiled at her and nodded. Hubris signalled the others to leave the room with him to discuss what
had just happened. They departed the Surgery and headed to Stenerton’s office; Hubris quickly
shushed any attempt at talking about what had just happened. He closed the door and set up a
dampening field.

“That should help mitigate the effects of the Kryst’s communication method for now. The discussion
I’ve just had with our friend back there was intriguing to say the least. You were almost right about
that headband thing Doc too. It behaves in a similar manner to the Achenazi head bands, but has
other effects and uses. Our friend said that once he’s regained his strength he’ll be able to control
the intensity of the emitted signals. It actually dampens the Kryst’s mental projection to a level other
races can tolerate. Until his conversation with me he had no idea how long he’d been “out of
circulation” as he put it” Hubris said and continued to fill them in on what he’d managed to glean
about the Kryst’s mission hereabouts.

Around six millennia ago; the Kryst as a species were on the brink of evolutionary disaster.
Like the Osir before them; they had tampered with their genetic structure resulting in the distinct
possibility that the race would no longer be able to reproduce naturally. There were four schools of
thought that led to radicalised fractioning of their society. These were the Retardist; who wanted to
de-evolve to a simpler form, the Progressives, who wanted the species to evolve to a higher state of
being, like the Krall. The other two factions were the ones at odds herein this sector of the Galaxy.
The first faction called themselves the Naturalists; they wanted to let nature re-intervene and
reform the Kryst along a natural path. Then there were the faction that had set up the colony on
She’brakda; these called themselves The Blenders. Their philosophy was to continue with the
Genetic Modifications to the Kryst and to introduce specific traits into the Kryst Genome from
“cultured” species. The wildly disparities in views had led to a political upheaval that almost
destroyed the Kryst on the Home world and its colonies. Society fractured along these four lines.
Eventually three of the groups settled on a joint agenda to follow the Naturalist philosophy. But by
this time The Blenders had departed to set up their own society out among the stars. As it happened
a young Biologist came up with a solution that helped nature decide the Kryst fate. The solution was
exactly what was needed and it was implemented.

“Stenerton; you noted that the Kryst bodies from the Ship that had been carbonised had a deformity
in as much as they had a vestigial second upper pair of limbs. That was not a deformity. That was at
the behest of the Retardist faction. By allowing the earlier six limb form to partially reinstate its
genetic control. The longevity of the race as a whole was ensured. The ancestral Kryst had six limbs
and were partially aquatic. With other slight reinstalling of ancient genes; the race’s survival was
guaranteed. Fertility was increased and reproduction by normal means became achievable once
again in four generations” Hubris said. He continued on with the mission of the Kryst aboard the
ship. Their little party were only meant to monitor the colonists and compile day-to-day reports for
the Government Back on the Home world. But something went amiss during the selection process
for the mission and one of the residual radicals had been made a member of the crew.

“She had been extremely clever at evading disclosure; until our friend back there noticed that she
was being evasive about her past life, in particular about her sexual relations. The Kryst’s name is
Jovhar Pukat Voor. He talked with me as he recognised my Clansman Crest. Apparently the Kryst had
been incredible explorers in their past and had met with my race’s ancient ancestors. They have had
contact with the ancestors of many races in the distant past. Jovhar is an ancient Clan name from