The Grey Veliar

Tarion paused, his gaze softening slightly as he looked at Iida. «I left you a message», he added, «tuned to your frequency. All we could do then was hope our departure would keep you safe and spare you any trouble.»

«I arrived incognito, but they were expecting me», Iida replied, her voice calm yet edged with tension. «And I suspect I was being followed ever since the initial control checkpoint. I was simply lucky they didn’t run a deep scan. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. You can thank our Smorg for that.»

Maarv gave Smorg a friendly slap on the shoulder, a broad smile flickering across his face.

«On behalf of all of us», he said warmly, «I offer you my deepest thanks! And welcome to the crew! Iida told us you’ve got no one left, so from now on, we’ll be your friends and family. That’s how we do things aboard the Armaon.»

Smorg sniffed emotionally and asked, «So that means I can work in the laboratory? With resources like yours, I could be truly useful! I’ve got so many, so many new ideas!»

«You know what!» Draam exclaimed. «Let’s move to the dining hall and continue this conversation over a proper dinner! I’ve taken the liberty of ordering a whole array of culinary delights from this planet!»

By then, the Armaon had already broken free of DL-254’s gravity, gliding into open space. Under the steady hum of its hyper-engines, the ship set course for its next destination.

«I know you still have a lot of questions», Tarion said, savoring something that looked like a galette with a crisp, spicy crust from the new batch of supplies personally procured by Draam. «With your permission, I’ll continue. Some time ago, while hiding from our pursuers on one of the abandoned planets, we quite miraculously stumbled upon one of the greatest scientists of our era – Krean.»

At these words, Iida choked and began to cough, her eyes widening in disbelief.

«What do you mean, ‘stumbled upon’?» she managed between coughs. «He’s alive?»

«Oh, yes, and he’s doing wonderfully», Tarion went on, gesturing gracefully with the hand that held the galette. «He’s even started a family and built himself a household with an impressive farm.»

He leaned forward sharply, studying the contents of his glass. «No… just my imagination», he murmured, then went on.

«So, he ended up there thanks to those same caring friends of ours – the very ones because of whom we, in turn, have been spending such an… entertaining time.» A wry smile touched his lips as he set the glass down. «He passed us his bio-fablet filled with astonishing research, we had to push, as the locals would say, a few of the simpler ones on DL-254. You see, we desperately need the funds to produce the components that might – no, that certainly will help us in this uneasy struggle.»

«As you probably know by now, Tarion happens to be one of the universe’s foremost know-it-alls when it comes to the Ticket – the one we recently managed to assemble», Kane continued, since everyone else was far too busy devouring the delicacies before them, while the girl still sat listening intently. «As it turns out, the Ticket contains a wealth of useful and very intriguing information, including maps of distant and as yet poorly explored worlds.