RED KNIGHT
a STAR FRONTIERS Novel
by Layne K. Saltern
A day/night cycle on Pale lasts 55 standard Federation hours, with time measured from 0:00 to 54:59. 27:30 lands in about the middle of the daylight period.
To facilitate my record I am now changing to Pale days, with this being day 1.
I have attempted to sketch a simple map of the UPF base in which the conference was being held. The building was heavily armored with air-tight, radiation-proof walls.
I sat alone in my room and considered that the meetings wouldn't start until the next day. I considered using the time to study some more sociology, but gave up that idea pretty quickly. Without thinking about what I was doing, I reached into my backpack and pulled out a reading pad, in which Katrina had entered a large number of Terledrom poems.
As I began translating, I contemplated how silly the poetry seemed, all about emotions. Not a note of logic in it.
Commodore Tulk'n entered without knocking.
I tried to hide the pad, but that only piqued his curiosity. "What is this?" he asked. And looking it over, he added, "Do you know what this is? This is some of the best Terledrom poetry."
"I'm translating it," I explained, trying to be patient.
"Can I get a copy of your translations? I love this stuff."
I was not enthused. "If you want."
After Tulk'n left, I hid the pad under my backpack in a desk drawer and locked the drawer.
I needed some air.
The outside evening breeze carried the sweet scent of falling night and gathering rain clouds. Some kind of unseen animal or insect was chirping a strange tune.
I wandered to the monorail terminal and considered that about the only place to go was the nearby starport. The terminal was empty. A number of monorail cars sat motionless, collecting dust.
Then I noticed that one of the cars was missing. Unusual, I thought. Maybe someone else decided to visit the starport.
But when I got to the starport, there was no one there. The only thing waiting for me was the Cavalier, sleeping in the darkness.
Why did the UPF bring me here? I wondered. Maybe time would give me a clue.
I took in a deep breath of the fresh night, and found myself creating an image of Katrina in my mind. She seemed quite nice, and you couldn't say she wasn't attractive--
I stopped rigid. Had I seen a dark form lurking in the inky shadows beneath the Cavalier? My compound eyes tried to pierce through the darkness to get a better look.
Minutes passed. Nothing. I finally decided that my eyes must have been playing tricks on me.
It was late, and the first meeting of the conference would take place at an early hour in the morning.