January 1998 Story

[Cimmy's Dwelling, G15 on First Landing Underground Map]

Urugg steps out of Cimmy's candle-lit shelter before replying. Draped with a shroud of Bachanda leaves, the lithe Yazirian crouches and reactivates his chronocom. The wrist device's orange glow illuminates the lower portion of his face, distorting it with harsh shadows.

"What? Maxim knows her?" The Yazirian's hushed whisper rings with astonishment. "That's more than we could have hoped for. Zane and I are here now. According to Zane, Cimmy has suffered untreatable brain damage from long-term oxygen deprivation. I hate to admit it, but besides making her comfortable, there's little we can do for her. I still hope to locate any surviving kin or clan she may have so they can care for her."

"Maxim may be able to help you locate them," suggests Syzygy on the other side of the chronocom.

"Is it possible that Zane and I can join you at Maxim's home? I know he's an important man, but I think we need to pick his brain and find out just what happened during the Lost Point revolts--how they started, why they started, and why there may still be survivors lurking on this moon. He may be the key to unlocking this whole mess."

[T'Klkk and Kare's Quarters, O15 on First Landing Underground Map]

Kare peers out of her room and looks to the left and right. Seeing no one, she heads for the outside door.

"Going somewhere?" asks a Vrusk woman's voice from behind a corner of the entry room.

"Yes, in fact," says Kare, stopping momentarily. "I do have a few things to do."

T'Klkk blocks the door. "Team-mate Kare, for this unit to function properly it has to function as a unit. We work together. Is that understood, team-mate?"

Kare sighs. "Yeah, bug. Whatever."

"Good. Now where are we going?"

[Maxim Zeket's Personal Quarters, Residential Area, D16 on First Landing Underground Map]

"Welcome," says Maxim, as Urugg and Zane enter the room. The elderly Vrusk nods toward Syzygy. "Your colleague here has been telling me some interesting stories about your proceedings on my Metrosphere. It is a pleasure to meet you both."

"Likewise," says Urugg, nodding briefly. "And might I add that you have accomplished an amazing feat bringing life to this moon."

Maxim's proud smile is buried beneath dignity. "Thank you, young man. Your appreciation means a lot to me. I understand that you have located Simeonne Arielle."

"That's correct," replies Zane, "but she's not in good enough condition to take care of herself. Right now she's living in a shelter built in the Bachanda forest of one of the city's park domes. We were hoping to locate any of her kin or clan members."

Maxim shake's his insectoid head. "She does not have any family on Metrosphere. . .that I know of. But I'm sure someone could be found on her homeworld of Hentz. I can see to it that someone is found. In the meantime, if she can be placed in a medical facility, I would be more than happy to cover the cost of her stay."

"That's very kind of you," says Urugg. "If I might ask, what goals brought you to create this world? What did you envision Metrosphere becoming?"

Maxim corrects Urugg gracefully. "You mean, what do I still envision Metrosphere becoming." The Vrusk takes a deep breath. "You'll have to sit down if you want me to answer that one."

Zane and Urugg seat themselves, only to see Maxim get to his feet.

"When I first saw this moon, there was no sort of ecosystem here. No atmosphere. No flora. No fauna. Just one large rock, a blank slate if you will. The peoples of the Frontier have spent decades fighting over the very rare habitable planets--and the systems that contain them. The probability of a randomly selected planet supporting life as we know it are dizzyingly small. And the billions of star systems out there that don't have habitable planets are cast aside--worth little more than a few mining visits.

"But I came to change all of this. Metrosphere is my proof to the universe that a so-called uninhabitable world can be just as beatiful a home as any planet. On every populated world to date, the environment was given to us. Well, on Metrosphere nothing was given to us. We built it all. And if we can do it here, we can do it anywhere!

"Someday soon, First Landing will grow to the point where it can spawn another outpost. And in time, more outposts will follow. As the outposts grow, they will come closer together until their borders touch. And when that happens Metrosphere will no longer be a barren world with small dots of life. The entire globe will be one living, thriving world--every centimenter breathing with atmosphere and throbbing with life.

"Metrosphere will only be the first example of this, the prototype. Moons and planets once overlooked will open up to accept blooming populations, rising workforces and continued research. Wars over territory will become senseless.

"The Frontier doesn't have to expand beyond its borders. There's more room than we could ever want right here, right now. For every currently inhabited star system within the Frontier sector there are dozens that will be inhabited once other pioneers begin following Metrosphere's lead.

"Metrosphere isn't a simple business venture, my friends. We are at the dawn of a new era, an era that will see the birth of more life and advancement than your wildest imaginations can conceive."

There is a long pause after Mr. Zek'et's discourse.

Urugg breaks the silence. "Do you think the Streel Corporation is following through on your plan?"

Maxim takes the time to carefully choose his words. "Streel is a business. It survives by bringing in a constant, steady profit. For the time being, Metrosphere serves that purpose--and there's no reason why it shouldn't. This type of colonization is profitable for everyone."

"But they don't share the vision," suggests Syzygy.

"The vision did not come from Streel," says Maxim. "The vision came from me. Streel is the tool that I am using to realize this vision. Our relationship is mutually benficial. They bring in a profit, and I gave birth to this world. A well crafted business partnership should be no different."

"I hope this question isn't too personal, Mr. Zek'et," says Urugg. "But what caused the original revolt that lead to the construction of Lost Point."

Maxim looks over at the Yazirian. "It's exactly as I worded it in my report. Things were a lot tougher in those days. There were two hundred of us, alone on a lifeless world, cut off from the rest of the Frontier. There was a lot of stress, and there were a lot of hardships. One of my team members, Snarr Ap-Rewann, was a very talented computer engineer--but not much of a follower. He disagreed with the way I was doing things; he got a few followers, and he went off to start his own outpost. I was just grateful that he didn't steal all of our supplies and building materials."

Urugg nods, thinking it over. "How is it that people who joined the revolt--like Simeonne--could be alive, yet unaccounted for?"

Maxim's face is visibly saddened. "Conditions were bad when we tried to reclaim Lost Point. We found leaking air tubes, contaminated food plants, malfunctioning life support systems and dozens of other life-threatening defects. Many of the Lost Point colonists were found dead, from food poisoning, dehydration, starvation, or in most cases, oxygen deprivation. We rescued the people we could find. But we never couldfind the majority of the original Lost Point colonists, Snarr Ap-Rewann included. Whether they migrated to First Landing, or managed to hide themselves in Lost Point, or whether they are dead and buried without our knowledge, I don't know. My only consolation is that we did the best that we could."

"Just between us," says Zane, "what do you think of Selson Streel?"

"Selson is competent in what he does. With the size of Metrosphere's population today, I don't have time to take care of the population's needs any more. Selson does this nicely. He has a gift for technology, which a man in his position needs. I'm grateful that we have him."

Urugg's chronocom bleeps, interrupting the conversation.

"This is Urugg," says the Yazirian, activating the wrist device.

A male voice replies through the chronocom. "Urugg, it's Tork. Bad news. I had Taanik check the fingerprints from the assassinator cartridge against Star Law's criminal database. We even had Ap-Harrow's forensics team swab the cartridge for DNA, like you suggested. All of the tests link us to the same person. According to Star Law's database, the man who handled that cartridge was--without doubt--Dakka Syte."

Urugg grits his fangs. "Have you informed T'Klkk?"

"I'm going to call her as soon as we close communication. Ap-Harrow doesn't know yet, but I'm sure she'll find out soon enough. Once we've spoken with T'Klkk, Taanik and I are going to get some barium traced gyrojet rounds and grenades at the local outfitter."

"Get me some of those rounds as well," says Syzygy, loud enough for Urugg's chronocom to pick it up.

"Acknowledged. Tork out."

Urugg looks at Maxim Zek'et through eyes drenched with concern. "You heard that conversation, Mr. Zek'et. Dakka Syte is here, on Metrosphere, now."

"Any idea what he's got planned?" asks Syzygy.

"Yeah," says Zane. "Dakka was working with Loer An-Tehr for a while. She overheard him saying that he had come to Metrosphere to 'set things right' with the person responsible for putting him in prison."

"Mr. Zek'et," says Syzygy, "didn't you say that your brother, Zyluss, was present on the Terledrom Council when Dakka was brought in by Star Law five years ago? Is it possible he may want to get revenge on Zyluss by harming you?"

Maxim raises an antenna thoughtfully. "Zyluss was sitting on the Council, and along with the rest of the Council witnessesed Dakka Syte being brought in by the Star Law agent, Jecc Weep," says the aging Vrusk. "But Zyluss played no part in capturing or judging Mr. Syte. He was only one of thousands of observers. I don't know how he could be considered responsible. And myself, I've never even seen Dakka Syte. I wouldn't recognize him if I passed him in the hallway."

"Just the same," says Urugg, "I think you should increase your personal security. We don't know if you're the one Dakka is after, but I'd really appreciate you taking extra precautions until we find out."

"I'll do it," says Maxim. "If you could keep me informed, it would mean a lot to me."

[Selson Streel's Executive Office, I7 on First Landing Surface Level]

Kare's agile fingers loosen the vent's cover in record time, once again allowing her access to the supply room in Mr. Streel's office section. This time, however, she is followed by T'Klkk--who as a Vrusk had a much harder time crawling through the shaft.

As the two step into the Executive Office's main hall, they are met by Selson's exectuve assistant, Alicia--whose stone cold eyes go well with her stone gray business suit.

"Don't you ever use the front door?" hisses the Human woman.

Kare opens her mouth to return an insult, but T'Klkk manages to speak first.

"Six degrees of apology for our unconventional entrance, madam. The urgency of our visit required such measures. We must speak with Mr. Streel immediately."

Alicia shakes her head. "Well you'll have to--"

"Ladies," interrupts Selson Streel, stepping out of his personal office. "Come in, please. Alicia, divert my incoming transmissions until we finish, will you?"

Alicia is left alone as Kare and T'Klkk follow Selson into his office, and the door whisks shut.

"Four degrees of thanks for speaking with us," says T'Klkk.

Selson's face sets into a grave frown. "I assume your visit is not a social one."

"Indeed not," answers T'Klkk. "Our investigations seem to suggest that someone was using the demonstration in the life support building as a cover for setting up easy access to this office."

"You mean someone wanted to get in here?"

"And may still want to," continues the Vrusk.

"Why?"

"We can't be sure of the cause, but it can't be dismissed that someone may have the intention of causing you harm."

"I appreciate your concern," says Selson. "I'll definitely be more cautious."

"That is not all," says T'Klkk. "We may be unsure of the intentions of this person, but we do have some leads to his identity. When questioned, several members of the Star's Arm named the person responsible for organizing the life support demonstration, an ex-member of their group who calls himself 'Spider.' Team-mate Tork had one of Spider's ammunition cartridges swabbed for fingerprints and DNA traces. These were cross-referenced with Star Law's criminal database, and a match was confirmed. This man known as Spider is known to Star Law as the criminal and technical genius Dakka Syte."

Selson stops short, staring at T'Klkk.

Kare cuts the silence. "You know him?"

There is a pause before Selson speaks. "No. . . No, I don't. But I've seen the news reports. A criminal like Syte could be very dangerous to this type of city. If Dakka Syte is here, he has to be stopped!"

"Those were our intentions," answers Kare. "Dakka may not know that his sabotaged ventilation duct has been discovered. T'Klkk and I were going to set up some kind of trap in the shaft. If you wouldn't mind, we would like to move you out of this office and replace you with a hologram. I don't like the idea of using live bait."

Selson considers the idea. "Yes. Set the trap. Let's get this guy. But I want to stay here. It is essential that we stay in close contact from now on. A saboteur like Dakka will surely try to take every advantage of the automated machinery in First Landing. With my level of authorization, I can control a lot of things from here. You may need my help to capture this kind of criminal."

"We will be in close touch," agrees T'Klkk.

Selson raises a hand as the two ladies get up to leave. "Oh, and. . .uh. . .use the door this time."

No one notices Kare's slight of hand as she retrieves her hidden chronocom.

[Law Enforcement Headquarters, I7 on First Landing Surface Level]

Taanik and Syzygy double-team on the Law Enforcement Department's main database, as Tork, Zane and Urugg prompt them on information to search.

"All right," says Syzygy. "We've created a dossier on everything we could find relevant to Dakka Syte. Place of birth. Unknown. Living relatives. Unknown. Possible aliases. Unknown. Description. Here's something that came through the link to Star Law's database. Human male. Brown hair. Sunken eyes. Arched shoulders. Height: 1 m 87 cm. Weight: 62 kg. Sounds pretty scrawny. Typical computer nerd."

Taanik chimes in. "It looks like Mr. Syte has been convicted of multiple cases of first degree murder, on top of a long list of computer crimes and sabotage. We'd better not take this guy too lightly."

"What about enemies?" asks Urugg. "For example, who was responsible for putting Dakka in prison? Is there a possibility anyone like that could be living here, maybe even under a witness protection program?"

Syzygy's antennae cringe. "Hard to say. If I were to pinpoint a responsible party, I would say either Jecc Weep, the Star Law agent that orchestrated his capture, or these two pilots, Tiberius and Groogash, that assisted in the capture. Jecc Weep now works for the local police department in Port Loren, on the planet Gran Quivera, where he is currently on active duty. I doubt he'd be here. Let's see if we can dig up anything on these two pilots, 'Ty and Groo.'"

"Hey, that's catchy," says Taanik.

"Here we go," resumes Syzygy. "Ty and Groo were recently hired by Pan Galactic Detachment 2551 in the Athor system. The present location of Detachment 2551 is unknown."

"Who else is there?" asks Tork.

"I've looked over the jurors who convicted Dakka," says Syzygy. "All of their locations are confirmed, and none of them live here. The same goes for witnesses used at Dakka's trial. Dakka had an accomplice when he was last captured, but that accomplice is still in prison on Terledrom. If someone else is responsible for Dakka's being sent to prison, it's eluding me. Here's the full account of Dakka's last capture, if anyone's interested."

Click here to view account

"Well," says Urugg, "I'm going to speak with Captain Ap-Harrow to see if she can give us any leads on the tainted Ixiol that caused the Rage outbreak. Everybody coming?"

"Not me," says Syzygy. "I've got something else to look into."

Tork, Zane, Urugg and Taanik pass through a few busy hallways and enter the police captain's large office.

The police captain looks up. "Ah, it's been a while. What can I do for you?"

"Captain," says Urugg. "We're working on the possibility that the Laconian Red Eye may have been introduced to First Landing through a bad batch of Ixiol. We were hoping you may be able to give us information on who may be selling Ixiol, and how they are getting it."

Captain Ap-Harrow's left upper fang bites down hard on her lower lip. "If you're looking for who's selling it, I can help you. If you're looking for how that person gets it, I can't. We are very careful about scanning everything that comes through to this city. Every passenger liner, every freighter, is scoured for illegal drugs--and I'm proud to say that Ixiol is almost inexistant here.

"Yes. I said 'almost.' Let me show you something." The captain brings up a trivid film of a dim section of one of First Landing's recreation areas. Amid the shadows of hundreds of people is a pink and yellow. . .something, giving off light like a New Palian glow worm. The captain zooms in the image, and it can be clearly seen that the glowing entity is a Dralasite, ids skin dyed in fluorescent colors. Heavy jewelry weighs it down."

"Not one for being anonymous," says Zane, noting the obvious.

"That's Miemen," says Captain Ap-Harrow. "Up until now, an unsuccessful vendor. Recently, however, Miemen has gotten ids hands on a small but regular supply of Ixiol, which id is selling on the streets of this recreation area."

"Why hasn't id been apprehended?" asks Tork.

Captain Ap-Harrow shuts down the film. "The degree of security we are using to block Ixiol trafficking onto Metrosphere is enormously thorough. Whoever is getting the stuff here is very clever. Miemen isn't clever."

Tork nods. "So Miemen is just a middle-man."

The police captain nods in turn. "And despite kilometers of surveillance film, we have no idea who is supplying Miemen with ids product."

"Sounds like our kind of challenge," says Taanik with a grin.

Ap-Harrow raises a finger. "I've given you this information under one condition. Don't scare this guy off. If I were to arrest Miemen, Miemen's supplier would just find a new middle-man--and we'd be back where we started. If you spook Miemen, you'll destroy countless hours of delicate police work. Talk to id if you want, but don't go in large numbers, and don't tip id off that you're working in any sort of law enforcement function. Your handling of this case will greatly determine how cooperative our relationship can remain. Is that understood?"

The group of four leave the police captain's office and find Syzygy typing at a computer terminal.

"What are you doing?" demands Tork.

Syzygy jumps a bit at being surprised in the act. "Uh--just handling a few things. . .my way." Syzygy's plan of action has once more fallen out of the circle, and he felt best to keep it quiet. But it is a little late now.

Tork looks over Syzygy's work. "You're publishing an open challenge to Dakka Syte? Is that smart?"

Syzygy shuts off the terminal's monitor. "We've got to get Dakka to surface. This seemed like the best way. I know how computer hackers think. They're arrogant, and they can't resist a challenge. If Dakka sees that a hacker named Syzygy has proclaimed himself Dakkas's superior, then my money says he'll come out of the woodwork to face me."

Urugg sets a hand on Tork's shoulder. "Let it go. What's done is done."

"There's something else," says Syzygy. "I've been using a remote access connection to look through the computer system at the medical center I stayed at. I located the glitch that was causing their in-room movie system not to work."

Taanik perks up, stretching forth ids head. "Really? I looked over all their hardware, and I couldn't see anything out of order."

"It wasn't a hardware problem," explains Syzygy. "The medical center's media retrieval system relies on two interconnected databases: one containing media titles and the other cataloguing cartridges that contain those media titles. For example, twelve cartridges in the second database may point back to a single title in the first database. These two databases do a massive amount of communication with each other, and that communication is regulated by a security protocol that verifies that one database has the correct privileges for changing the other."

Tork shakes his head. "All right. All right. We didn't ask for all this techno-jumble. What was wrong with the system?"

"Someone has made the most minor alterations to this security protocol. It's almost impossible to notice. But a minor side-effect was overlooked that affected the communication between these two databases."

Tork breaks out laughing. "This is a system to play movies. Why do we care?"

"Because I looked through the source control log to see who had made the changes that caused the problem. Every single change to the media retrieval system's source code is documented--every single line noted with the name of the programmer who changed it. . .except eight lines. Eight lines that directly affect security handling of remote access. The changes to those lines are totally unaccounted for. This is the same thing I saw at the Spire when I was having problems with their personnel management program."

Tork stops laughing.

[East Life Support Building, K9 on First Landing Surface Level]

Kare and T'Klkk examine the sabotaged ventilation panel, the one that covers the shaft leading to Selson Streel's office.

"Are you sure this area looks exactly the way it did when you first saw it?" asks T'Klkk. "We don't want to scare Mr. Syte away."

"This is just the way it was when I first came here."

"Excellent. Now, team-mate Kare, what type of trap did you have in mind?"

[Crayman Heit's Home, Residential Section, L10 on Underground Level]

Crayman Heit answers his front door. "We're not intereste--" Recognizing Tork and Zane's faces, he stops short. "Oh, it's you."

"This is our associate, Urugg," explains Tork. "Is it possible for us to speak with Loer An-Tehr again?"

Crayman looks and smells like he has hit the Yazirian ale a little too hard.

"Let me go ask her if she's here."

Crayman disappears and is shortly replaced by Loer.

She looks carefully both ways down the hall and nods to Tork, Zane and Urugg.

"Come on in."

"Thank you for agreeing to see us again," says Tork.

Loer relaxes visibly. "You're welcome. Mr. Urugg sur-Innesti," continues the female Yazirian, "I have heard about you and your activity in environmentally conscious groups on Hargut. Now, what have you come to talk to me about?"

[Recreation Area, C7 on First Landing Underground Level]

This area of the residential section doesn't look too inviting. Smoke and dim lighting obscur the view, and flickering neon lights over every doorway compete for customers. Glowing signs all over the place remind passers through that this area is off-limits to the under-aged.

Syzygy looks one last time over Taanik's disguise. Makeup has been used to yellow the flesh around the Dralasite's eyes, suggesting heavy Ixiol use. Ids skin has been dyed drab green to express a depressed state of mind--a common practice among Dralasites native to Inner Reach.

"Here's your new identity," says Syzygy, handing Taanik a forged ID card. "I'll be watching your back from a distance. Now, go buy us some Ixiol."

It only takes minutes of wandering before Taanik notices a fluorescent pink and yellow Dralasite draped with gleaming jewelry. The Dralasite's fluorescent skin glows powerfully in the dark lighting. Ap-Harrow was right. Miemen couldn't be too bright if he was parading out in public like this.

"Miemen," calls out Taanik in a faked raspy voice. "I want to talk to you."

[Taanik PERSONALITY: 70 - 0 (racial modifier) = 70; Rolled: 71]

Miemen waves Taanik away. "Don't bodder me kid. I godda business ta run."