Chapter 4

“That’s impossible!” Waitstate shouted. He searched the ship’s databanks himself looking for a possible answer to their dilemma. “Somehow the basic key locks on the consoles have been activated. It’ll take a minute to undo them.”

“Try 10 seconds!” Admiral Lilwall shouted.

“Hold on, look over there!” Cirrus said pointing at the view screen.

A small ship flew from the corner of the screen.

“What’s it doing?” Waitstate asked.

Before anyone could answer, the shuttle fired a vast array of visible energy. It took a few second for the ship’s sensors to identify the readings.

“Now how did it do that?” Lilwall asked perplexed.

“Who cares, it just saved us!” Roadkill shouted.

The oncoming shuttles were turned away, narrowly missing the hull of the Freedom. It was not enough to send them back to the Doom Gaze, but the LSS Freedom was assured its safety.

“I’ve unlocked the weapon’s console. Fire!” Waitstate ordered.

A barrage of weapons fired pushed the Doom Gaze away. The Spectral Death ship was using most of its energy just to maneuver the ship. The counter assault was weak; it wasn’t long before the Doom Gaze eventually left the area.

“Waitstate, the shuttle is sending a transmission, but I can barely make it out” Roadkill reported.

“Do your best” Waistate replied.

“Considering I just saved your hides, I’d like permission to dock” announced a voice from the shuttle.

“Why don’t you show yourself?” Waitstate asked.

“My comm system is damaged. I spend most of my time working on weapons systems. I think you can agree it’s not a wasted effort” replied the voice.

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Gravix met Waitstate as he was leaving the bridge. “What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure yet. Come with me and we’ll find out” Waitstate replied.

“There must have been a glitch when we overhauled the security system a few months ago. Our systems began running the basic auto-locks we use on the consoles when they’re not in use” Waitstate told Gravix.

Gravix nodded. “Sounds like an odd occurrence. I hope you keep in mind that even the slightest problem can have a major cause.”

“I’m taking all precautions necessary. First thing’s first though, we’ve gotta figure out who has been helping us” Waitstate replied.

Gravix nodded again. “Perhaps then I will be allowed to return to my efforts in deciphering the Book.”

“I must admit I’m a bit skeptical about this book of yours” Waitstate said.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll soon have the proof I need” Gravix said assuredly.

Waitstate was still curious. He wasn’t sure of Gravix’s claims about the Book, but Spectral Death’s possible interest in it was enough to allow a continued investigation. “Do you still think Spectral Death is still after it?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure,” Gravix replied. “Xaraxus was a power hungry troll, I doubt he’d allow even his closest companions know of the Book’s potential power. With Xaraxus gone, I doubt they have any reason left to go after it, they aren’t really from the Cult after all.”

“Seems you know a lot about the Cult of Mordalis and Spectral Death. I’d like to hear more after we see our visitor” Waitstate responded.

Gravix and Waitstate met up with Recoil at the docking bay. Recoil opened up the bay doors and drew his weapons.

Waitstate activated his comm unit. “This is Waitstate to the bridge, open the external docking bay doors.”

With his command, the doors slowly opened. A rather flimsy looking ship entered the docking bay and landed in an empty area.

“This is the ship you proclaim saved you?” Recoil asked.

“Appearances can mean very little” Gravix responded.

The shuttle slowly opened. Exhaust from the hydraulics lowering the ramp created a thick cloud of smoke. It was increasingly obvious that the ship was on its last leg.

A shadow slowly started to form, and eventually a figure appeared.

The figure spoke. “I know you’ve just gone through the unusual procedure of seeing someone from your past arrive to join LONAC, but I thought it could use a repeat performance.”

Waitstate stood in a moment of silence. He could hardly comprehend what he was seeing as real. “Don’t worry about it - Artifice.”