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Revealing Information

Finding One's True Self: Part 43

By Xan Steel

Armatist Torid was at home sleeping when he received an encoded message at 0200 hours. He turned over in bed to review it and noticed who it was from. He started to get up when his mate's, a Derlenian female, handpaw touched his arm. "Sweetie, don't leave. It's our first night together in a cycle." Her voice was soft and sweet while gently pleaded with him.

Torid leaned over to her and kissed her softly, "I'm sorry Cartina, but this one is important," he said.

She gave a light huff of disappointment, "It's always important," she said turning her back to him.

Torid stopped in mid-dress and looked at her with a sad expression, as his ears folded back. He wanted to stay with her, but he had been waiting to hear from this individual since he started playing the 'helpful' role of working with these shadow people. He finished getting dressed and then went to her side of the bed, and knelt down next to her. He gently caressed her cheek as she looked at him, and return a similar caress. "I love you Cartina, but you know the oath I took."

She cut in, "I know, and I'm sorry. We just don't get to see each other much with our work keeping us apart."

Torid looked at her for a moment before he spoke, "Then come with me as I don't know how long I will be, but, we could watch the suns rise together," he replied.

Cartina smiled at him and then leaned in to nuzzle him softly, as she got up and started to get dressed.

They left home in their personal transport and headed out to the east side of town, only after getting to that point that Torid looked down at his Nav-console to see an updated location. A small island off the coast of Ruinta in the east. Torid took the Highway out of the city, knowing it would reach the shoreline in an hour. Cartina watched as the scenery blurred by under the light of a full orange moon. She gently placed her handpaw on his lap as, he, in turn, put his on top of hers. Today was the only day off they got together, and he wanted to make the best of it.

However, Ladren, his most experienced agent was the one that had contacted him. Stating he had finished the mission, and found some startling information, and needed to inform him in person as soon as possible.

Upon arriving at the small port near the beach, Torid parked the transport. Cartina turned to look at Torid and spoke, "Are we actually going to Ruinta Island?"

He nodded to her, "Yes we are as that is where I have to meet Ladren. Though if I'm honest, I had planned to bring you out here for the day, since I know it has been some time since we were last here," he replied.

"That would have been when you took me as your mate Sweetie. Thirty cycles ago," she added with a smile and leaned down to kiss him.

He smiled and gently put a finger to her forehead, "I wondered why this place had been on my mind lately. You've been hinting, haven't you?" his tone while happy, was alluding to her telepathically implanting the thought in his mind, as she nodded and smiled in return.

---

They took the ferry across the channel and by the time they reached the other side, it was 0400. Torid guided his mate off the vessel and down to the information and tourist office there on the island. They looked at the schedule for the day and noticed a few things that peaked their interest. After they planned the rest of the day Ladren, another Ryconian, approached them inside the office and asked if he could borrow Torid for a bit. Cartina leaned down and kissed Torid on the forehead, "Don't have too much fun without me," she said with a gentle smile.

Torid smiled back, "My line of work is never fun dear heart," as he returned the kiss and left with Ladren.

Cartina walked outside with them and then let them part ways with her for a while. Her handbag began to vibrate as she waited for them to leave, and once they were out of sight, she pulled out a small comm device and looked at the screen. Upon seeing the communications protocol, she called it back.

A male voice answered, "Cartina."

She angrily cut him off, "It's my day off Fariden!"

"I know, and I'm sorry, but I wanted you to know that Julyna's ship has encountered another ship of unknown origin," Fariden replied.

She paused briefly, "Friend or Foe?" Her tone denoting mild curiosity.

"It's not made contact, and it's on an intercept course at a high rate of speed, and the Kestrel has taken evasive action," he answered.

She sighed heavily, "Likely a foe then, what of E'Lum?"

"We had his family executed, do you really think he would be willing to help us with information on this?" Fariden answered in a sarcastic tone.

"Right, likely a stupid move on our part. Any other allies in the region?" She asked.

She heard a tapping sound which told her that he was looking up the information. "Surprisingly, yes. I'll have them get over there and observe for now. Now on to the matter of Altair," He began when Cartina cut him off with an angry tone.

"Fariden, it's my day off, so handle it, or wait until I return. Clear?"

"Yes Ma'am," he said.

Cartina disconnected the communication and put the device back into her handbag, then went to a small gazebo to sit and wait for Torid to return.

---

Once Ladren felt that he and Torid were out of earshot of others he began his report. "Sir, thank you for seeing me on such short notice." Torid nodded to him as he continued. "I know you are aware that the progenitor is onboard the Kestrel, but I've discovered that he is mated to three Derlenian's, Julyna, Altair, and Lady Iris." He paused there for a moment to gage Torid's reactions. When he didn't see a change, he continued. "Apparently, he also had two younglings with Lady Iris and Dr. Mortora," Ladren added and saw a shocked look come over Torid.

Torid began making connections from what he knew, "So it would appear that this progenitor is also a genetic evolution of the Sylurian species. Which means they are not native to this galaxy at all, but a native of the Fayriden galaxy." Ladren could see the gears turning in Torid mind.

"Does that bother you, Sir?" Ladren asked.

"No, but it does bring to mind why the Sylurian government would deny their own history and scientific facts," Torid said before continuing. "Did you find anything about the offspring?"

Ladren nodded, "Neither one survived, and in the case of Dr. Mortora, she died during her egg laying," he replied.

This surprised Torid a lot until he remembered what the Sylurian shadow mentioned about a virus. "I take it she died of a virus?" he asked.

"Yes, but the interesting fact I've discovered is, that this virus was genetically engineered, and the Sylurian race was its first test bed," Ladren explained.

The look on Torid's face and muzzle told him everything with his voice filled with nervous confusion, "Wait, test bed?"

"Yes, according to one source of information I came across. This virus was developed to remove the unwanted in all societies and races in our galaxy. However, it turned out to be much deadlier than it was originally designed to be, and the scientists that created it abandoned it, and destroyed all traces of the virus."

Torid cut, "Or so they thought."

"Right. Someone, and I'm guessing this individual was a part of the original team of scientists, didn't destroy all of it." Ladren replied.

"Any ideas as to who this person was?" Torid asked as there was an unusually long pause from Ladren.

Ladren hung his head as Torid watched his ears fold back entirely as he quietly spoke, "Dr. Maynar Graphra." Ladren watched as Torid immediately turned to look at him, and spoke before Torid did, "However, that doesn't mean he is the cause of the Sylurian outbreak."

Saying that forced Torid to think more objectively before he spoke, "I guess I should ask what he would have to gain by having such a threat to life in this galaxy." Torid said thinking aloud.

Ladren looked at him full on, "Nothing. From what I've been able to gather from a different number of sources, it's on lockdown on his station, with only one being having access to it at all."

Torid's head cocked to the side in a questioning look, "The GrandMaster?" He watched as Ladren nodded. "But what would he have to gain in this?" Torid asked.

Ladren spoke again, "The progenitor." He watched Torid's look of confusion return before continuing, "According to my source, the GrandMaster is taking the progenitor from the Alliance because they are deeply connected in some way, but no one knows how or why. Do you remember the incident on Travaina IV?" Ladren suddenly asked.

Torid nodded, "Yes, but that was nineteen cycles ago how does it have any bearing now?" Ladren handed him a small device that had a video recording on it.

"This was recorded almost twenty-four hours later after the incident went public."

Torid watched the video of a room with Julyna and a black male Derlenian sitting in a holographic construct transfer chair as the video continued to play.

---

Julyna stood in front of Rubicant. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Nervous and a bit scared," Rubicant replied.

Julyna smiled at him as she knelt down in front of him. "That means you're still normal."

He gave a light uneasy laugh. "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

They suddenly started hearing alarms going off on the console in the other room. Altair burst through the small office door, "UNPLUG HIM NOW!" Just as he finished, Rubicant screamed out in pain as his body began to convulse like it was being electrocuted. Julyna rushed to grab the plug just as it shot out of him, as his body went limp in the chair.

Julyna came back around the front of him, and gently grabbed his muzzle and lightly patted him. "Rubi? Rubi wake up sweetie! Damn it, Altair what happened?" She looked at him.

"The system power surged when he tried to bypass a level twelve security measure," he said.

"Level twelve?" she said astonished, while Altair looked at her making sure she understood what he was talking about as her eyes went wide.

Rubicant's body sat straight up, and his eyes glowed as it spoke in a deep male computerized voice. "Warning primary functions offline, Rerouting to secondary functions!" It paused briefly. "Warning secondary functions not responding! Switching to Core Mode, running self-diagnostics!" it finished.

Ohm and Juren came into the room at this point to see if everything was okay. Unfortunately, it wasn't. "What's happening?" Ohm asked.

"The unit he's using has been damaged, and is currently running self-diagnostics," Julyna replied. She was pissed, and walked over to Juren and pushed him up against the wall. "What did you trigger?!?" she yelled.

"Nothing that isn't standard procedure. Look I don't know who made this unit, but it's not a Mark II. This is a custom unit. I don't know anyone with a level twelve clearance. Do you?" He finished as Julyna relaxed off of him. She understood Altair's look now. There was only one individual in the galaxy that had that clearance.

"Initiating repair procedures, the unit will reboot into Core Mode and begin repairs in five minutes!" The Unit said.

"WAIT! YOU CAN'T REBOOT!" Juren yelled.

"Why, what will happen?" Ohm asked calmly.

He turned with a very grave look on his face. "It will kill him with him still anchored to the unit." Everyone was silent. Julyna fell to her knees as she began to weep. She was about to lose someone she loved dearly, and after she just finished helping him become whole again.

"Warning, Primary Consciousness detected. Encapsulation required for survival!" Rubicant's head turned and looked at Altair. "Connecting to Alliance network! Rank! Admiral! Name! Altair! You possess the skill that is required!"

Altair knew what it was asking. "Inquiry. How long will repairs take?"

"Repair process will take seven standard hours!" It responded.

"That's longer than I'm able to keep him encapsulated on my own." Altair softly said.

Rubicant's head turned to look at Ohm. "You have several Derlenian on staff that can transfer their energy to him! A list has been sent, have chairs and cots waiting for them!" It said.

Ohm began to protest. "Now wait a minute,"

The Unit interrupted him, "This Consciousness is more important than all life in this galaxy! As of right now until repairs have been completed, and the consciousness returned to the unit! All laws and orders are now rescinded, by order of the GrandMaster!"

---

Torid stood there stunned beyond words for a moment as he handed the device back to Ladren. It took him a few moments to gather his thoughts, after which Torid spoke softly, his tone in disbelief, "I never knew that the GrandMaster had that level of power."

Ladren spoke quietly, "He has full power and authority over all the governments, not just the Alliance. I pulled up as much information as I could. According to the Galactic Foundation, which if you remember the Alliance is a part of, all governments agreed to let any GrandMaster have full authority and control over them, and act as a final say in any galactic dispute that the governments themselves could not resolve. This happened six hundred cycles ago. In this case with the virus, he is capable of having one person hold any sample indefinitely." Ladren finished.

Torid spoke in a questioning tone, "But that still doesn't connect with how the Sylurian government had it spreading through their people. It would only make sense if someone else had a sample laying around somewhere. Elsewise, it puts the blame squarely on the GrandMaster for releasing this virus on them, which I don't see happening."

"Another thought would be that someone had already injected the virus into many Sylurian's before the project was abandoned completely," Ladren added as Torid gave him a questioning look, only to have Ladren shake his head.

Ladren spoke again, "I've also come across some unique information, that is related to the progenitor."

"I'm not sure how much more of this I can handle right now." Torid's voice sounded exasperated and tired.

Ladren continued, "I am, however, unsure what to make of this information. According to one source, it seems as though Derlenian females are Awakening." Torid looked at him, again with another confused and questioning look as he had never heard of this before, as Ladren continued. "I'm not surprised you've never heard of this before, and I only found small bits of information on the subject itself, but apparently this Awakening can happen with both males and females of the species. It's an intense telepathic release that in some cases can either be helpful, or deadly." Ladren paused there for a moment when Torid cut in.

"Just how intense are we talking about here?" Torid questioned.

"Of the two incidences, to either violently erase someone's mind, or to bring a mate back from the dead. Little more is fully known, but, and as much as I know you hate dealing with rumor and heresy. According to one ancient legend, a fully Awakened Derlenian can shape reality to their liking. Again, it's only a legend with no facts or records backing up this claim. This completes my report Sir." Ladren finished as Torid asked which females had Awakened, as he wanted to talk with them. When Ladren told him, Torid shook his head, as he would only be able to talk with one of them.

Cartina was still sitting in the gazebo when she saw Torid approach her, and noticed that he had returned before the twin suns began to rise. She didn't sense anything wrong with him but noticed he had a small bouquet of flowers for her. "Everything all right Dear?"

Torid smiled pleasingly at her and handed her the flowers, "With you, everything is perfect."

She giggled softly, "You old flirt," she said as she got up to walk with him to the other side of the island to watch the suns rise.

Torid took her to the place where they first met and saw that they were alone. They sat in the sand together with Torid between her legs and gently leaning against her, and slowly watched as the suns began to crest over the Brine's edge. She felt him grasp her arms a bit more an cuddled into her as she in turn gently tighten her embrace. Once both suns fully rose above the Brine, she began to feel him lick under her chin and neck.

"Sweetie, we're in public," she said quietly.

"I choose our old spot because it's secluded," he replied as he gently nipped at her neck.

He turned around and removed his top, as she got a whiff of his scent. She enjoyed his scent very much, and followed his lead, and lifted her blouse off revealing her breasts to him, and then pulled him in.

It didn't take long for the rest of the cloths to be removed as he mated with her there on the shore. Out of all the males, Cartina had been with both during their mateship, and before. Torid was the only one that could ever fully satisfy her desires without any guidance from her. To her, it made him magical. Even though he had given her permission in the use of escort services when they were apart, none of them ever compared to him.

They laid there together basking in the warmth of the suns after he had pulled out and marked her body with his seed. Torid softly spoke, "I wish we could have a family, you know."

"I know, but our careers keep us apart too much, and we both agreed that won't be a good life for a youngling to grow up in," she softly replied as he nodded.

Torid spoke after a minute of cuddling with her, "Have you ever wondered if you made the right career choice?" he asked while leaning back a bit to look at her.

She answered him in a caring and sincere tone while gently caressing his cheek, "Everyday sweetie. Everyday."

The rest of their day was spent enjoying the island and all the amenities it offered.