********************************************************************** Surprise! Yet another chapter. Anyway, despite what earlier submissions say, this is now part of the Rigadaz Quintology. Engjoy the last chapter of three.

Chapter Nine
“Igor Rigadaz, welcome to the Abyss. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Admiral Qeril Narhhett, commanding officer of the U.E.S. Incontrovertible.” I stared at the old man. He had long gray hair and brown eyes that had a lot of fire and life behind his otherwise Cadaverous frame.
“I knew your parents, before they died a few days ago. They were assassinated, but it’s a long story, I will tell you about it later. Your brothers have taken your parent’s positions in the Triad, and when you are well enough, I will give you my position.” Qeril explained.
“The Abyss?” I asked slowly.
“Yes. I have spent the last 21 years here. As far as I have been able to determine, it can only be reached through a ship explosion. Something about the nitrogen in air impacting so quickly with the components of hyperspace fuel. It opens up another dimension. The first inhabitants of the Abyss were the Voinians,” he shuddered at the mention of the alien race’s name, “They eventually ended up destroying each other in civil war. When the Incontrovertible arrived, your parents and I started a form of government in the otherwise chaotic Abyss. It was called the Triad.” Narhhett continued on.
“Wait a moment, you said twenty-one years? That’s not possible. The Incontrovertible has only been here for seven years. It was destroyed fighting against the Deception.” The surprises were coming far to fast for me.
“I’ll get back to that in a moment. As I was saying, The Triad controls all here. As the name suggests, there are three leaders. Your parents and I were the first generation and now you and your brothers will be the second. Now to your your question. As you are probably aware, your mother hated any source of confinement. Being trapped in the Abyss was not acceptable to her. She worked day and night for several years until she finally discovered a way out. We used the Incontrovertible to aid people who were down on their luck, or people who just obviously needed assistance. You and your brothers were among that list,” Narhhett continued his long explanation. ”After several explosions we finally decided to give it up. We were obviously meant to remain here. Now I am the only one who knows the way back to reality, and I wont reveal that secret to anyone.”
“How is my wife doing? Did she survive the destruction of the Banana Boat,” I asked nervously.
“Yes, in fact, your wife is in much better shape than you are. However, I must point out that your ship has not been destroyed. It is right over there,” he said pointing out the window, “At the main spaceport facility of the planet Oblivia, capital of the Triad.”
“Tell me how my parents died. this may hurt me, but I need to know the truth about this subject,” I asked, pain seeping through my voice.
Qeril blinked his eyes quickly, and then responded, “They lived in one of the three palaces on our world. High governmental officials were the only people allowed near the homes of Triad members. A force of unidentified commandos evaded palace security and captured your parents. They took them to an unknown location and tortured them for four days straight, searching for information, probably the way out of the Abyss. When your parents resisted interrogation, they were killed, execution style.”
“Well, we must find these commando’s then, so that they can pay. If I had only been able to see my parents one last time, I could have...” I started to sob slowly to myself.
“On to a lighter note, the Abyss has outgrown it’s disordered beginning and is now a fully productive system of worlds. Three years ago, the first birth occurred here. Valentino Amerstad was conceived outside of the Abyss, but was unfortunate enough to have been born here, after his parent’s space yacht was destroyed by renegades above the world of Pareen. Before then, people were worried about bringing children into such a miserable life. Now, culturally, we are almost on the same level as Earth.” Admiral Narhhett was really making a concerted effort to lessen my pain by distracting me.
“Your brothers and wife would like to see you, so I will let them visit you now.” Qeril got up from his chair and walked out of the room.
After his exit, Sarah, Adam, and Zach walked in. Their mood seemed a little somber, but they were happy to see me. “How are you doing, dear,” Sarah asked, “You’ve been unconscious for a few days now. The doctors expect a full recovery within the week. Your ship is in a fairly good condition, but most of the bridge appears to be scorched. It’s going to take a while before we can fix it, probably a month, maybe two.”
That’s okay Sarah,” I told her, a small grin returning to my face, “The important thing is that you're here with me. No one can take that away from us.”
“How does it feel to know that within a few short weeks, we will all be leaders of the Triad. I’m hoping our reign will bring peace and prosperity to this once desolate place.” Zach was babbling, but at least he was in a good mood.
In nodded in agreement with his words. My brothers and I, the Rigadaz triplets, were going to lead a galaxy to hope. Everything
would be perfect.
********************************************************************** I can tell right now that a lot of people do not like my ending. All I can say is go along with it. It is fiction. More pointedly, has anyone ever seen debris in EV or EVO? didn't think so...
Okay, I'm a now close to being done with the second story, Abyss, and it should appear within a few months. Look forward to it!

(This message has been edited by moderator (edited 08-28-2001).)