"S.S. Floveria, this is the New Istanbul traffic control. You are
cleared to land to the Docking platform D-08. Prepare to enter the
atmosphere." With a slight burst from its engines, the clipper entered
the Docking Bay D. Making a sudden curve, the ship was soon landed,
lying on the platform. Its captain, Demora Chimar, walked out of the
ship.
She looked around for a while, and after giving some orders to the
Spaceport crew, she decided to go to the bar. After she had entered, the
door closed itself, trying to say something about the bar, but managing
only mumble something indefinite, since a freighter captain once got
sick of the sound and 'fixed' it. And because nobody bothered to repair
it, Demora couldn't make out what it was trying to say. And she didn't
bother to find out. She had other business.
The New Istanbul Spaceport bar was dark and dingy, like it always was,
but Demora knew that something was wrong. Maybe she knew it from the
atmosphere, or her instinct warned her, but whatever it was, wasn't
important. However, important was that when she entered the bar, she was
wary. Which probably saved her life.
As she looked around, she didn't first see anything out of ordinary.
Then her eyes turned into a figure sitting in one of the corners. He
wore a long robe, and Demora couldn't see his face under it. She was a
common sight in the New Istanbul spaceport bar, but she had never seen
such a figure before. But soon she forgot the figure, since she saw
another man. He was Albert McRivan, Demora's old friend, and the most
skilled searcher of rare items she was ever likely to meet."Hey, you old
weapon smuggler, how you're doing?" Demora greeted. "Well well, if it
ain't Captain Demora", Albert said, "the best liar in this side of the
galaxy." Demora came closer, whispering to Albert's ear. "You have some
new toys for me to play with?" she asked. Smiling, Albert pushed Demora
back. "Well, not exactly. I have a couple of Mass Drivers, though, but
they are too heavy for your ship, I guess." "I'm afraid that's how it
is." Demora replied, as her eyes turned into a piece of rock on the
table.
"Hey, what is that?" Demora asked. "I purchased it from Pegasos.
Beautiful, isn't it?", he asked holding the stone in his hand. "Yes.
Very beautiful." Demora said, looking at the beautiful shining. "But
what is it?" she asked. "I don't know yet." Albert said. "Yet I do
know." a voice interrupted. When Demora turned to see the one who spoke,
she realized that he was the cloaked figure she had seen in the
corner."It is a piece of a Nary-Crystal, a very rare and valuable
mineral, since it is not originally from Pegasus. It appeared to Pegasus
through a unique chain of circumstances." "And who are you, and why do
you interrupt us?" Demora asked a bit angrily. "My name is not
important, and my reasons are my own. I spoke to you mainly to warn you
about this crystal. It might look handsome, but it owns many unknown
powers which could not be controlledÉ" He was stopped by an explosion
near the door. Suddenly six soldiers burst in through the hole where the
door had stood a few seconds ago, while the panicked customers escaped.
"There, grab him!" their leader cried, pointing Albert. "Don't move!"
Demora and Albert stared confused at him, while the soldiers prepared to
fire.
But they never got a chance.
The mysterious cloaked figure stroke one of the soldiers down with his
crystal-made sword. Demora didn't see where he had taken the sword, but
she guessed it had been under his cloak. Albert took the soldier's
weapon, which now was fallen on the floor. Demora finally recovered from
her confusion, and attacked another soldier. She gave a fine kick into
his right foot, but the soldier only seemed to get more angry. He
grabbed her, crushing her painfully. For a moment Demora and the soldier
fought, equal in strength, but then Demora managed to free her right
arm, and she jammed it right between soldier's eyes. The soldier fell
down, unconscious. Then she turned around, and saw that only two
soldiers were remaining. With a quick shot from his gun, Albert fried
one of them. The remaining one tried to run away, but with a mighty
stroke of his sword, the cloaked figure stopped him. The battle was
over.
"What were they up to?" Demora asked. "I don't know. Maybe they wanted
the Mass Drivers." Albert suggested. "Or perhaps they wanted the
Crystal." Their mysterious defender said. "Oh, stop it!" Demora said
angrily. "It's just a crystal. Why would anyone want it so much that he
would be ready to kill somebody?""I am afraid that you will discover
that. Sooner than you wish." he bowed. "Well then, until we meet again,
Demora Chimar." The mysterious figure turned to leave. "Hey! What is
your name? Where can I find you?" Demora asked. The figure turned. "I am
called Ankh Starrunner. And you will find meÉ out thereÉ" He raised his
hand pointing up to the sky. Then he turned and walked away, leaving
Demora and Albert to the empty bar. A long time had already passed, when
she began to wonder how Ankh Starrunner had known her name.
S.S. Floveria was on its way through the Trugati Asteroid Belt. Demora
Chimar stood in the cockpit, piloting her ship. She made swift move,
avoiding hitting an asteroid just in time. She loved the game. She flew
towards an asteroid, firing it with her proton cannons. Just when S.S.
Floveria was hitting into it, the proton shots blew the asteroid into
small pieces, and S.S. Floveria flew through the explosion. Then, a
voice called Demora. "What is it?" Demora asked. "I think you should
come to the bridge, captain." She gave a sigh and and walked to the
elevator which then moved up to the bridge.
"Now what's wrong?" Demora asked angrily. "I'm picking strange signals,
captain", The sensor operator answered. "But they seem to be coming out
of nowhere!" "What sort of signals?" "The rate of interference is too
high. The computer doesn't understand a thing." Then the operator looked
again the sensor readings. "Captain! I've-" A huge explosion waved the
ship, throwing the operator out of his chair. Suddenly a siren started
to scream."What the hell was that?" Demora cried over the noise."I don't
know! The computer's gone crazy!" Demora's first officer cried. "Visual
picture, then!" Demora cried in alarm. "Can't get it! The computer
doesn't allow!" Sensor operator said. "Do we have any records of the
moment?" Demora almost yelled. "It's coming here", First officer said.
"Look at the main screen!" Demora gave a gasp of astonishment.
"What the hell is that?" She asked, coming closer.
The screen showed a single picture of a red-black ship. It looked
strange. "Zoom in, for God's sake, zoom in!" Demora cried. Little by
little, the ship's picture grew. "Oh my god!" Demora groaned. "Cockpit
screen! Now!" She cried. "Coming now, captain!" Sensor operator said. It
showed the ship, far away. She was feeling relieved, until she saw it.
It was a red ball, nearing them with an astonishing speed. It came
closerÉ and closerÉ
But it never hit them.
A gray ship flew into its flight-path, Demora saw a blue flash, and the
red ball was gone. The red ship was already out of view, out of their
reach. The gray ship came closer, nearing S.S. Floveria. "Open our
airlock." Demora ordered. The gray ship flew behind S.S. Floveria,
preparing to enter it. Demora ran into the airlock, Just in time to
watch its gentle landing. The ship was quite small, but she had never
seen such a fighter before. It was a fighter, though- a small gray hull
with two wings and engine core. Under the cockpit there was five
strange-looking cannons. On the top of the ship there was a small
turret-looking thing- quite small, and clearly not a proton or laser
turret. Demora wondered what it was, but she decided first to try
finding a clue about the vessel's origin. She looked and looked, until
she saw a big picture of a shield in the ship's hull. "StrangeÉ" She
said to herself.
Then the a door on the ship's hull opened, and a tall figure walked
down.
"And so we meet again, Demora ChimarÉ" Said Ankh Starrunner's voice.
