Fan Fiction ❯ Game Over [FFC] ❯ Everything Has a Price ( Chapter 3 )

Game Over

By Time Lady

Chapter 3

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This is an original story belonging entirely to me. Please do not copy or reproduce without my written permission. Copyright Time Lady/Hali Denenberg.

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Old Nodnol was a sharp contrast to New Nodnol. Antique brick and wood buildings lined paved streets. Much of it had been restored after Sol War II for its historical value. The crew followed the Professor's map, trying to find the place the creature was last seen. They passed by a building where workers were still on the sight. One of them dipped a brush into a can, then stroked the brush on the wall. Paint, thought Tegan. Wet paint. A plan sprang to mind. She approached the painters, gesturing for the others to wait.

"Excuse me sir," she said, flashing a winning smile. The painter stopped and looked at her. He politely tipped his cap.

"Can I help you miss?" he asked.

"I was wondering where I could purchase a can of paint," said Tegan.

"Well, miss, you can only get paint through restoration companies. All new construction on Reath uses solid color structures." He thought for a moment. "I could sell you one of my cans for say, fifty galacs."

Fifty galacs! "That's a little more than I can spend. Maybe I could just buy a cup of paint and an empty can? It doesn't matter what color paint."

The painter paused. "If color doesn't matter, I have something you might be able to use." He walked over and picked up a large covered can. "One of my new guys thought he could save time and effort on hauling cans with a little paint in them by combining all of them into one big can. Unfortunately, he combined several different colors. We have this can of useless paint. To recycle it and get the color taken out would cost me twenty galacs plus a lot of paperwork." He opened the can and showed her the paint. Vomit brown was the best name Tegan could think of for the color. "I could sell this to you for ten galacs," offered the painter.

The price was a steal. Tegan handed the man a ten galac note. The painter handed Tegan the can. By Murphy, the can was heavier than it looked. Too bad this isn't a computer game, she thought with a laugh. Then she could just stick the can in some mysterious pocket and not have to worry about it until she needed it. Tegan thanked the painter and returned to the others. "Okay, I have an idea," she told them.

A few blocks later, Tegan set the paint can down. Her hand ached. Turning around to get her bearings, she noticed a huge blue box exactly like the one the Professor described, down to the red light on top. "We're on the right track," said Tegan. Nearby she saw a strangely painted wall. Adrienne picked up the can and went to examine the wall. Across the wall was a bare streak about a meter wide. The creature must have dissolved the paint right down to the bare wall.

"It looks like the creature doubled back," observed Dell. "We should split up."

"Agreed," replied Tegan. "You head that way. Adrienne and I will head the other."

Several blocks down the street Tegan and Adrienne came to several solid brick buildings that had never been painted. They were about to double back when she noticed the streak was twice as wide on the last painted wall. Following the wide streak brought them to a juncture between two buildings. The space was as wide as a hand. Looking through the space, Tegan could see the streak continued to the end of the building. The two women circled the block to the other side and picked up the creature's trail again. The trail continued down the street along a painted fence. Suddenly the streak ended. Tegan stared at the fence and contemplated her options.

Suddenly the streak appeared to move. Was that where the creature was? Adrienne moved closer to the fence. A thin, white blob was on the white fence. It moved after a minute to a fresh spot of paint, leaving bare wood behind it. "I think we found it," said Adrienne.

"Give me the can." Tegan pulled a utility knife out of her equipment bag and pried open the lid of the can. About a meter ahead of the creature she splashed some of the brown paint onto the fence, making sure the paint dripped down to the ground. Then she poured a stream on the ground to lead the creature away from the fence. Finally Tegan set the can down at the edge of the stream of paint. A long, heavy drip of paint showed a path to the inside of the can where a quarter of the paint remained.

Now they watched and waited. The creature slowly oozed toward the wet paint. As the creature began to absorb the brown paint, it also turned brown. It followed the trail of wet paint without missing a drop. Tegan held her breath as the creature oozed into the can of paint and gurgled happily. She slammed the lid onto the can and made sure it was tight. Adrienne picked up the can triumphantly. "Call Dell on the com-link," said Tegan. "Tell him to meet us at the Tinu Café."

A new man waited outside the Tinu Cafe. He hardly looked like a bouncer. The guy looked like someone could snap him in two. Adrienne assumed the man was waiting for someone. He stopped them at the door. "May I ask what you have in the can, miss?" asked the man. Okay. Maybe he was standing in while the bouncer took a break.

"It's something the Professor asked me to bring him," replied Tegan. Looking around, she saw no sign of Dell.

At the mention of the Professor, the man nodded. "You can go in."

"Wait here for Dell," said Tegan. The first mate nodded. With paint can in hand, Tegan entered the Tinu Café and walked directly to the table the Professor was at earlier. A young woman had joined the Professor and his friend Alistair. Probably the assistant he mentioned earlier.

"I'm sorry Professor," said the woman. "I can't find it anywhere."

"Is this what you are looking for?" asked Tegan. She held up the can and shook it. The creature inside squeaked in protest.

"Thank you Captain Caprivi," said the Professor as he took the can. "I hope this didn't cause much damage."

Tegan grimaced. "Unfortunately it did." She told the Professor what they had seen. He shook his head.

"At least it didn't reach the museum." The Professor turned to his assistant. "You, young lady, will return to the ship and wait for us while we finish some business with Captain Caprivi."

"But…," his assistant protested.

"No buts. I am furious with you. Now go!" The young woman unwillingly obeyed. The Professor turned to Tegan.

"You were asking me about the star stone," he said. Tegan nodded.

"First I should warn you," began the Professor. "The reason the star stone is so deeply shrouded in legend is that so few have survived the search. Still fewer have survived the taking. Do you still wish to pursue this adventure?"

"We don't have much choice," admitted Tegan. "Innocent lives are at stake, not just ours." There was also the matter of a certain bet, but Tegan was keeping that to herself.

"Very well. From what you have told me, I know you are headed in the right direction. There is a poem associated with the star stone legends that might be helpful." The Professor began to recite.

"World of fire,

World of ice,

World that is paradise,

World of wind,

World of rock,

Four keys and doors to unlock.

Find the keys,

Open the doors,

The power of the stars will then be yours."

The Professor paused to catch his breath before continuing. "You must find all four keys before you can obtain the star stone. Each of the keys opens a door to the star stone. But beware. Beings and creatures of great power guard the keys and doors. Only great cunning and resourcefulness will get you through."

"What kinds of guardians can we expect?" asked Tegan.

"All I know is that the guardians correspond to the different elements of nature," responded the Professor.

"Do you know the coordinates where we can find the star stone?"

"No. I believe you are headed in the right direction. The poem should help you narrow down your choices."

"Is it very far? We have less than two months to get the star stone back to Strellom," said Tegan with a note of concern.

"You should be back in time."

"Once we find the right system, how can we locate the keys and star stone on the planets? It could take forever to search each world."

The Professor thought for a moment. "There is one being whom I believe may be able to help you. An ancient dragon resides in an underground maze on Fria II. He once obtained the star stone himself and saved his solar system. Go to Fria II and find the Trading Post. Ask for Melianne Brown. She will help you find the dragon if you tell her I sent you. Be sure you mention me to the dragon as well." The Professor stood. "Now, if you'll excuse us, Alistair and I should be getting along before my assistant manages to get into more trouble." Tegan and Alistair also stood. The Professor and his friend said farewell and left, carrying the can with the paint creature in it.

As Tegan turned to leave, she saw Dell and Adrienne. The creep in the leisure suit had returned, this time with his eye on Adrienne. Dell felt that the polite approach wouldn't work any further and punched him, sending the creep flying. The little man from outside rushed in to break it up. Irritated, Dell pushed the newcomer. A big mistake. The little guy started to grow. As he grew larger, he grew hairier. His face began to look somewhat wolf-like. The whole bar fell silent as the werewolf howled. Adrienne winced as Dell flew out the door, then walked out after him.

"I don't believe this…." muttered Tegan, shaking her head.

Outside, Adrienne helped Dell to his feet. "I could have handled the creep by myself. I didn't need you sticking your nose into my business."

He shook her hand away and brushed himself off. "Damn werewolf… caught me by surprise…. he's messed with the wrong guy."

"Don't. It's not worth it," said Adrienne.

"She's right," said a voice behind him.

Dell turned and winced. Right behind him was the captain. "Uhhh…"

"How could you be so stupid?" gritted out Tegan. "I told you we don't want any incidents. You're lucky he didn't call in the authorities, because I might have just left you. We do not have time for this!" With that, she turned and walked off in the direction of the visitor's center, leaving the others to follow.

At the visitors center they had to wait to teleport to the Aries. Tegan ran into a rather strange group of beings approached them. A man with three heads and four arms greeted her. His friends appeared to be human and were somewhat human looking, for the most part. "Excuse me," said one of them, "but we were wondering if you might be interested in taking on additional crew members. We'll work for transportation to Alpha Centauri."

"Sorry. I already have all the crew I can manage," she said. With that, Tegan stepped onto the teleportation pad and returned to the Aries. With a brief glance at the hitchhikers, Adrienne and the others followed.

"Welcome back," greeted Haukea as they walked onto the bridge. "Did you accomplish your mission?"

Tegan began to tell Haukea about what happened. Suddenly Dave interrupted her. "We have an unauthorized teleportation in the cargo hold."

"Can you identify it?" asked Tegan as she sat in her command chair.

"Four life forms."

"Does one of them have three heads?"

"Yep."

Damn. Those hitchhikers were persistent. "Teleport them back down to the visitors center on Reath, then get out of here fast," commanded Tegan.

As soon as they were out of Reath's orbit, Haukea asked "What was that about?"

"Hitchhikers. Did they leave anything behind?"

"One of them left a satchel," reported the computer.

"Scan it for explosives or electronic bugs."

A minute later, Dave said the bag was safe.

"Where is our heading Captain?" asked Haukea.

"The nearest refueling station in the direction of the Gamma quadrant. I'll finish telling you what happened on Reath while we refuel."

Haukea made the course adjustments while Tegan and Dell went to investigate the satchel. The battered, brown, leather-like bag lay abandoned on the floor of the cargo hold. Dell gingerly picked it up by the strap and placed it on a large crate. Cautiously Tegan pulled out various items out: papers with names, notes written in unknown languages, a towel, and a microbook titled Frakmoor's Travel the Universe on Fifty Galacs a Day. In one of the pockets was a card labeled "Press Pass - Frakmoor's Travel Guides." Tegan slipped the card and microbook into her utility belt. She handed the papers and notes to Dell. "Here. Scan these in and tell Dave to see if he can translate these papers."

Tegan returned to the bridge. "How about some nice gazpacho soup?" asked the Acme Liquid Refreshment Dispenser.

"Shut up," responded Tegan. "Do we have a teleport shield?"

"How am I supposed to know? I'm just a drink machine," returned the LRD.

"I wasn't asking you," Tegan gritted out through clenched teeth. "Haukea?"

"Affirmative," replied Haukea.

"Then activate it. I'm not taking any more chances."

"Affirmative. No one will be able to teleport aboard the ship unless teleported from within the ship," said Haukea.

Tegan sat back down in her command chair. Those hitchhikers unnerved her. Regular hitchhikers would have accepted her refusal and left. This group must have been up to something. Good thing she didn't take them on as a crew.

"Approaching the Exaco refueling station." Dave's announcement startled Tegan out of her reverie.

"How low are we?" she asked.

"We are down to about one third of our fuel reserves and entering unfamiliar territory," said Haukea. "It will be preferable to go on a full tank."

"I agree. But I hate to lose our lead on Commander Syler," said Tegan.

"You've probably lost the lead by now," said Adrienne. "We spent quite a while down on Reath."

"Fine. Let me know when we've docked."

"We've locked into the refueling station," announced Dave about two standard hours later. "Refueling will take an estimated eight hours."

Tegan tried to kill time by filling the crew in on her conversations with the Professor. "Cross reference the poem with our list of potential solar systems," she told Dave.

"Two systems match the specifications," he said a minute later.

"Where is Fria II?" asked Tegan.

"Fria II is a trading world on the edge of the Gamma Sector."

"As soon as we've refueled, set a course for Fria II. Maybe the dragon can tell us which is the right world," said Tegan. "I'm going to my office to try and do some research."

A little while later, Tegan leaned back in her office chair, suddenly exhausted. Her long day was catching up with her. The ship wouldn't be completely refueled for several hours. In the quiet of her office, Tegan dozed off.

---

Aboard a ship, not far from Tegan's position, a Jawf agent nervously waited for an audience with his queen, his hairy fore legs twitching nervously. l'Chaka was profusely glad his orange chitin covering did not have sweat glands, unlike the miserable bunch of humanoids d'Tan had hired to intercept the woman. They were all quite damp by the time l'Chaka finished interrogating them. He had been against d'Tan's plain to involve those not of their kind. d'Tan would suffer the consequences of his failed plan. Worse, one of the humans had lost his satchel. If there were important plans in it…. Best not to think about it. Even better not to mention it to the queen. l'Chaka prayed to the spirit of the First Brood Queen that nothing had been left in the woman's ship.

"K-k-come in, l'Chaka," said a small, female worker, one of the brood queen's personal attendants. "The k-k-queen is ready for you."

l'Chaka resisted the urge to nervously rub his legs together and followed the worker to the presence of the colony brood queen. On a cushioned dais lay the brood queen, her luminous golden skin glowing in the light. The queen's lower segment was almost five times larger than the rest of her, a whole new generation of Jawf eggs waiting within the queen. She could not deliver the eggs until the brood planet was ready. Strellom, the world designated as the new brood world, and its neighboring planets were resisting the Jawf's colonization efforts. She could no longer waste precious time on that system. The queen ordered the destruction of Strellom's solar system. However, she learned inhabitants of Strellom had located something that might save their system. The troublesome Commander Rand Syler, who had destroyed many of their fighters, and a group of humans aboard a hired ship identified as the Aries were currently searching for it.

"Report, l'Chaka," ordered the queen, her mandibles clicking in annoyance.

"My k-k-queen, the agents were detec-c-cted by the ship's captain."

"So you failed." The dark spot in the queen's segmented eye enlarged ominously. Her antennae twitched.

"d'Tan's ch-ch-choice of beings was inappropriate," replied l'Chaka meekly. "He has faced the conquences."

"What about Syler?"

"We have spies and mercenaries track-k-king him and the Aries."

"I do not like this dealing with other species."

"It is necessary. Their k-k-kind is flawed by their search for personal benefit, instead of the good of the hive."

The brood queen shifted slightly. "We k-k-cannot waste time. We have spent too much time trying to k-k-conquer Strellom. It must be destroyed and a brood world found."

"A new world has been loc-c-cated my k-k-queen," replied l'Chaka. "A world that has not made interstellar k-k-contact and has only limited space travel abilities."

"Good."

---

Tegan awoke with a start. Yawning and stretching, she was stiff from dozing in her chair. With another yawn, she walked down the hall to the bridge. "Where is everyone?" she asked Dave.

"Dell teleported to the refueling center. Adrienne is in her quarters. Haukea is in its solar pod," said the computer.

"How much longer do we have before we're finished refueling?"

"About an hour."

"Fine. I'm going to teleport down to the station for a while and stretch my legs."

Tegan went to the teleporter and teleported to the refueling station. It was a full service station with a small restaurant, entertainment center, and convenience store. In the restaurant a waitress seated Tegan in a booth and handed her a menu. She looked around for Dell, but he wasn't in sight. He probably went to the entertainment center she told herself.

"I'll have the kisran salad plate and a soda," Tegan told the waitress. The waitress returned a few minutes later with Tegan's order. Tegan ate ravenously - all she had to eat that day was a couple of scones at tea with the Professor. When the first pangs of hunger were sated, Tegan took the time to look around.

At the table across from hers sat a mane staring intently at her with deep, blue eyes. He smiled at her, showing two rows of perfect white teeth. Not a blue hair was out of place. Muscles in his arms bulged as he lifted his glass. Tegan looked down at her plate and tried to concentrate on her food.

When next she looked at the man, their eyes connected. He smiled a very sensual smile. Tegan's eyes traveled up and down his torso and came to rest on the hand holding his glass. Suggestively he slid his finger around the rim of the glass. Suppressing a shudder, Tegan glanced at his face. The blatantly suggestive look he gave Tegan did nothing to excite her.

Something must be wrong with her. She wasn't attracted to the man at all. The man was absolutely perfect. Maybe too perfect. Tegan signaled the waitress. The man smiled hopefully. Taking her check, Tegan waked up to the cashier, paid, and left without looking back.

Craving something sweet, Tegan stopped in the convenience store. She grabbed the first candy she saw and paid for it. Her com-link beeped. "Yes?" she said.

Haukea's face appeared on the mini viewer. "We will be ready to depart as soon as you pay, Captain."

"That was fast."

"Our reserves were not as low as first estimated," stated Haukea.

Tegan sighed. "I'll be aboard in a few minutes." After paying for the fuel, Tegan teleported back to the Aries. Once on the bridge, she sat in her command chair.

"Course is set for Fria II," said Dave. Dell arrived on the bridge, then took up his station.

"Everyone aboard?" asked Tegan.

"All crew accounted for," said Dave.

"Then let's get out of here."