Monjit

All presumptions that the mining station was abandoned or even vacant were quickly put to rest.

Everything was functional and well maintained. Someone had put in a lot of effort to make sure this mining station was operational.

"This is the place," Taisen said softly as he shined his light into various rooms as they walked down a wide corridor. In one room, he illuminated the symbol of an eye even though the Falmeri didn't use their physical eyes.

"Maybe the lights don't work because Falmeri don't use their eyes," Taisen joked.

"Then what do they see with?" Lyn asked.

"Calling it seeing is a stretch," he replied with a hint of laughter. "It's more like perceiving."

"If I thought you would give me a straight answer about your eye patch, I would've asked why you had an eyepatch," Lyn said. "Are you even sure that this is the right place?"

"I told you before, the style and aura are unmistakable."

Lyn had looked at everything and still didn't have a clue what he was talking about. What aura?

"Let's head towards the main control centre," Taisen said, picking up the pace. "That's where the heat signature we picked up is most likely to dock."

"How're we going to find it?"

"We've passed a few floor schematics on the walls since we arrived," Taisen said frowning at her. "The main command and the control centres were fairly obvious."

Lyn tried her best not to reveal her frustration of being a dozen steps behind. Did they pass not just one schematic but a few? She was supposed to be the expert on dead civilisations.

What made it worse was that they located the control centre exactly where Taisen predicted that it would be. The controls and consoles were labelled with an unfamiliar script but Taisen had no trouble deducing their functions. Perhaps they were laid out in a logical pattern and perhaps the pattern was only understood by aliens or perhaps he was just doing a little trial and error and it took only a few minutes to properly gain control.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the room suddenly blazed with light.

"That's better," Taisen said, putting away his light.

"What now? Lyn asked.

Taisen threw a few more switches. "I'm going to activate the external lights."

Lyn thought she misheard him. "Why would you do that?! What if whatever is out there finds us?"

Taisen merely smiled. "I'm going to invite them in," he said. "And more importantly, I'm going to distract them from the Arctic."

"I see," Lyn said. Taisen seemed to always be thinking four steps ahead and back. She moved her hand to unclip the blaster at her side. "Are we expecting any trouble?"

"I'm hoping to avoid that but yes," Taisen said. "Always expect trouble. The equipment bay with the largest docking ports is at the portside edge of the station. We'll wait for them there." With a final look around the control centre, he headed for a hatch leading in that direction.

Taking a few deep, calming breaths, Lyn followed.

***

The equipment bay was larger than Lyn had expected. It was filled to the brim though with overhead cranes, lifts, electric cables, and lines of machine tools and spare part racks. There was also less open space than she'd anticipated. She and Taisen had just settled themselves in front of the main port when the air began to cycle.

"Here they come," she muttered, peering past Taisen's shoulder as he stood in front of her, partially blocking her view.

"I know." Taisen paused, his head cocked as if listening.

Then, to Lyn's surprise, he slipped around behind her, reversing their original positions so that she was now in front.

"What are you doing?" she demanded as a fresh sense of vulnerability flooded into her. The people about to come in, and whatever weapons they might be carrying—

"They hold their females in high esteem", Taisen said. If he was right, his position behind her would hopefully connect to that cultural bias.

The hatch opened, and four creatures emerged.

Purple skin, medium height, chest and hip bulges, feathery head crests. Exactly like the bodies Taisen had brought aboard the Arctic from the derelict ship.

He had indeed found them.

For a moment, the two groups just stared at each other. One of the newcomers attempted to speak but his words were incomprehensible. Neither Taisen nor Lyn understood their language.

"Do you speak Loriat?" Lyn asked referring to an obscure long-dead trade language used by aliens that escaped the Great Cataclysm that created the Chaos region.

The purple-skinned alien spoke again in its own language apparently oblivious of what Colonel Lyn said. "Do you speak Cherobogian?" she asked again.

There was a short pause. Then one of the aliens standing at the back took a step forward. "I speak this," he said. "What are you doing here?"

"Lyn, please translate for me," Taisen said to Lyn before fixing his gaze on the aliens. "We are explorers. I am Taisen. She is Lyn."

Colonel Lyn immediately picked up on the fact that he neither gave their full names or military designations. She passed on the message in as fluent Cherobogian as she could manage. The alien replied and Lyn translated it as "Why do you hide behind your female?"

"Tell him that I'm using my body to protect you from the ones that they sent to shoot you in the back," Taisen said.

Lyn swivelled around in surprise. "Are you serious?" she asked.

Taisen nodded. "I sensed their presence as soon as they entered the secondary hatch behind us," he said. "The noise they made with their footsteps and opening and closing of the hatch suggests to me that they're amateurs.

Lyn swallowed hard and nodded to herself before interpreting.

"We abhor violence," the alien said. "It was merely a precautionary measure. Your presence here was unexpected and we feared for our safety."

"Then I apologise for startling you," Taisen said. "We thought that this station was abandoned. We merely seek to understand the history of the Falmeri by studying their artefacts."

The purple hue of the alien's skin lightened to a slightly dark shade of pink. The change was almost imperceptible to the eye but Taisen had always made a habit of observing the seemingly meaningless minutiae in the event that it proves to be important.

"We did not abandon it," the alien said. "We were sent away by those who seek dominance over Falmer and Numenor."

"Numenor is the name of your world," Taisen said. "You are Numenorians."

"For now, at least," the alien said. "Our fate lies in the hands of Malkor and his clan of Reza."

Lyn felt a shiver run up her back. As far as she could remember, she'd never heard even a hint of information about a species with that name. Definitely outside the core systems, and very likely outside wild space and even the unknown region.

And if this was how they introduced themselves—blocking access to whole regions of space and chasing down and slaughtering anyone who succeeded in leaving—they weren't likely to become friends of the United Nations of Earth or the Galactic Federation anytime soon.

"We did not travel here of our own free will," the alien continued, bobbing his head just a bit toward her. "We also did not remove the weapons and defences from the ship we arrived in."

"The Reza ships guarding the approaches to this boxed system did not recognize the design of your ship. They thought this mining station might still have sensors running that may have gleaned important details when your ship passed nearby. We were ordered here to learn if such records were indeed made."

"Were they correct in their speculation?" Taisen asked.

"Correct about the sensors?" The alien paused, his eyes flicking between Taisen and Lyn. "Why do you ask? Do you wish the details of your ship remain a secret?"

"It is said there are those who can deduce the origin of a ship from its design and style of flight," Taisen said. "Maybe Malkor has someone like that on his side or probably he is one."

"I do not know," the alien said. "But more Reza will surely come, and if we are not compliant with their orders it will go badly for us."

And if the Numenorians failed to capture the strangers who'd blown past the sentry ships and sneaked aboard their station, Lyn suspected, things would probably go even worse. "What are you going to do with us?" she asked.

The spokesman turned back to the others, and for a moment they all consulted together.

Taisen leaned in to whisper to Lyn without the aliens noticing. "If they reach the wrong conclusions, I'll take care of the four in front of us. You will handle the two behind us."

A cold chill ran up Lyn's back. She was not accustomed to being pulled into firefights. Shooting and getting shot at was a terrifying prospect but she felt confident that she would come out alive if Taisen is with her. She had quietly developed a trust in his abilities at least as a schemer and killer.

The Numenorians ended their discussion. "We have no orders regarding intruders," the spokesman said. "We were sent only to examine the sensors but we presume the Reza would have required your capture if they had known you were here."

"Perhaps," Taisen said. "The more important question is: What do you require?"

The spokesman turned to the others. "Do you forever want to be under the thumb of the Reza or will you give us a chance to go up against them," he added. "If you allow us to depart, I will make sure they do not detect us,"

"How can you be sure of that?"

"They did not detect our arrival at this place," Taisen said. "I doubt they will be more attentive now."

The spokesman considered thoughtfully, then inclined his head. "Yes. We can." He hissed out a breath. "You may leave in peace."

Lyn let her own breath out in a silent sigh of relief. "Thank you," she said.

"You have not yet answered my earlier question," Taisen said. "Are the station's sensors still operating?"

The spokesman whinnied. "In weeks past, the Reza ordered us to shut down the station before abandoning it," he said. "With the lives of each and every Numenorian lying beneath their sword, we obeyed our orders to the letter. There are no functioning sensors."

"That is great," Taisen said. "Farewell, then, and may you yet find freedom and peace." Touching Lyn's arm, he nodded back toward the hatchway that would return them to their shuttle.

"Wait," the alien said. "I am Uros," the spokesman said as he stopped in front of Taisen. "I have something I wish to give you."

For a moment Uros stood motionless before lifting both hands in front of him, one hand tugging at the fingers of the other. A moment later he'd slid a ring off two of his finger. It was made of twin circlets of black metal connected by a short, flexible mesh. He held the ring toward Taisen.

"The ring is a prized heirloom of the Monjit clan," the spokesman said quietly. "I wish you to take it so that the Monjit people will not be forgotten."

For the first time since Lyn had met him, Taisen seemed genuinely surprised. He looked at Uros, then at the ring, then held out his hand, palm upward. "Thank you," he said. "I will guard it in a place of honour."

Uros lowered his head in a bow as he placed the ring in Taisen's hand. He straightened up, turned, and walked back toward the other Numenorians. They turned in unison as he passed them, and all four headed through the hatchway. There was a brush of air behind Lyn, and she jerked as two other Numenorians, apparently, Uros's backup force, walked silently past them and joined their comrades. They all disappeared from sight, the hatch closing behind them.

Lyn peered at the ring in Taisen's palm. It was made of a silvery metal, with a series of black curved arcs embossed on the base. A cluster of what looked like small snakes rose from the centre of the arcs, flanked by two much larger snakes that curved up and around, crossing each other once and ending with their heads and open mouths pointed defiantly upward.

She was still studying the rings when the lights around them abruptly went out.

"Uros reinforcing the illusion for any Reza observers," Taisen said as he flicked on his own light. "Come." He turned and strode toward the hatchway. "We've gotten everything we need."