The Cartographer (25 page)

Jasper reached for his gun but stopped when the person stood up and pulled back the hood, revealing a lizard-like countenance. Two bulbous black eyes peered at us above a wide mouth resembling that of a catfish and a pair of stumpy horns protruded from the top of his head, measuring no more than three inches long. When he looked up and saw us he waved.

Jasper released his grip on the gun. “It's been so long since we have come across their kind that I forgot about their ability to phase.”

“Phase?”

“They have the ability to transport short distances using a method they call phasing. The process basically dematerializes them from one location and allows them to materialize to another. The Erudites are considered masters of travel, but very secretive. We have tried for many years to learn the secret, but to no avail.”

“Hail! My name is Bree N'Dadi, leader and chief ambassador of the Erudites.”

Jasper returned the wave. “Hello, I am Captain Jasper, welcome aboard the Argus.”

Bree frowned. “I fear this is not a social visit, Captain. We have received reports that there may be a disturbance within the Council of Five.”

Jasper looked over his shoulder at me. Bree followed his gaze and blinked his bulging eyes at me.

“Your reports are accurate,” Jasper said. “We are working on dealing with the situation.”

“Captain we normally do not interfere in the affairs of others,” Bree replied calmly but he stiffened and his demeanor turned serious. “Our concern lies solely in the events as they unfold. If the reports are true and Calypso plans to travel to Earth, we have concluded it is for more than conquering humans.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Calypso plans on using the time hole on Earth.”

“But he can't do that without the map,” I said. “He needs the map for the exact location of the time hole. Only I have access to it and it is safe and sound on my computer in my room.”

“Ah, so the rumors are true. The Consortium has indeed found a new Cartographer.” Bree turned and fixed his eye globes on me. “That is why Calypso has chosen this moment in time to make his move. The map has been unlocked.”

“Yeah, but it's on my computer,” I replied.

Bree folded his arms across his chest. “Are you sure about that?”

My eyes widened and I turned to Jasper. Recognizing the panic on his face I raced to my room. I burst through the door and scanned the area. Gard sat in the corner, but judging by his dark eyes he was in shutdown mode. I ran to the desk and examined it. Everything seemed to be in order (I suppose I expected the room to be in disarray like a burglary). I looked at the side of the computer with dread.

The disk was gone.

I ran my fingers through my hair scoured the room and prayed that somehow it became dislodged from the computer and dropped to the floor. I looked under the desk and banged my head when I sat up, silently cursing. Calypso must have snuck in my room when Lianne and I were with Kedge.

I stood up in time to see Jasper in the doorway, breathing heavily. He saw my face and clenched his jaw.

“How could we have been so blind?” Jasper muttered. Bree walked around the corner and appeared behind him.

He looked in the room and frowned. “So it is true, Calypso has possession of the Universal Map.”

Jasper spoke into his wrist communicator. “Tek, contact the High Prince and patch the visual link into Nathan's quarters.”

“
Aye, sir
.”

Jasper moved to the wall opposite my bed and slid a panel aside where a large, flat screen monitor had been embedded in the wall.

“Well that's cool. I wish someone told me there was a TV in this room, it sure would have killed all this boredom.”

Jasper ignored my quip and focused on the dark screen. After several minutes passed, the screen flickered to life and an image appeared. The person on the other end was a Caelumite who bore a strong resemblance to Jasper but was much older. He had long, dark colored hair similar to dreadlocks that were streaked with gray. His goatee, a similar color, was also marked with gray stripes. He stared at us through dark, sunken eyes filled with wisdom. When he spoke, his voice was raspy with a slight accent I couldn't quite place. It sounded British.

“A British cat,” I whispered and chuckled.

Jasper turned to me. “What was that?”

“Um, nothing.” I focused my attention on the screen and Jasper narrowed his eyes.

“Hello Captain Jasper. I assume by your demeanor that the news is not good.”

“Indeed High Prince. I would not have bothered you directly with this if it was not of utmost importance.”

Meta waved his hand dismissively and frowned. “I understand that the situation is more dire than first reported?”

Jasper looked over his shoulder and Meta followed his gaze. His frown vanished when he saw me.

“Ah, you must be the human, Nathan Chambers.” He smiled.

I took a step back and nodded sheepishly.

“You are younger than I thought. A boy of few words, eh?” Meta chuckled.

I felt tiny standing before the High Prince of the Consortium. Even though he was millions of miles away, his wisdom and power emanated off the screen like a vapor.

“Anyway, what news do you have to report, Captain?”

“Calypso has stolen the Universal Map, sire.”

Meta looked past us and paused when he saw Bree. “So this is worse than I expected if you are here, old friend”

“Indeed it is, High Prince,” Bree responded.

“You appearance here means that Calypso has much more devious intentions in mind,” Meta admitted. “That means that his pretext of Charr's problems has nothing to do with his actions.”

“We believe it was just an excuse,” Bree offered. “Ales Banda's original exploration of the planet Earth indicates that a wormhole located beneath the ocean on Earth is indeed a time hole. It cannot be confirmed, of course, until someone travels through it.”

“It might only be a door to another planet,” I insisted.

Bree nodded. “Indeed it could be.”

“We cannot take that chance,” Meta growled. “I will order all available vessels to Earth. The DSS Swallowtail is the closest Defense Fleet vessel to your location and will pass through the Neptune Belt in a little over two days. I'm afraid that other vessels are at least a week away.”

“We are about a day away from the Neptune Belt,” Jasper groaned and turned to me. “It's just us for the moment.”

Bree stepped forward. “As you know we are scholars, not warriors but I am sure you noticed we have three vessels orbiting your vessel at the moment.”

Jasper smiled. “I appreciate the offer, Bree, but I'm afraid you won't be of much help—”

“No, I am not offering the services of the Erudites, that would be foolish,” Bree interrupted. “We took the liberty of picking up a contingent of soldiers who were working on upgrading an outpost on one of the moons of Exorg-7.”

Lianne entered the room and I smiled when the person standing behind her came through the door. It was Embeth.

“Thank the cosmos you grabbed us off that godforsaken cesspool,” Embeth roared and Lianne broke out in a smile.

“You wanted me to prepare our defenses,” she beamed. “I assumed a hundred Defense Fleet soldiers would assist me in meeting my directive.”

Jasper matched her smile. “Indeed it does.”

“Bree, once again you prove invaluable to us,” Meta roared with laughter. “Embeth, I assume you will take over preparing the troops for a ground assault?”

Embeth frowned. “I am not very familiar with Earth's terrain. I hope our new Cartographer could lend his assistance. Unless, of course, he plans on sticking to his resignation of the position.”

I felt the gaze of everyone in the room (plus the one on the screen). I felt heat rising in my cheeks and lowered my head.

“Is that true?” Meta asked.

I raised my head and failed at keeping the quiver from my voice. “It was, but now it's personal. I will do what I can to help.”

“Excellent,” Meta replied.

“I wish you luck,” Bree interjected. “We will leave you to your work.”

“Thank you, old friend.” Meta smiled.

“I will return to the bridge,” said Jasper. He brushed past me on the way to the door and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Be strong, Nathan.”

After Jasper left, Embeth roared with laughter. “Be strong, he says!” He slammed his fist into the palm of his hand. “To a child nonetheless!”

Lianne frowned. “Stand down, Embeth. Nathan has proven his worth and has already seen combat on Xajax. He even stood up to Kedge in the field. His value will be proven in time.”

Embeth lifted an eyebrow. “Oh, I don't doubt he will prove valuable. He unlocked the map, so he is gifted with intelligence. What I doubt is his capabilities in battle.” He paced around me, looking me up and down. “I could use him to pick food from my teeth.”

“He has basic weapons training,” Lianne insisted. “I will train him further if needed, but the reason we need him now is to assist you with the logistics of navigating Earth, is it not?”

“Aye,” he admitted and moved toward the door. “I will prepare the troops.”

I studied Lianne and thought I saw doubt in her face. What could she do to prepare a skinny geek from Earth, whose greatest achievement was answering a couple trick questions? I wasn't stupid, I knew the score. Calypso had the map, the manpower and the head start. When we reached Earth our assets would be a scrawny map reader, a couple hundred bored soldiers and a witty robot. I didn't like our odds.

“You know what we have to do,” I said.

She fixed me with an inquisitive look. “No, I'm afraid I don't.”

“We have to ask Kedge for help.”

She scowled. “Absolutely not!”

“He is right and you know it.”

We turned to see Satou filling the doorway with his huge frame. A smile played at the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were filled with despair.

“The hell he is!” Lianne roared. “I will not ally myself with that murderer.”

“Kedge did not murder your crew, Lianne. Calypso betrayed him as well.” Satou folded his arms across his chest.

“I believe him when he said his mission was to save Mars,” I added. “It sounds strange, I know, but I trust him…” I trailed off and cleared my throat. “I have to because we are running out of friends.”

Lianne's features softened. “If you ask him for help, I will not stand in the way.” She turned her attention toward Satou. “So why do I sense that you come here with more than support for our young friend?”

Satou slumped his shoulders. “The High Prince called me after he finished with you.”

“And?” Lianne prodded.

“He has appointed me the head of the Explorer's League.”

“That's great news!” I blurted.

Satou shook his head. “I am not a bureaucrat and tried to refuse at first but the High Prince insisted. He recited my years of service and engineering knowledge as the basis for his appointment.”

Lianne chuckled. “I look forward to seeing the mountain of paperwork on your desk!”

Satou grunted. “Bah! Anyway, I am not here on a social visit. Since receiving word of Calypso's intentions I have been monitoring the transceiver on Earth.”

I stiffened. “And?”

Satou recognized the anxiety in my voice and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Do not fret, Nathan. Everything seems to be normal on the planet's surface. There are no strange anomalies coming from orbit either. All indications seem to be that Calypso's forces have not reached the planet.”

I relaxed and exhaled, not realizing I held my breath. “Thank you, Satou.”

“Do not thank me yet,” he replied grimly.

I frowned. “All the more reason for us to hurry.”

“I will meet with Embeth and work on our defense plan,” Lianne said and left the room.

Satou turned to me. “Nathan, let me take you to Kedge.”

A Close Encounter of the Worst Kind

T
here was a lack of available rooms aboard the ship, so Wraith had Kedge moved to one of the cells on the prison deck. Since Marle's demise, Wraith was the impromptu prison guard—a job he wasn't overly pleased with based on his sour look.

“Look what the Marsh Lord dragged in,” Wraith grumbled and stepped away from the guard station.

“The what?” I asked.

Wraith's features softened and he chuckled. “Someday, if you ever get the chance to visit Umbra, I will show you.”

“How is our guest?” Satou asked.

Wraith made a dramatic bow. “Lord of the Explorer's League, our guest is a tad cranky but comfortable.”

Satou rolled his eyes—a comical sight that caused me to burst out in laughter. “That is enough out of you. We are here to see him.”

Wraith led us into the detention area. Kedge leaned against the far wall in the first cell. He stood straight when he saw us but made no move toward the door.

“Come to admire the caged beast?” he grumbled.

I glanced at Wraith. He nodded and deactivated the security field over the door.

“Do you need me to accompany you?” Satou asked.

“No, I think I'll be OK.” I entered the cell.

Kedge eyed me suspiciously and sat at the table in the middle of the room. He drummed his fingers impatiently on its metallic surface and studied me as I moved to sit.