Aboard Zonar’s flagship Tarn was observing the movement of the device from the fighter bay to the main chamber. The group of technicians had to remove the doors from the fighter bay and the main chamber, it was the only way the device could fit through the opening between the fighter bay and the corridor.
Tarn wondered if Mooban would be useful in moving this device but these technicians with the help of some ground troops, some of the starship crew and some others that he believed was group of fighter crews where doing a satisfactory progress on the task.
Tarn looked at the device during the move, he saw many markings on it. He even saw the markings in Dicon trade standard that said “Nine”, he also recognized the symbol before it as “Joo” the fourth letter in the Dicon trade standard.
“You must be the one called Tarn?” asked one of the technicians.
“Why do you ask that?” countered Tarn
“Hey I am just one idiot of a technician” admitted the technician.
“And Zonar let’s you live?” asked Tarn
“Well he did tell Cor to put a blaster rod on my back on the last planet we conquered.” said the technician
“And?” wondered Tarn
“I am still here.” said the technician
“Are you immune to the blaster rods?” asked Tarn
“Oh no I am not,” replied the technician “but I found something three planets ago, I placed it on my back and it protects me from the effects of the blaster rod. So when I got hit by the blaster rod, I stayed down. Everyone thought I was dead. When no one was looking I moved away and just rejoined my group at a later time.”
“Why are you telling me this?” asked Tarn
“A hint, if you get hit by a blaster rod, stay down.” suggested the technician “If Zonar thinks you have survive the blaster rod, he will use something else against you, more than likely he will use the ZA22 gas against you. Trouble is he doesn’t care who else gets hit with the gas.”
“And you have no defense against the gas.” said Tarn.
“Right now no.” said the technician
“I will try to remember that,” said Tarn “but I suspect the tactic will not work for me since I can’t blend in like you can.”
“You have a point there.” said the technician “I didn’t think of that.”
“You will think of something else, yes?” said Tarn
“Yes but not right now,” said the technician “right now we have to figure out what this device does.”
At first Tarn wasn’t planning on helping them out but after talking to the technician he changed his mind. The technician wasn’t really an idiot but he wasn’t the brightness either but he seemed able to adjust without Zonar telling him what to do. This technician might be useful when the time comes.
“Joo-Nine” said Tarn.
“What?” said the technician
“’Joo’” replied Tarn “is the fourth letter of Dicon trade standard language.” He also noticed something else about the device. “The rest of the markings in Dicon trade standard say Arcevar Nover. I don’t know about the rest of the markings.”
“Have we entered a system of the Dicon Galactic Empire?” asked the technician.
“I don’t think so” replied Tarn “Arcevar sounds like a Fodani word, not a Dicon word.”
“So we entered a system belonging to the Fodani?” asked the technician
“I don’t think so.” said Tarn “On my way here I noticed that were only one star in the system. The Fodani as a rule are not interested in single star systems, usually triple star systems, maybe a double star but never a single star system. And they also are not the type to leave devices in space.”
“Who then?” asked the technician
“The Arcevar Nover” said Tarn “who ever they are. Tobaz said this device was transmitting on a tachyon pulse.”
“It was when it was in space.” said the technician “it stopped doing that when it got inside the fighter bay.”
“By any chance do you have a tachyon pulse unit with you?” asked Tarn
“I can go find one.” said the technician
The technician left Tarn to find a tachyon pulse unit. In the meantime the device made it’s way to the main chamber. Tarn counted seven remaining technicians, forty ground troops, ten starship crew and six which he assumed was the fighter crew, all of them worked together to move the device into this chamber. What Tarn couldn’t figure out is why the device is in this chamber and not in the fighter bay. If he was in charge of this ship, he would have left the device in the fighter bay, just in case that the device was dangerous he could quickly eject the device into space, not keep it inside where the possibility of it causing more damage but as such he was just a prisoner. Maybe this device might help him to escape Zonar.
One of the six that Tarn thought was a fighter crew approached him and said “Who are you?”
“I am Tarn, a knowledge seeker from the Messengers of the Tal-Ro.” replied Tarn
“So you are the Dicon Galactic Empire expert?” asked the fighter.
“It wasn’t my choice.” said Tarn “Are you the one who brought this device onboard?”
“Wasn’t my choice.” said the fighter “I wanted to destroy the device since it was blocking the fleet’s path but Piyo recognized it as something belonging to the Dicon Galactic Empire. He figured it would be useful to bringing it aboard for further study.”
“Was Piyo a knowledge seeker?” asked Tarn
“I don’t think so” said the fighter “why do you ask that?”
“On my parents homeworld of Ylan Prime, one becomes a seeker of knowledge, a deliverer of justice or a recipient of happiness. Your friend Piyo action suggests what a seeker of knowledge would do.”
The fighter just shook his head.
“And you my friend.” said Tarn “what is your calling?”
“I do not know” said the fighter “do I need to make my choice now?”
“No.” said Tarn “The way of the Tal-Ro can change, in fact according to the teachings of the Tal-Ro the best are those who seek a balance between justice, knowledge and happiness.”
“The Tal-Ro?” asked the fighter.
“Yes” said Tarn “it comes to Ylan Prime on a regular basis. When it does it protects us from the ones who will destroy us.”
“It seemed it didn’t protect you from us.” said the fighter.
“You didn’t come to Ylan Prime. I was born on another world, my parents was on that world when Zonar’s forces conquered it. I was very young at the time, my mother a deliverer of justice attempted to stop Zonar and failed. She died because of that. My father and I were captured and placed on ship 3.”
“What happen to him?” asked the fighter
“He died when Zonar asked him a question he could not possibly answer.” replied Tarn
“What was the question?” asked the fighter.
“Are you sure you are not a seeker of knowledge?” asked Tarn
“I am not.” replied the fighter
“You could have fooled me.” said Tarn
Just then the technician that Tarn was speaking to earlier returned with a tachyon pulse unit and said “Tarn, I found it”.