Chapter 2: Nothing Is Easy

After breakfast (rather, uh, 'creative' waffles with flavored glucose syrup) was finished, discussion moved on to a more serious topic. Ratchet and Clank had promised to help Talwyn look for her father, and they now had the equipment to do so. Ratchet manifested the door glove, and explained how it functioned as a dimensionator. "So that's how we got home. I just thought about the Court of Azimuth, the crystal turned green, 'n I fired. If you're wearin' the glove and cap, maybe you could open a portal t' your father."

Talwyn was unconvinced. "That sounds way too easy. But, we can try it."

They left the cramped kitchen area and went into the terrarium where they had more space. Ratchet removed the door glove and handed it to Talwyn. She put it into her manifestor and selected it. Very reluctantly, Ratchet removed the leather cap that Reg had given him. "Please be careful with this. It's kinda sensitive."

Talwyn looked at Ratchet critically. "You know, I've never seen you without some kind of helmet before. You're gettin' a little grey up there." Ratchet's ears sagged. Talwyn quickly added, "No, it looks good! Really!" Ratchet looked over to Clank. "Am I? Really?" Clank could easily see ten grey hairs among the fur, more than he did the previous time he had seen Ratchet's bare head. When Clank did not reply immediately, Ratchet's ears sunk even lower. "There, there," Talwyn said in a somewhat soothing, somewhat mocking tone. She reached up and scratched the fur on the top of his head. "It's okay... It happens to everyone... eventually..." Ratchet gave a low growl, manifested his original cap and practically slammed it on top of his head. "Can we just focus, please? You need to concentrate!" Talwyn jokingly tried to calm Ratchet down, "Okay... okay... Relax..."

Talwyn took Reg's cap and placed it on top of her head. "It's a little big," she noted. That made Ratchet feel a bit better. He grinned, "Yeah, on me too. One o' these days, I need t' see a friend o' mine about that. He might be able t' copy the technology t' my own cap." Talwyn grinned and her eyes unfocused for a moment. The door glove was replaced with her blaster. She leveled it at Ratchet and smiled. Ratchet held his breath - this was not what he had in mind. But the blaster vanished from her hand and the door glove returned. "Just testing," Talwyn said. "Do you think your friend can make me one, too? This is really pretty neat." Ratchet let go of the held breath with a sudden 'whoosh' and tried to force his voice into a calmer tone. "I can ask. Please don't do that again! Now, close your eyes. Concentrate on your father. Picture him in your mind."

Talwyn closed her eyes. Ratchet was watching the targeting crystal on the glove, but it remained red. "Do you have him pictured in your mind?" Ratchet asked. "Yes," Talwyn said. Ratchet's eyes narrowed. "Hmm... Try to imagine him speaking to you, his voice. See him standing in front of you, calling to you." "Okay..." The crystal remained red. "Are you sure?"

"Dammit, Ratchet, yes!" Talwyn's eyes flew open. "It's not working!" Ratchet could see how frustrated she was. "Please, just calm down..." The door glove on Talwyn's hand became a bomb glove. Ratchet had used this weapon a lot in the past, but had never seen her use one before; she must have had it in her manifestor, though. Without thinking, she threw a bomb across the lawn. "Down!" Ratchet shouted, grabbing at Talwyn and knocking them both off their feet. There was a clatter of metal as Clank and the warbots dove to the ground, followed by a small explosion. The bomb was not strong enough to cause any serious damage, but it was enough to leave a small blast mark on the soil. Ratchet thought to himself that the glove was probably not used very much since it was never upgraded.

The impact and concussion were enough to snap Talwyn from her anger. The bomb glove returned to her manifestor; she got up quickly with a rather embarrassed look on her face. "Sorry about that. I guess you really have to watch your temper when you wear that thing." Ratchet was already up too, and was helping Zephyr to his feet, "Yeah. I know." Talwyn helped Cronk stand, sat down on the grass and began to cry softly. "Maybe he is dead," she said in a voice scarcely above a whisper. "That would explain why I couldn't get a lock on him." Zephyr and Cronk looked at each other and lowered their heads.

Ratchet tried to find another explanation, "Maybe the sensors won't work for you..." But then he looked at the smoking grass in front of them; it had worked perfectly well. Clank had another possibility. "Perhaps the door glove will not lock on to a single person in that manner. Perhaps Ratchet should try to lock on to another individual."

It made sense. Ratchet took the door glove and neural matrix cap, hastily swapping caps to leave his head exposed for a minimum amount of time. After everything was in place, he said, "I'm gonna try for Petrov."

Clank hastily warned his friend, "Ratchet, be careful: do not fire the glove! Based on our recent visit, I am certain that the council has increased their surveillance. Opening a portal to New Fastoon may have drastic repercussions for both Petrov and ourselves."

"Right. No need t' make things worse." Ratchet imagined Petrov in his mind: the lombax's graying fur (just what Ratchet wanted to think about right now...), his huge size, the camouflage uniform, his somewhat warped sense of humor and fondness for good food, his changeable eyes, 'Tiny'... The crystal on the glove turned green, and Ratchet immediately wiped the image from his mind, trying to make his mind as blank as possible. The lock was dropped, and the green crystal turned red. "Well, it worked..."

Clank thought for a second. "But there is another variable to consider: Petrov is in another dimension. Perhaps that is why you were able to succeed."

Ratchet nodded. "I'll try for Al. If I get the lock, I'll open a portal and bring him over." Ratchet pictured Al: geeky, overweight, wearing the same lab coat that he was wearing when they first met, the tools in his pocket, the somewhat wild hair, the implants... The crystal remained red. Ratchet continued, this time, focusing on Al's shop as well. But no matter how much detail he was able to bring into the picture, the target crystal could not get a lock. Finally, he shook his head and put the door glove back into his manifestor.

"That was it, Clank. Al's local 'n I can't get a lock." Ratchet let it go at that, but Talwyn voiced his other thought for him, "Assuming my father's alive, that is. Could we go to another dimension and bridge back?"

Ratchet nodded, "Maybe, but where? We can't go to the lombax dimension, and I don't wanna think about X2-49..."

Clank nodded. "I do not believe that we will be able to use the dimensionator for this purpose. Even if we could go to a 'bridge' dimension, there is no certainty that a portal would open in the desired location. We might return to our point of departure, as we did in the Court of Azimuth."

Ratchet and Talwyn both nodded. Ratchet said, "Looks like we're gonna hafta do this the hard way..."

"Well, we know he was headed for Kerchu City," Ratchet said. "IRIS said he moved the dimensionator there. But where'd he go next?" They had spent a great deal of time exchanging stories and all of the details about what they knew of Max Apogee and his last known journey. In doing so, a pattern seemed to emerge.

"I know my father was obsessed with the Lombax Secret. He treasured that artifact. I know it had 'map' written on it, but I never saw it work until you touched it. When it was stolen by pirates, he left. He never said where he went; I always thought he went after the pirates. But if he went directly to Rykan V..."

"Yeah, but it took all of us doin' deep scans t' find the bunker. When we got there, we couldn't get in 'til I touched the door." Ratchet was trying to work out the details. "How'd he know the dimensionator was on Sargasso if he didn't get in the bunker?"

"What I find most interesting," Clank said, "is that IRIS has declared Mr. Apogee as 'missing'. If she has the ability to scan multiple dimensions and can respond to queries about the cragmites, why is she not able to report on Mr. Apogee?"

Both Ratchet and Talwyn fell silent. That was a good question. "You're right, Clank!" Ratchet began. "IRIS wasn't able to find Max, or info about the lombaxes. It's like her memory was wiped."

Ratchet's voice trailed off as he thought about the implications of that, but Talwyn continued, following his line of thought, "Ratchet, didn't you say that your father was given overrides for IRIS? Wasn't he supposed to erase references to the dimensionator and New Fastoon?"

Ratchet looked at her, "Yeah. Do ya suppose your father 'n mine were working together?"

Talwyn met his gaze. "I guess it's possible. He never mentioned meeting a live lombax, though. But it would explain the map and the bunker..."

"Well, if he was with my father, he wouldn't've needed 'em; they'd've had the dimensionator with 'em. My father must've either given Max the dimensionator t' hide, or helped him access the map and bunker. Either way, they must've been together..." Ratchet stood and began pacing. "Aphelion wasn't much help. She didn't even remember the photo." Ratchet's ears drooped slightly as he said it. He had hoped that she might have some memory of the Keeper, or at least know his name. But she could only remember up to just before she was shot down, and Ratchet wondered if that was because of damage, or if something else was involved. "It keeps comin' back t' IRIS," Ratchet finally said. "There hasta be a connection."

"Perhaps we should just ask her," Clank said.

"That'd be too easy!" Zephyr protested.

"Take all the fun outta life," Cronk added.

"Why aren't they answering?" Talwyn was getting frustrated. She had been trying to reach Pete and Qwark on the Kreeli Comet for nearly an hour.

"Maybe they went out for a bit o' grog?" Ratchet joked in reply, only to get an icy glare from Talwyn in return. "Okay, okay... Maybe not. Let's just go. We won't need Pete t' get passed the pirates." Ratchet's combustor manifested in his hand at the thought of possible action.

"Put that thing away!" Talwyn ordered, and the combustor immediately vanished from Ratchet's hand. Clank looked on in amusement, chuckling at the speed of Ratchet's reaction. "One of these days, you're gonna have to get me one o' those."

"When we get a chance, I'll drop by Al's 'n see what he can do. He's a little outta the way, though." Ratchet adjusted Reg's cap on his head; it was still too big and was a little uncomfortable - he could feel the raritanium wires and sensors through his fur. "Plus, I wanna show him the vid. Let's see what IRIS knows. I don't know where Qwark and Pete went, but we'll deal with that later."

Talwyn nodded. Activating a comm link, she said, "Cronk, Zephyr, we're going on a little field trip. Prepare the shuttle and set the station's defenses to automatic." They replied in unison, "Yes, Miss Talwyn."

"Clank and I'll take Aphelion 'n meet you there," Ratchet said. "We'll clear the landing pads 'n make sure there're no pirates."

"Perhaps we may be able to ascertain what happened to Captain Qwark and Pete," Clank offered.

"Yeah, that too," Ratchet replied, somewhat heavily.

Clank jumped up onto the connecting bolt attached to the backpack straps that Ratchet wore over his flight suit and sealed the link. "Clank, doesn't it bother you; travelling backwards all the time?" Talwyn asked. Clank shook his head and replied, "My sensors are accurate for a full three hundred sixty degrees. It is not disorienting." Talwyn nodded.

Ratchet stepped onto the teleporter pad. As the scanner arms shot up around them, Ratchet thought of Petrov and said to Clank, "Thanks for watchin' my back..."

They materialized in the landing bay, and quickly made their way to Aphelion. Clank hopped in quickly, but Ratchet paused. His gloved hand slowly traced the lombax characters along the canopy. He knew it said 'Aphelion', but he was starting to recognize the symbols. He might not be able to read it yet, but at least they were familiar now. With a smile, he leapt into the pilot's seat, fastened his harness and closed the canopy.

Aphelion and Clank had both noticed his delay. But Aphelion also felt his glove. "Ratchet, did you notice any problem along the hull? My sensors do not detect anything amiss."

Ratchet shook his head. "No. Just admiring your lines..."

Aphelion gave a warm chuckle. "I bet you say that to all the ships..." Ratchet grinned and took the controls. Bringing the main thrusters online, he pulled off the small landing pad and cleared the surface. Ratchet slowly maneuvered the ship through the asteroids until they came at last to open space. He set a course for the Kreeli Comet and opened a wormhole.

Ratchet was a little uneasy, though. There was something wrong, or at least, out of place. There was a strange odor in the cockpit. It was somewhat familiar, but he could not place it. "Aphelion, what's that smell?"

She gave a disgusted grunt. "Take a look in the rear compartment." Ratchet turned. Wedged between a storage locker and the hull was a small, open box that Ratchet did not recognize. He put Aphelion on autopilot, twisted around against the harness and pulled the box loose. Ratchet looked inside. It was a half-empty box of popcorn... He sighed and wedged the box between his own seat and the hull - he would dispose of it when they arrived.

"I was thinking about the questions you asked earlier." Aphelion said in a sad voice. "I am sorry, but I do not remember anything else. I know that was a photograph of myself, but I have no recollection of it, or of the pilot."

"That's okay. We'll figure it out. Maybe IRIS will know." Ratchet absentmindedly reached around to his left, grabbed a few kernels from the open box and ate them. Clank turned towards him, his jaw dropping and his eyes widening slightly in horror. "What?" Ratchet asked around a mouthful of salty, stale popcorn.

By the time they had reached the comet, the box was empty except for a few unexploded husks at the bottom of the box. Ratchet guided the ship down onto the landing pad near the pirate ship where they had landed previously. Opening the hatch, he and Clank climbed out of Aphelion and stood on the icy surface of the comet. Other than Ratchet's breathing, there was silence. "Where're Pete and Qwark?" Ratchet mumbled. Something did not feel right.

Ratchet manifested his terraflux armor and changed into it, putting his flight suit into the storage crystal. He topped off his ammunition supply at the GrummelNet vendor, whose voice echoed in the strange stillness, and held his omniwrench ready. It may not be the most appropriate weapon, but its heft was still very comforting. Clank latched on to the connector bolt and enabled his thruster pack upgrade, just in case. Slowly moving down the slope, they came to a cauldron set over a glowing fire. Clank's eyes were drawn to the flames, but it just was not the same - the artificial fuel that drove the blaze beneath the cauldron was too regular to be of much amusement. Ratchet crumpled the empty popcorn box into a tight ball and tossed it onto the fire. There was still no sign of anyone; the area appeared abandoned. "We'd better check with IRIS, find out what's goin' on."

They went back up the slope to Aphelion. "Ratchet, is something wrong?" she asked with some concern in her voice.

"I'm not sure. It's too quiet. There's no sign of Qwark or Pete, and there're no pirates anywhere. Open a frequency to Talwyn." There was gentle warning tone. "Talwyn? Ratchet. We're at the comet, but the place is deserted. Something's wrong."

Talwyn's voice came from the open cockpit of Aphelion. "Ratchet, we were just about to take off. We'll be there in a little while."

"No!" Ratchet practically shouted. "We're not in danger, but it's too quiet. It feels like a trap. Stay there 'n keep tryin' to get Qwark. We're gonna try teleporting to IRIS 'n find out what's goin' on. We'll advise as soon as we know. Ratchet, out."

"I believe that Talwyn will be quite upset with you when we return to the station," Clank observed.

"Probably," Ratchet replied. "But I'd rather find out it's a trap before she gets here." Looking at the ground next to Aphelion, Ratchet's eyes unfocused briefly. A teleporter pad appeared, and Ratchet gave a small smile. "I gotta thank Reg if we see him again." Clank took notice of his friend's use of 'if' and not 'when', but chose not to comment. Ratchet stepped onto the pad and the scanning arms shot upward.

Ratchet and Clank materialized near the entrance to IRIS. Walking slowly along the path, the pair kept a very careful watch for any threats. But the strange silence that had set them both on edge (Ratchet especially) was evident here, too. The only sound was the crunch of Ratchet's boots on the frosted ground and his rhythmic breathing in the cold air.

They came up to the dark opening. Walking inside, they noticed that there were no lights of any kind on the displays. "Ratchet, the door is not closing behind us." Ratchet spun and saw the portal was still open. This had not happened on any of their other visits. Clank disconnected from the backpack and dropped to the ground. The sudden clatter of Clank's metallic feet on the floor caused Ratchet to spin yet again, the omniwrench in his hand ready to strike. Seeing Clank, the lombax relaxed. "Sorry about that, Clank," Ratchet said. "This place gives me the creeps."

They walked to the voice activated console of IRIS. All of the screens remained completely blank, and the normally illuminated ring around the console was dark. Ratchet looked around, but could not see any sign of a switch or control. Clank also searched, and then said, "Ratchet, over here." Clank pointed out a small red light, barely a single millicubit in diameter. Beneath it was a data entry port and cable, very similar in construction to a hyperband link, with a compatible connector. "Hmmm. Perhaps I can tap directly into IRIS's system from this point."

Ratchet was concerned. "You sure that's a good idea? We don't know what's goin' on." But by the time he had spoken, Clank had already picked up the cable and connected himself to the port. There was a brief flicker of data transfer before Clank shook his head and disconnected himself.

"It is worse than I feared. Ratchet, the power generation systems in the core of the comet are not functional. IRIS has shut herself down to preserve her systems. The primary power cells are completely drained. We need to repair the generation systems and restore IRIS."

Ratchet was stunned. But that also explained the eerie silence that had been bothering him. With all of his travels and space flight, he was so used to some form of power generation, environmental control or background hum that he no longer noticed it; except when it was either off pitch or missing. "What happened?"

Clank shook his head. "There was no other information other than the fault indicators for the generation system and the battery indicators. But we must act. If the emergency batteries fail, IRIS will terminate."