Exodus

"Which ship?"

"The Elbe. The Kukai Foundation has funded it for over 14 years now. It was founded by Mr. Hart as a scientific research center the year before his untimely death. However, they've never been involved in anything requiring close government supervision, just things like making hard drives move a little faster or improving the digestibility of children's vitamin supplements. So, it's easy to see why we've overlooked it for so long," Mary replied with a calmed sense of urgency.

"But what could be attracting the Gnosis to such a small facility?"

"We've received no reports of anything unusual for this type of establishment. No Zohars, no Song, no nothing."

"I see. How for is it away from our current location?"

"No more than a 15 minute cruise."

"Well, set navigational courses towards the Elbe."

"Yes, sir. Should I inform Little Master to be ready for some fun?" she inquired with her usual enthusiasm.

Gaignun gave her a small smile and a nod, then hung up the line and took a moment to stare deep into space….

MEANWHILE, ON THE BRIDGE…

"WOOHOO!" Junior shouted pulling a shiny silver gun from under his trench coat and waving it in the air. "It's been weeks since I've battled a Gnosis. I swear I'm getting rusty."

"Plus, this is a good opportunity to test our new short-range Hilbert Effect waves. A small attack like this makes it ideal," Shelley added from behind her console.

"That reminds me, shouldn't we activate it now, before we're stuck in the middle of it?" Junior proposed with a sense of simple logic.

"We are not yet inside the appropriate radius. We'll activate it in two more minutes."

Junior searched out the Bridge's window anxiously with a glowing excitement glimmering in his eyes. "How big of a swarm was it again?"

"Not too big. Only about ten Gnosis were reported, but there have been 27 fatalities thus far."

"That's not many, considering," Junior said, "Especially for such a small ship. They're lucky they're not all dead yet."

"Truly," Shelley replied coolly after a short pause. "…We are now approaching appropriate range. Would you like us to activate the Hilbert Effect now, Little Master?"

Junior walked his "I'm-so-important" walk a few steps forward, staring straight ahead into the dark nothingness of space and with an elaborate swing of his gun-holding hand, shouted, "Fire when ready!"

Shelley, ignoring the fact that the Hilbert Effect was not a piece of artillery and therefore could not be "fired," punched a few buttons, heard a few "all's good" reports from the 100-series realigns, and then finally said, "Activating Hilbert Effect" as she pressed a wonderfully shiny red button. As the wave pulsed away from the long shaft that was the Durandal, Junior sadly thought of how unfair it was that Shelley was the only one who got to press all the pretty red buttons, but this thought was quickly disrupted as Gaignun himself casually strolled onto the bridge, one hand in a dark suit pocket.

"Hey, what's up? It's not like you to surface for small operations like this…. Or the large ones, at that," Junior said, spinning around and waving his gun about in a casual fashion as he spoke, but what he was really worried about was that disturbed look in his eyes and that unsettling feeling that Gaignun was trying so hard, unsuccessfully, not to transmit through the mental link. However, Gaignun always handled his uneasiness in such a calm manner, that Junior would be the only one to tell, and sometimes it even went over his head. So, naturally, no one else in the room knew of his current state, and it was so faintly detected by Junior that he decided to overlook it.

"I just thought to break a little from tradition today," he replied whilst better hiding his uneasiness behind a small, sly smile. Junior, thoroughly confused, just stared at him not able to pick up on his intensions. IN response, Gaignun opened his jacket to reveal his own small gun in a dark leather holster. Junior couldn't believe it.

"You mean…you're coming, too?" he asked with building anticipation. His answer came in yet another of the Kaiser's small smiles and a slight nod of his head. "you really mean it!" Junior shouted in absolute glee while practically jumping out of his boots, "This'll be the greatest bonding experience we've had in years!" In his frenzy of joy, Junior unconsciously took his spot on Gaignun's right hand side. Simultaneously, an aura of seriousness ensued as a ship came into view with the words "The Elbe: making life easier bit by bit" elaborately written in bright gold letters on its side.

"There's no response on their bridge. They're not sending any boarding directions," Shelley announced pound on her keyboard.