PROLOGUE: THE VELA INCIDENT.
North American Aerospace Defense Command, Colorado Springs. September 1997.
Air Force Colonel Alexander Woods rushed though the cramped interior of the bunker, carrying an orderly pile of printed pages neatly arranged inside a folder. He nodded at the guard beside a metal detector. As soon as he stepped inside the room, he noticed a blonde man in a suit was there, waiting next to his superior, General Brigadier Stevens.
-"General," he saluted the seasoned military and put the folder on the desk. "I have the final report on the Vela Incident." He added.
The Vela incident had been a mystery for more than twenty years. On September 22nd of 1979, a satellite had detected a double flash over Bouvet Island in the Indian Ocean. Double flash was a phenomena mainly related to nuclear explosions, and the government of the United States was worried it was proof of an illegal nuclear test by South Africa, the nearest country. Colonel Alexander Woods had been the main researcher in charge of the official investigation, analyzing evidence. After two decades, he finally had a verdict.
General Stevens turned to his companion; the blonde man was the first to speak.
-"Thanks, Colonel Woods," the man started. "What was the conclusion?"
Woods frowned, puzzled. He wasn't authorized to discuss anything with a stranger, who may or may not have clearance. "I'm sorry, you are?"
-"Agent Garber, CIA." The man introduced himself, extending a hand to the colonel, "I am here to discard a possible violation of the weapons ban by South Africa."
CIA? Woods was far from relaxed. Stevens invited him to sit, pulling a chair. "And what's the conclusion, colonel?" He repeated.
-"Radiometric analysis is inconclusive about the precedence of the fissile material." Woods started, "It wasn't mined from any site on Earth…" He paused, the implications were serious, but it was not Woods's place to question them. He just said what the CIA agent wanted to hear. "You can rest easy agent Garber," he addressed the CIA operative. "Whatever it was, it wasn't the South Africans." And seeing Garber's disbelieving look, he added, "Or the Russians, if that's what you're really afraid."
-"We trust in your expert hands," Garber responded. "Thanks, dismiss, Colonel Woods."
Woods turned to the General, frowning at the fact a CIA agent acted as if he was the top dog. Stevens nodded. "Sir!" Woods saluted before leaving the room. Anyway, he was glad not to know what was going on. He had fulfilled his assignment and now he can enjoy a well deserved leave. He had planned to meet with his daughter Lex at Oregon. Lex had gotten her first job as a guide in polar environments and to celebrate, she had invited her father to climb Mount Rainier.
Once Woods had left, Garber took the pile of papers and read. Stevens patiently waited until the agent finished and then he asked. "And…?"
-"I'm pretty sure it was them," Garber concluded. "We received a report from Arecibo." Stevens raised an eyebrow. "The Radio telescope detected an electromagnetic anomaly on the ionosphere."
-"One of their ships?" Stevens asked.
-"Possibly," Garber responded, "by the time a U2 spy plane arrived, the anomaly had gone. Arecibo tracked the ghost signal until it vanished near Saturn's orbit."
-"Bouvet is far from any population center," Stevens pondered, "What in the name of the Lord were they doing there?"
Garber put the file back on the desk. "I have no idea," he said, "Whatever it was, we missed."
Stevens nodded again. Garber prepared to leave, but when he reached the door he stopped. "What about Woods? Do you think the Colonel suspects something?" Stevens eased him, putting a hand over his back. He escorted him to the hallway beyond.
-"I don't think so," he said. Garber grunted, the secret of OWLF's existence hung by a thread since the recent Los Angeles Incident, two months before. "Don't worry; my men are as discreet as yours." Garber understood who Stevens really was referring to.
- o –
In low orbit over the Indian Ocean, October 10 th , 2004
The Jag'd'ja slid out of the planet's low orbit, heading for deep space. Inside its wide and poorly lit corridors, the crew were ready for one last ceremony. Ghora'an's body lay over a stone platform beneath the clan's zulka'lara. The youngling had been the only one of his group to reach the Yaksa status during the recent cit'kvvar, achieving in death what only a few Yaksa did in life. Ghora'an had killed nothing less than a r'ksa m'tr, losing his battle against Ceta'nu in the process. His clan mates were sure that at that moment, Ghora'an was escorted by Tah'ket to the Black Warrior's Halls.
"Jyok! Ghora'an!" The Yaksa reunited before the fallen warrior's mauled body cheered. "Yak'sa Ghora'an!" The Clan leader, a huge Yaksa with long dreads which reached his hip exclaimed.
"Yak'sa Ghora'an!" the rest growled, then, one by one, they bow their heads before the body in reverence, before leave the room.
The clan leader was the last to leave. He kneeled before the Stone platform where the dead warrior rested, passing one of his sharp claws over the lightning shaped scar. The mark was carved on his yellowish skin using the corrosive thwei of the first r'ksa he had killed. His sister would be proud of her spawn, the Leader was glad he could deliver Ghora'an's body so he can be buried with all the honors. It was a shame they couldn't recover the Queen's zul'ka. It would remain at the bottom of the sea where Ghora'an and that ghomin had sent it.
The ghomin, the Leader thought. Ghora'an had blooded that female and, according to the honor code's rules, he had to allow her to live. Not that she would live longer in that glacial cold, not if the ghomon on the waterborne ship couldn't get to her in time. He looked at his sister's youngling again. Even in death he possessed that greatness he had in life. Suddenly, he noticed something, burn marks just below where his ja'tta arose. An ominous thought invaded him. Was it possible? He thought. The warrior didn't have his mask on it at the moment of the battle. That meant he lost it at some point.
Using the sensors on his own mask, the Leader scanned the body. Though the abdomen had a piercing wound from the R'ksa M'tr's tail, one couldn't be sure with the Serpents. The Leader clicked in relief when he found no trace inside. Ghora'an hadn't been tainted by the filthy creatures.
The Clan leader left the trophy room and headed for the bridge. Most of the clan lay inside their pods, sleeping for the long way home. At the bridge only a skeleton crew remained. Through the frontal window, the Leader admired the colorful ringed gas giant. Clicking, he ordered the navigator to set course back to their home world. The crewman typed a few commands on the holo panel, but before he could confirm the order, an alarm blared on the bridge.
Instantly, the holographic projection of a small man'daca appeared on the screen. The ship was drifting on space, hidden by the planetary rings. The pilot hailed, with no response. The Leader ordered to scan the ship and an invisible ray erupted from the jag'd'ja's frontal sensor array, touring the derelict eroded hull. Data appeared on the screen.
"Rak'sasa!" the Leader exclaimed when he recognized the markings on the ship. Both, pilot and navigator exchange questioning looks. What would the bad bloods be doing in the ghomon system? Nothing good, the Leader thought. He grunted a few orders and the pilot typed another set of commands.
In the cryogenic bay, three of the pods opened, expelling a cloud of thick vapor. From the interior, three yaksa awakened, shaking their heads. "Have we arrived so soon?" one of them, a female, questioned.
The Leader entered the room and stepped in front of them. "A rak'sasa ship is adrift," he said stoically. "I want you to board it and find what the reason of its presence here is."
The three individuals grunted in excitement. They were nga'rika, specialized warriors tasked with tracking and disposing of those who had broken the honor code. Rak'sasas. Adrenaline filled their veins on the possibility of fighting bad bloods.
"After you finished," the Leader added, "take the ship back to our world." Immediately, they wore their armor and prepared their weapons. After that they headed for the ship's hangar.
The Leader, also an nga'rika, lamented not going with them and flaying the rak'sasa himself. He must deliver Ghora'an's body to his sibling as soon as possible. He stared at the three bja'kobsa racing through the darkness toward the gas giant's rings.
- o –
"I can smell the scent of death," one of the nga'rika said, as soon as they stepped outside the airlock.
"Stay alert!" Anu'ka thwei, the female leader of the three warned. "It might be a trick of that rak'sasas."
The ship's interior was in darkness, but that wasn't a problem for a Yaksa. They headed to the bridge cautiously. Passing the first door they found a frightening scene. Three bad bloods were hanging upside down, stuck on the ducts above. They were skinned and had their heads and spines missing. The nga'rika exchanged disbelief gestures. "In-fighting?" adventured one of them.
Fights for dominance between clan members were common, especially between those who didn't follow the code. Or maybe another nga'rika had killed them. They resumed their way to the bridge, but as soon as they crossed a second hatch, something caught their attention. At the center of the room there was a series of tubes filled with a clear liquid, but was their contents what had attracted them. Floating inside each of the tubes was a R'ksa egg.
The reason for the presence of the pirate ship was now clear to Anu'ka. The rak'sasa must have stolen the eggs from one of the temples for their dark purposes. But that wasn't explained why the ship was adrift or who had killed the crew, unless…
A black and long tail, ending in a sharp stinger uncoiled from the ceiling behind one of her crewmates. "R'ksa!" Anu'ka warned her partner. He turned just when the beast leaped over him, pinning him to the floor. Anu'ka reacted, pulling her kci-ti'pa and threw it to the serpent. The monster screeched when it was pushed backwards by the weapon's force. But it charged again, this time against Anu'ka.
The female readied her dah'kte and blocked the R'ksa tail first strike. The beast threw a sweep with its raking claws. Anu'ka did the same with her dah'kte, spun over her own axis and cut the creature's hands off with a sweep. Two more R'ksas descended, trashing the ceiling panels and surrounding them. The Yaksa formed a defensive circle against the serpents, back to back. Anu'ka ordered them to use their energy flechettes. They were a miniaturized version of the vaj'ra cannons, powerful enough to break a R'ksa exoskeleton but not the ship's hull. Two of the flechettes hit their targets while the third beast evaded the shot. It launched itself against the nga'rika but Anu'ka quickly reacted, stepping between the beast and its prey and cut its head off with one single strike.
With the Serpents disposed of, Anu'ka roared in victory. The ship was cleared and they can resume their mission. Anu'ka ordered her crewmates to activate the bridge and head back to the ghomon planet. They can't carry the eggs back to their own world. She decided to return them to one of the temples, putting them on stasis for posterior use. Now that the R'ksa M'tr at the temple was dead, they were too valuable for just throwing them out of the airlock.
The man'daca's thrusters roared back to life and the vehicle headed for the inner system. Meanwhile, Anu'ka cleaned her recently acquired trophy in the ship's reduced zulka'lara.
A massive shape descended from the main air duct, taking the nearest Yaksa by surprise. The monstrous beast took the young by his neck and in one movement, crushed his windpipe, killing instantly. His mate joined the battle but the Serpent intercepted him with a fist who sent him backwards to the floor. The nga'rika roared in fury and prepared his kci-ti'pa, but the R'ksa impaled him with a thick tail, pinning him to the wall.
All the commotion attracted Anu'ka, who was surprised by the abomination –there was no other name for it. It has the basic R'ksa body, but its head was a terrible combination of r'ksa and Yaksa, including the four mouth appendages and a black ja'tta thick as cables sprouting from an eyeless, elongated head.
Anu'ka understood what happened. A group of Rak'sasa had tried to steal the eggs from one of the temples, possibly taking them to one of their game preserves. But there were stowaways and one of them was clearly infected. The resultant abomination killed and skinned the rest, in a mockery of the Yaksa ways.
The beast growled, ripping off the head and spine from its victim. Anu'ka prepared her energy flechette and fired. The plasma bolt hit dissipated against the abomination's thick armor. It launched itself roaring and clicking. There was no time, Anu'ka readied her vaj'ra. At that distance, it was impossible for her to fail. But just when she fired, the serpent reflected the cannon with its tail. The overheated gas hit the ship's hull, breaching it. The atmosphere was expelled in a raging whirlwind. Anu'ka was dragged to the ragged opening and the dark and cold abyss beyond. In a last attempt to avoid being expelled from the ship, she fired her net launcher against the gash.
Anu'ka collided with the metal net just in time. The man'daca spun out of control. The abomination was gone and she had a fleeting vision of a blue-green orb covered in thick clouds, just before the fire consumed the hull. Anu'ka closed her eyes, happy that the creature, along with the mortal cargo, would be destroyed by the impact.