After a long trip from the Small Magellanic Cloud to the Andromeda Galaxy, the Milano arrived on Xandar.
The Guardians felt off-balance after the disappearance of Drax. Rocket didn't feel like putting the food dispenser back together and the pantry still looked more like a disorganised laboratory than a place to consume food. Groot was obsessively trying to refine the outcome of the quantum experiment. Peter and Gamora had a long talk during their shift. Star-Lord had trouble dealing with the new situation. An invisible enemy had torn his group apart. It's easier to fight someone who is standing in front of you, even your most fearsome enemy, than to accept this kind of spooky business.
Denarian Rhomann Dey received the four Guardians in a small conference room. Peter reported the events of the last days. Their first encounter with the Kree, the trip to the desert planet and everything that followed. The Nova officer listened with full attention.
When Peter finished his report, Dey asked, "Do you have any clues about Drax's current location?"
Rocket took the word, "Not exactly. There are a number of regions in space where he can be an' we have a list of matchin' ships. I was hopin' you guys can help us to narrow down the list."
"We're in the middle of a large investigation ourselves. A number of Nova officers have disappeared mysteriously. There's a pattern. They all visited one peripheral planet or another. Most of them contacted the Corps shortly in advance and seemed to need to leave for a valid reason. However, after the last communication they vanished without a trace."
"That's exactly what happened to Drax!" Peter exclaimed.
There was a moment of silence. The clues needed to sink in. However, no one seemed to have any idea what this all meant.
Peter asked, "So you haven't found a trace of any of the missing persons?"
"Not officially."
"How do you mean, not officially?"
"Well, " the Denarian continued, "we've been working with a guy who claims to be a tracking expert. He has pinpointed a number of locations. However, we haven't been able to verify them."
"What's the problem?"
Dey looked at Peter thoughtfully and answered, "To start with, the locations are very far apart. Some are even outside the visible universe. There are some other complications ... I wish I could be more clear, but this is all I can disclose for now. We were hoping your team can go on a recon mission."
"I don't understand. If you can't, how can we?"
Dey spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully when he said, "Let's just say that we have a lot of ... contradicting information. There's not enough concrete evidence to make an action plan."
Star-Lord involuntarily rubbed his face with one hand. Why was everything so complicated? He concluded, "It sounds better than nothing."
"I'll call in the expert; maybe you have more success with him than we did." Dey pressed a button on the table and asked to send the guy in.
Not much later, someone knocked at the door and a small person came in. He was about one metre tall and looked like an upright walking cat, carrying a small blue backpack. He walked towards an empty place at the table and jumped up in a fluid motion, squatting down on top, ignoring the chair behind him.
The Nova officer announced, "This is Sam. He works for an organisation called the Tangeroon."
Sam took the word, "Tangerine. It's an Earth fruit."
The black and white coloured feline looked across the table to face the Guardians. Rocket looked back with a mix of uncertainty and curiosity. Peter frowned slightly. A cat from Earth? Not one like he ever saw. Groot looked friendly and nodded. He loved small mammals, wherever they came from. Gamora looked ... just like Gamora always looked.
"It's an honour to meet the Guardians of the Galaxy; I heard a lot about you," the cat said. "How can I help?
Peter replied, "One of our crew members, Drax the Destroyer, has gone missing. We want him back. What can you do?"
"When and where did you see him last?"
Peter gave him the coordinates. Sam moved his fingers in the air, as if he was directing sign language to a spot in front of him at the table. From that invisible location, a hologram of Drax popped up; soon followed by a 3D image of Waa'i-Du'in (the planet they last visited).
Peter was tired and not feeling quite himself. He would have preferred working with known allies and wasn't sure what to expect from this newcomer. It looked like a magic show; hidden display technology with a gesture interface was unusual but not completely unheard of, he thought. But anyhow, the mammal seemed to be working on the problem and as there were not many alternatives, he was willing to see where this would end.
After a few more seconds of operating his system, the cat reported, "I got something."
The two holographic pictures disappeared to give way to new ones: a small shuttle craft and a larger ship.
"He got on board of this Kree cruiser."
Rocket looked at the images with amazement. He checked the data on the view screen he had brought along and exclaimed, "D'ast! That ship matches one of the options."
Peter interjected, "I don't want to spoil the mood, but how are we going to find this ship?"
Sam replied, "I can track it." He continued to make finger movements and then he said, "Got it! It went to a planet in the Triangulum galaxy."
The previous holograms disappeared. An overview image of the small milky way next to Andromeda popped up. An arrow indicated the position. A star system was highlighted and appeared enlarged. "The third planet is called Indezon 3. It has large oceans and the land is covered with jungle forests. Drax is in a building on this continent." As he spoke, his system projected a life visualisation.
Peter was looking at him with a mixed feeling of unbelief and hope. He faced Dey and said, "That sounds like a pretty specific clue to me. Is the info he has given to you as detailed as this?
The Denarian nodded.
"Then why haven't you come to the rescue of your own men yet?"
"Formally, I have to say that we can't disclose information while the investigation is pending. Between you and me: the matter is more complicated. Our hands are tied. That's why I'm so glad you guys came along. You are free to go to that planet while we have other matters to tend to first."
Gamora was frowning. That is, a person who knew her well may have noticed a slight movement of her eyebrows.
"What's on your mind, Gam?" the leader of the Guardians asked.
The warrior woman addressed Rhomann Dey, "Does the Corps have some kind of political problem?"
"I'm really not at liberty to discuss such matters."
That was all Gamora wanted to know. The Denarian didn't deny. In diplomatic language, this amounted to a 'Yes'.
"I am Groot!" the tree-man exclaimed from behind the view screen he brought along.
Rocket translated, "We have a match! Indezon is inside one of the location bubbles we calculated."
Sam looked at the Guardians with a feline smile. The same smile he had when he entered the room. He didn't seem surprised by the outcome but calmly observed the team with his bright, yellow eyes. Then he made a few signs and the holograms disappeared.
The raccoon said to Sam, "Can ya give me the precise data?"
"Sure," said Sam. He gestured a bit more and the requested information appeared on Rocket's screen. Then he hopped off the table and walked over to the raccoon, probably to see if he could be of any help.
Dey rose from his chair, asking, "I presume you have enough data to work with?"
Peter nodded, while the rest of the team gathered around Rocket's view screen. Shortly before the officer left the room, he caught Quill's look and subtly signalled with his head to follow.
Peter announced, "Guys, I'll leave you for a few minutes, I'll be right back, OK?"
Rocket was already setting up a flight plan. The leader of the Guardians left the room and followed the Nova officer.
Peter accompanied Rhomann Dey through the building. They entered Dey's office, Quill closed the door and both sat down.
He looked at Peter inquisitively and noticed how he had his full attention. With some hesitation, he brought out, "Look, we have a delicate situation here. This conversation isn't taking place. Are we clear about that? If any of my colleagues finds out that I have been chatting with an outsider, I'm in big trouble."
Star-Lord assured him, "You can trust me. I respect your position. This doesn't leave the room."
"You can't tell anything to them either!" he said with a head gesture. He meant the rest of the Guardians.
"I understand."
Dey shifted around on his chair uneasily and said, "OK, here goes nothing. I suspect that we have a mole in our organisation."
Peter raised his eyebrows and remarked, "That's quite a suspicion. Why do you think that?"
"Twelve of our men and women disappeared. Some of them I've know for years. First rule in a missing persons case is to act swiftly. The longer you wait, the slimmer the chance of success." Dey took a breath and continued with frustration in his voice, "The information of the tracking guy, Sam, is more concrete than anything else we have. But against all common policies, our Centurions keep postponing a rescue mission! If it was up to me, we would have taken a chance. But instead, there's an endless debate about the reliability of his sources. They wanted him to disclose his technology, but he refused."
"I've never seen Nova Prime being so indecisive, it freaks me out. It's like someone is deliberately creating confusion. They argue that such a precise and powerful tracking system is just too good to be true. And that going on a rescue mission outside the visible universe is beyond our budget. As if our lives do not matter!" He slammed his fist on his desk. After a moment to calm down, he almost pleaded, "That's why I'm so glad that the cat tracked Drax to the Triangulum system. It's practically around the corner. I really hope you can get him back. If we have solid proof, we can kill this damned bureaucracy!"
Peter looked at him with resolve in his eyes and said, "To me, this is a clear shot case. We didn't have jack and now we got something. Did you see how your tracker's information matched that of Rocket and Groot? You can depend on the two of them, anytime! We'll find out soon enough if this is a wild goose chase or not."
"That's what I like to hear," Dey responded. "I know I can count on you."
Peter stood up and shook his hand warmly. The officer said, "I hope you have success. If you do, please return as quickly as you can."
"I will," Peter replied.
Dey added, "But please be careful with this info. As I told you, I'm pretty sure we have an internal problem. This can't get out. It would damage the reputation of the Corps. We need to solve it ourselves."
"Trust me. I won't say a word, not to anybody. I know what's at stake."
Peter left the office room and went back to see his companions. There was no time to lose.