BATTLESHIP OSIRIS, SIGMA-13 SYSTEM

"And she didn't say anything else?"

"No," Trent said. "She said she wanted to speak to me and me only. Has Lord Hakkera said anything about her?"

"No," replied Orillion, "You're the only contact we've had with her. Something doesn't seem right."

"She sounded downright freaked about something to me. There's something strange about all this. I don't speak with her for six months, and all the sudden she calls me. I think she's in trouble."

"That's not behavior I would expect from Jun'ko. I think you may be right. What are your thoughts?"

"If she's in trouble, we have to get her out of there. We owe that to her. I think I should go. Alone."

Orillion was silent for a moment. "My instincts are against it, Trent. However, she seems to have a lot of trust in you, or else she wouldn't have contacted you first. All right, go to Ogashawa and find out what's going on. Be careful out there. If there's trouble, I want you out of there. Understood?"

"Got it. I'm going to take the Sabre again. It's best if I do this as incognito as possible."

"Very well. Get going."

GAS MINER OGASHAWA, SIGMA-19 SYSTEM

Trent walked into the bar and looked around. There was no sign of Juni anywhere, and Trent didn't want to ask around for fear that it may cause suspicion. He sat down and asked the bartender if he had a Sidewinder Fang. Surprisingly enough, he did.

"Excuse me, are you Trent?" said a man behind him.

Trent turned around to face the man. "Maybe. Why?"

"I was asked by a Jun'ko Zane to relay a message to a Mr. Trent. You match the description she gave."

"I'm Trent. What's the message?"

"She would like to meet you on C-deck, at the equipment dealer. That is all she said."

"Hmm. Thanks." Trent got up and turned to walk away. The man watched him for a moment, and followed him out.

Trent entered the equipment dealer shop and looked around.

"Trent? Is that you?" a familiar voice said.

Trent turned and saw Jun'ko Zane standing by a rack of ship cannons. He noticed that the rack was out of the view of most of the shop. Trent walked over and looked at her.

"It's been a long time. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Were you followed?"

"I don't think so. Now what the hell is going on?"

"We shouldn't talk here. Come on." Juni led him out of the equipment dealer toward a small storage room. She shut the door behind them.

"All right, Juni. Now what is going on?"

"Trent, I wanted to tell you that you and the Order are in grave danger. The Nomads know that you have the knowledge that may destroy them, and they are preparing to invade Sirius and render it desolate before you can use it against them. We won't be able to stop them this time."

"Juni, how do you know this?"

"I have my sources."

Trent was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. There was something slightly unsettling to all this.

"Why didn't you tell Orillion this. Why tell this to me?"

"Because I knew that if I contacted you, you would come without hesitation. After all, you still have feelings for me."

Trent looked down at the ground, not sure what to say.

"You humans are so predictable," Juni said.

"What?" Trent looked up to find Jun'ko Zane pointing a gun at him.

"Whoa, Juni. What the hell are you doing?"

"Taking advantage of an opportunity. What better way to destroy the Order, the one obstacle standing between us and domination of Sirius than to send back their top agent as one of us?" Juni walked toward him. Her eyes suddenly glowed with bright blue light.

"Good God, you're a Nomad!" Trent exclaimed.

"Very good, Mr. Trent. Now, Prepare to be enlightened. The pain will only last a moment." Juni walked toward him with eyes blazing with dazzling blue light as Trent backed up with nowhere else to go.

Suddenly a loud blast rocked the room as the door was blown from its hinges. Instinctively Trent threw himself to the floor. He heard several shots, then silence. He picked himself off the floor and saw Juni on the ground. King and the man who had delivered the message in the bar were standing in the doorway. King held a stun pistol.

"Come on," King said, "we need to get her into stasis fast! You okay, Trent?"

"I'm fine."

"Good. Let's get out of here!"

Trent, King and the as-yet-unnamed man ran toward the hangar. King carried Juni to his ship as several people in the hangar watched with inquisitive looks.

"Uh, King," Trent said, "What's going on?"

"Not now, Trent. I'll brief you in space."

Trent nodded, ran to his ship and engaged the launch sequence. In five minutes the three ships engaged their cruise engines and headed for the Sigma-13 jump hole.

"Now are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"Yeah," King replied. "First I need to introduce you to Mr. Yamato. He's an agent with the Order."

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Trent. I have heard much about you."

"Pleasure's mine, Yamato. Thanks for the help back there."

"Right," interrupted King. "Yamato sent a message to Orillion after he ran into Juni. He said she was acting very strange and kept saying that she had to meet Trent. Orillion diverted me here to make sure everything was all right. Looks like we got here just in time."

"What about Juni?" asked Trent. "What happens to her now?"

"We're going to put her in a stasis chamber on the Osiris. Word has it that we might be able to remove the Nomad parasite from her without killing her. But it's too early to know for sure. At least the stasis chamber will keep her alive until we can figure it out. And for what it's worth, Trent, I'm sorry I blew a gasket at you. Orillion told me that it was his idea."

"It's all right, King. Let's worry about Juni right now."

"All right, here's the jump hole. After you."

BATTLESHIP OSIRIS, SIGMA-13 SYSTEM

Trent looked at Juni, enveloped in the soft blue glow of the stasis chamber. Juni, or whatever she was, had been right. He did still have feelings for her, and he hoped that the Order scientists would be able to find a way to save her.

His thoughts were interrupted as Von Claussen walked into the room.

"She is tough and defiant, Mr. Trent. She will pull through."

"I'm really trying to believe that, "Trent replied.

"Your belief may not be in vain, my friend. I have news for you. Our scientists are ready to try to remove the Nomad.

Trent exhaled. "I want to be here when they do it."

"Come, my friend. They must prepare her for the extraction."

Juni lay on a surgical bed that was covered in an unbreakable glass shield. This was done in case something went wrong and the Nomad parasite tried to escape.

Trent, King, Von Claussen and Orillion were in the room along with Dr. Reinhardt, the Order's chief medical officer.

"Doctor Reinhardt," Orillion said, "Please begin your briefing."

"Gentlemen, what we are about to attempt has never been tried before. We will be attempting to remove a Nomad parasite from a human host body.

"As you know, everyone who has been 'infected', for lack of a better word, has eventually died from the parasite. Most were killed when we activated the Hyper Gate in the Dyson Sphere. We believe that we can now safely remove the infestation without killing the host.

"Since the narcotic cardamine is a deadly poison to the Nomads, we will attempt to weaken, and possibly terminate the parasite by administering a small dose of the drug, and gradually increasing the dose. Once the parasite has been sufficiently weakened, we will then surgically remove the parasite from the host body.

"Please be aware that this is a procedure that has never been attempted, and that we are unsure of the potential consequences. We are confident, however, that this is the best solution."

"What about cardamine dependence?" asked Orillion.

"Since dependence is based almost exclusively on repeated use, that shouldn't be a problem. With your permission, we're ready to proceed."

Very well, Doctor. Proceed."

Dr. Reinhardt walked over to the surgical table. "Stand by. Administering initial dose. 20cc's."

Trent watched as the drug was injected into Juni's body. Suddenly she began to twitch.

"Looks like it's having an effect. Life signs?"

"Colonel Zane's are stable," replied his assistant.

"Increase dosage. 30 cc's."

Juni's body continued to convulse. Suddenly the blue neck of a Nomad parasite emerged from her mouth. The parasite was thrashing about in agony.

"Life signs are starting to fluctuate!"

"Increase to 50 cc's!"

Juni's body gave one last heave, and the Nomad turned a sickly gray and flopped limply to the bed.

"Nomad life signs are flatline! Colonel Zane's are critical!"

"Let's get this thing out of her! You four, "he said, addressing Trent, King, Von Claussen and Orillion, "I must ask you to leave now. I will keep you appraised on her condition."

The four men got up to leave. Trent took one last look at Juni as the surgical team prepared her.

To be continued…..

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