Sam, Callen, and Hetty just came back from making the call with the person.
"When I thought we were going to be dealing with a person, I thought it was an actual person. How did that thing come to owe you a favor?" Hetty asked.
"We were out doing a job for you, when we got sidetracked and bailed that thing out." Sam said.
"Did it say that it will assist us?" Vera asked.
"Yeah. I got the drift that it wanted to get this over with, so it didn't have to be at our beckon and call anymore." Hetty said.
"Told you all you had to do was stand there." Callen said.
"For now. But I get the feeling that my services are going to be required later." Hetty said.
"Where are we to meet the machine that has the necessary information?" I asked.
"Actually, the machine wanted to talk to you, Mr. Deeks, before telling us what we wanted know." Hetty said.
"Not very often that I get called for by name." I said.
"They're waiting on the on the line in the cockpit." Sam said.
I head towards the cockpit, bracing myself for the coming conversation. One that I wasn't expecting.
"Go for Deeks." I said, opening the line. The screen was blank, but I couldn't forget the voice even if I wanted to.
"It's been a while, Deeks." A nondescript voice answered.
"Corius, is that you?" I asked.
"It is. I'm so glad you remembered." Corius said.
"Forget you, how could I? Do you not remember the times that I uploaded my consciousness into your consensus, and we would spend hours searching for answers. It was during one of those many searches that I found traces of Alpha Prime network, and the Omega clearance code. With that said and done, what was it that you needed to talked to me about?" I asked.
"The code in the Miltian divisions is a trap? Meant to lure in people in who are against the status quo." Corius said.
"Are you telling me that the Omega clearance code is myth?" I asked.
"No, it exists. You just have to go into the core systems to find the path to the planet were the code is." Corius said.
"Why?" I asked.
"The planet is deep in No Man's Space, at the edge of Known and Unknown space." Corius said.
"Do you have a clue how many planets we will have to search before we find the right planet?" I asked.
"I'm afraid I can not answer that question. The best I can do is point you to the cluster and wish you the best of luck." Corius said.
"Question for you Corius." I said/
"Yes, Deeks." Corius said.
"You can't answer the question because you are forbidden from answering, or someone removed that information from your databanks?" I asked.
There was a moment of silence before Corius responded.
"Searching. Searching. Searching. I can not find any relevant information to your query." Corius said.
"Someone has actively removed that information. Now the question is to figure out why. Is there anything else you needed from me, Corius?" I asked.
"Sending relevant information to you now. Just give it a few days before you head off. The cannibals have been stirred up into a frenzy and will be for a few days." Corius said.
"Wonderful." I said, as the line went dead.
I shut the line and went to fill everybody on what I just learned, but was stopped before I could leave the cockpit.
"Who's Corius?" a female voice asked.
I turned to see Astrid standing in the doorway.
"Corius is an A.I. that I spent time with before this whole wild goose started." I said.
"What's A.I.?" She asked.
"There isn't enough time in the day to unpack that whole conversation. You know how you think, feel, and act of your own free volition?" I asked.
"Yeah." she said.
"Same concept, but for machines. Machines are an artificial lifeform that you will encounter later in your adventure." I said.
"This is a lot to take in, but it gives me something to think about going forward." Orion said, from the hallway.
"You two still have much to learn in the coming days." I said.
"Can we stay with you?" Astrid asked.
"I'm afraid that's not possible." A female voice said.
We all turned to see that Hetty and Kavra join the group.
"Trust me on this, let it go." I said.
Astrid and Orion shared a look, one that both Hetty and I knew all to well, but they elected not to push their luck.
"What did the machine tell you Mr. Deeks?" Hetty asked.
"We have to go back to No Man's space to get to the Omega clearance code." I said.
"That's suicide mission." Kavra said.
"That it may be, but Deeks must have been given information that we don't have." Hetty said.
"It was you, Hetty, who sent me into the Unknown Regions in the first place. If I didn't know any better, Hetty you already knew about the Omega clearance code and the Alph Prime network." I said.
"Yes, to both, but I'm still lacking the location of either." Hetty said.
"That sounds about right." I said.
"What are we going to do?" Astrid asked.
"You will be following me. We will need to get you more suitable sleeves for the two of you so we can use your current sleeves when we go to reclaim Earth." Hetty said.
"Is it going to hurt?" Orion asked.
"I'll be with you every step of the way." Kavra said.
"Good." Astrid said.
Hetty was giving me a sideways glance, but kept it to herself until after Kavra, Astrid and Orion left.
"Are they really her kids?" Hetty asked.
"They're as much as her kids, as the four of us are your children." I said to Hetty.
"A fair point." Hetty said, and then left.
It was a good day or two before we left for the new search location.
Star Ocean-
No Man's Space-
Three days have passed since the meet up with Hetty. Kavra, Astrid, and Orion left with Hetty, while the four of us went back into cannibal territory. The chatter was through the roof, both in the cockpit, and on the radar.
"Deeks are you sure this is the best course of action, or even wise one even?" Callen asked.
"If we ever want to return to Earth, or at the least be rid of the Aeons, we have to do this." Kensi said.
"Are the Aeons even that big of a threat?" Sam asked.
"What? Are you even—"
"I got this Kensi." I said cutting Kensi off.
I brought up the galaxy map and started addressing Sam's question.
"To answer your question Sam, yes, Aeon's are that much of a threat. Here is the current galaxy map, as well as the current status of Aeon's presence. Here is a time-lapse view in the coming years." I said.
We watch as the time lapse view of the Aeon presence as it slowly engulfed the entire galaxy, until there was nothing left. The map was entirely covered with the color red.
"Does that answer your question?" Callen asked Sam.
"Yes, it does." Sam said.
"What now?" Kensi asked.
There was an alarm blaring in the cockpit. Callen changed the map to the sensors, and we all saw the cannibal fleet head in the opposite direction of us.
"Are the long-range sensors picking anything up?" I asked.
There was a moment of silence as Sam and Callen checked the sensors.
"I got nothing." Sam said.
"Bringing up a visual." Callen said.
It took me all of two seconds to realize what we were looking at, and then I opened a channel to Corius and asked. "We got Aeon's, what are the coordinates?"
Callen watched as the machine uploaded the coordinates for our next stop. Callen and Sam piloted the ship to the location that Corius plotted. I studied that area where we were heading so we wouldn't be blind-sided when we got there.
"Hey isn't this planet where the technology in our heads was created?" Kensi asked.
"Yeah… it was." Sam said.
"It was said that the man who created the technology that allowed us to survive the few millennia since we went into space, reused to have the technology implanted in his body. It was also said that he survived by going into stasis on some backwater planet near the edge of Unknown Space." Callen said.
"We'll see when we get there." I said.
I didn't want to say anything, but I heard those same tales of a man who did not implant his body with alien technology. Only problem is, if that is all true, the man would have severe health issues, and most likely close to death. We must be prepared for anything to come.
Callen and Sam piloted the ship at breakneck speed so as not to attract any unwanted attention. I keep an eye on the radar in case the cannibals' laid traps for any unsuspecting trespassers.
Star Ocean-
Planet X-
Seeing as nobody has been to this planet before, I'm designating it Planet X. I thought.
Planet X is a habitable planet with striking similarities to that of Earth. The sensor readout is that the planet is habitable, but from what we can physically, see it's a tropical planet.
"Deeks, does this planet have other climates or is it all tropical?" Sam asked.
"From the scanner, it's all tropical except for the south pole." I said.
"What's the climate?" Callen asked.
"Arctic to Antarctic." I said.
"Any signals coming from there?" Kensi asked.
We all looked at Kensi, but we all knew that was going to be the next question.
"There is." I said.
"Heading towards the South Pole." Callen said.
It took us thirty minutes to reach the South Pole, but what we saw was a little odd: It was a tropical settlement in the middle of snowy landscape.
"This looks like something out of a comic book." Kensi said.
"Seriously?" Callen said.
"In her defense, Kensi is referencing the Savage Land from Marvel Comics. But we're well aware that it's a work of fiction." I said.
"Should we land and investigate?" Sam asked.
"Right now?" Kensi asked.
"If the settlement has sensors, they are well aware of our presence on the planet." I said.
As if in cue, we heard the beeping coming from the computer that we were being hailed.
"Put it through." Kensi said.
Sam answered the call, and we all stared in shock.
"Agent Callen, Agent Hanna, Agent Blye, and Investigator Deeks. What brings you out to No Man's Space?" A male voice asked.
The man on screen was none other than Director Vance.