A fiction to remind us that how far mankind ever get in exploring, and colonising new worlds, we still be human, bringing all our faults and error with us............. Chapter 1. He stod there, looking out over the landscape and took another deep breath..remembering and enjoying the smells he missed soo long, his beard was long after almost a week in that shuttle, and You could see the chinbones clearly from malnutrition.. He was all messed up inside, and the only thing he was certain of right now, was his own name, everything had been taken from him, but not that..He still had that..It was Alex Billington, and even though they put a number on him, they couldnt erase that. I´m back, he thought, and now it soon be reckoning day. It was just an hour ago he still where flying that little shuttle and he thought back on his escape from Space station X3, where he spent his last 2 years.. He where deported there, due to wrongfull ackusations, framed by the woman he loved, and some of her friends. When USG, the United Safe Guard picked him up just outside his home that morning, he was totally unprepaired, and since the system had already judged him and everything was in order according to the Calypsian Council, he was immediately deported to SS X3, to serve a life sentence there. He was ackused of stealing governement science knowledge from the United Science Centers Special Branch, where he been working as a chief scientist since he first arrived at Calypso.. And for selling it to the Jargonians on the planet Schyldrian close to Calypsos most distanced outpost in the solarsystem.. And now...here he was again, back on his planet, feeling all the smells and hearing all the noices in PVP 1, where he was at the moment.. Stealing the shuttle was easy, because for some reason, they put him in charge of that repaircenter on SS X3 ? Crazy ! Letting a high qualified scientist, expert in spacetravels and computers work with it up there, thats begging for trouble.. Well..he had to wait 2 years before they trusted him enough to work alone, but he needed the time to think and analyse everything anyway, and now he had his plan complete.. It was just a matter of putting it in real action.. It was easy to figure out how to be undetected at Calypso, he remembered the chrashed cargoship in the river canyon near PVP 1, so he landed straight in to its opened cargoroom, and as soon as he did that, he activated the selfdestruction system in the shuttle, and blow it up in there.. It was a genious move, because that cargoroom was full of debrie, the last place they would look for the shuttle, and even if they did, it was impossible to separate one debrie from another.. He was fully aware that both Calypso and Amathera right now would be full of Survailance robots looking for the shuttle with all means.. Even better was that he didnt had much to fear from people around, because since Amathera where discovered, almost every old colonist had moved there actions there, and Calypso was mostly occupied by n00bs, as they called the newly arrived colononists.. He run out in to PVP1 right after, and now he stod there, almost in the center of it..it hadnt been easy, without weapons to avoid the Troxes and Calamusoids, but since his passion besides his work, was hunting and wildlife, combined with a former very special military training, he managed to stay alive . Next step was to get to the nearest town, because he couldnt use the tp:s unless he got his hands on a digipass, otherwise the system would recognise him as an alien and he be killed by the built in security system. But first of all, he needed to get to the misty mountains North of Orthos, also known as the spiderpit, because there he had some resources hidden, a habit from his days in the service back on earth.. While he started to walk he was thinking of the fact that the Calypsian council knew nothing about his former military career on earth, but then understood that they couldnt get that information from earth since it was all highly classified, and that the United Nations back on earth didnt recognise the Calypsian Council as a legit governement yet. He was greatful for that, because that gave him an advantage, even if he didnt know how to use it yet, or if he ever would use it. It took him almost all day to make that bypass around the popular hunting areas around Orthos and to reach the horse shoe shaped mountainchain surrounding the spider pit. Also he had to make a big detour and move in from the SW side to avoid the heavy concentration of Biffs and Spiders in the valley.. It was almost dark when he started to climb the SW end of the mountain, and when he estimated he reached some 300 meters he decided to rest for a while, because then it was all dark, and it would have been risky to continue climbing the mountain in darkness, especially since he now had reached the zone where the mountain was covered with ice and snow.. He was very happy for the suit he took from the shuttle, since it was a rescueshuttle it had several survivalsuits, who easily kept him warm for 48 hours due to built in fuelcells.. While in prison he had to give up smoking, since it was prohibited due to the sealed station, and the lack of aircleaners.. Space Staion X3, was one of the oldest there was, and since the systems in it couldnt handle too much, they decided to use it as a deportation prison, who cared if some prisoners with lifesentences would die in advance? But now, he really longed for a cigarette, and while he thought about that, his beloved one came to his mind... Well, no doubt about that, he smiled while thinking, one of several reason that made him fall in love with her, where her canieving nature, and her ambitions to reach the top, she was a wild one, he gave her that, and he used to love when she flipped out over something, or him, but it always used to end up with them close together, smoking a cigarette after.. The thoughts of her also reminded him that it was more then two years since he last had the sence of a woman in his system, and he shivered a bit in the cold air.. When he woke up in the cold morning, he could hear the growl from the Biffs down in the valley, because the mountainsides created a soundchamber, so the sound was carried all the way up.. He chewed on a couple of nutriobars he took from the ship, and realised it was the first time they where any good.. The prisoners where only fed with nutriobars, since real food was to difficult to arrange up there, and why send food to prisoners when deacent people deserved it better.. Only problem was that according to his estimations, only 35 % of the prisoners belonged there, the rest where people like him self, wrongfully judged by a Council that never held any trials, just listened to ackusations, and then deported them to SS X3.. Why had it gone that far down the drain ? He often wondered about it, and finally he came to the result that it was greed again, the worst thing the colonists brought with them to Calypso.. It made him think of the history, the great goldrusch in Klondike, almost five hundred years ago.. It was similar to the colonistation of Calypso, and later Amathera. Greed was the true poison for mankind, and the only source that could make people do the most horrible thing against another human beeing.. He remembered the drugwars on earth, people selling drugs to young children to gain fortunes from it.. There where no drugs on Calypso, but they couldnt exterminate greed, it was a built in feature for many people, sadly....and people always found new ways to be greedy.. He waited until the sun was warm enough, and by using some leafs from the Tuscybush who could stand any climate, he managed to collect enough fresh water from the mountainside to ease his thirst..an hour to get water, he thought..I better get moving or I be here for good.. It was almost dark again when he reached the top, and tried to locate the spot..He hadnt been here since his old friend got killed up here 3 years ago.. He went back in time in his mind, and remembered the last time they where hunting together.. His old friend where concerned, and not in a very good mood..and on his questions he answered with one word..”wimen” Yepp, thats what bothered his friend, and now he was in the same situation, but he was determined to survive instead.. His old friend went of a couple of days later on a crazy searchparty for a socmember of his, and later he went off on his own, and got killed up here.. It took Billington all his skills but almost no time to find his friend that time, because the body had been discovered by n00bs on an excursion, but they where soo scared so they forgot to note the location.. That didnt stop Billington, since he and his old friend had very good knowledge of this area, soo he soon figured out where to look. When he found his friend, he completed the tomb started by the noobs, and made a script of rocks on the ground.. He stayed there 3 days mourning his friend before he returned, and now he was back again.. The place out on the edge of the mountaintop looked the same, and the remains of the troxes where still there..in the beginning darkness he saw the blue light from a broken Enblade, and also some remains of other weapons his friend used to try to survive.. Once again, he closed his eyes, and tried to imagine the battle that took place here three years ago.. After cleaning up among the hard vegetation that almost covered the script on the ground, he turn around to find the small cave where he left some stuff last time. It was blocked by a rather large stone, and took all his remaining strenght when he removed it. He found that deep hole the last time, and decided to hide some supplies there, just in case...if he ended up hunting here, cause he didnt want to share his friends destiny due to lack of ammo and supplies. He felt the soft Biffoidskin he used to wrap it with, and the heavy parcel slowly came out in the fading daylight. His memory failed him a bit about the content, because he where quite upset that time, and didnt remember exactly what he put in the skin. He unwrapped the rifle, a good old DAR 9300, probably outdated today, by some newer weapon, but still a very powerfull rifle for long distances.. When he took out the E-amp 15 and checked it, the powercell said that it was fully functional.. Thank God for old Craftsmanship he said to himself, and mounted it on the rifle together with the scope and 2 lasers. 80.000 ammo will do for a while..He laughed when he tried to remember why on earth he stacked that much away..and again, when he found the same amount of propellants to the Maddox he found in the package.. The clothes in the parcel where old and probably not modern any more, he had them since his first days here, and used them for hunting..but it was good though, because in those clothes, people spotting him, would take him for a HH, meaning a hunting hermite..lots of them around, who only came to town once or twice a year, otherwise they where only spotted at an outpost.. And for now he could use the survivalsuit under these clothes, then he could live trough any weather if he spared the fuelcells in it carefully.. He made a small fire behind some rocks, and prepared a meal of dried beef and some other old fashioned hunterfood that was stached in the hole.. While looking trough the last bag in the hole, he sat down with a crazy grin on his face, and then he slowly took out a pack of...Yess!! Cigarettes..Oh my! He cried out, I wonder what I was thinking that day up here.. After a good meal, and his first smoke for 2 years, he slowly loaded the weapons, hang the Survivalblade on his leg, and packed the rest of the stuff in a bag.. With the bag as a pillow, he lay there and looked up on the stars, trying to gather his thoughts, but soon his eyes started to close on him, and his last thought awake was.. Let the game begin tomorrow, and may the best win...then he faded in to sleep.. Chapter 2 At daybreak, Billington slowly woke up, and as soon as the early sun started to warm him a little, he raised and began to do some breakfast out of the supplies he had.. He had been cautious when he arranged that supplystack, even some coffe in it, and that was something more he been missing these years.. While he felt the cafein running trough his brain, and the effect of the nicotin started him up as never before, he suddenly realised... He had to do something awful, but yet necessary ! Well..No idea to wait, just get on with it he said to him self, and began to remove stone by stone..the stones he stapled upon his friends body remains 3 years earlier.. It took him sometime, but soon he could see whats left of his friend, and the atrox that died with his friend in its jaws.. The clothes where almost undestroyed, but it was high air, and not much moist in this altitude, so why not.. He slowly went trough the pockets, and also lifted up the remains of the belt, and there it was, the digipass he needed, now he might be able to use the tp:s, all depending on how good the system worked.. What if the digipass was disabled since the rightful owner was dead?? Well, the council hadnt been very intelligent sofar, so why should they bother about a dead man, even if they always disabled the digipass for someone wanted or doomed.. In one of the pockets he found something even more vaulable..the pm transmitter, they took his once, but this should contain almost the same names he once had on his friendlist.. But how many where still alive, or still around? He backed off a bit, and stood there, looking at the remains, and the bright morning sun reflected in what looked like tears in his face..It was...he wiped them off and began to staple stones again, making every effort to build a pile similar to the one before.. When the work was done, he once again stod there with sadness written in his face.. Im off now my friend , he said, Dont know if I succeed, and if not, well..I meet You soon enough I guess, and we have a beer again, just for old times sake.. He picked up the gear from the ground, cleaned the space from every trace of him, and took a last glance at the script on the ground.. “ Boomer rests here, master of OA”, then he turned around and started to walk downhills.. He decided to take a tour trough the old Umbranoid camp just above the river passing Orthos, he didnt know where else to go, but it was probably empty, so he could use one of the shacks there as his quarter.. While walking he remembered when he and Boomer used to hunt the Umbranoids down, and how good the loot usually was.. Umbies useually roobed and murdered innocent miners passing the area, and took there minerals and other belongings.. Funny though, the ironi in it, both he and Boomer found their destiny due to a woman, and that camp used to be female Umbies..perfect spot for a basecamp, he laughed at the thought, and raised his speed to get to the camp before daylight vanished.. At least the camp looked like he remembered, that little watertower, the hacks, and that broken fence around it.. It was like time had stod still since he last was here, and he rounded the shack without any hesitation. He almost fell when he felt that burning sensation in his left arm, and when he turned around, his eyes met the ones of a young female Umbranoid, it took him a lot longer then he expected to get the Survivalblade out of its shed on his right leg, and he was surprised that the Umbranoid didnt attacked him again. There was something with her eyes, and when he looked at her, he saw that she was blind, she had made the atack with her other sences, and it was more out of luck she managed to hit him. When he raised his knife to kill her, he hesitated, and instead he grabbed her wrist and twuisted the knife out of her hand, thats when she jumped him, and they both rolled over on the ground. her strength amazed him, he never been in close combat like this with them before, and this one fought like a lioness protecting her cubs. After a intense struggle, he managed to get her face down and locked her arms behind her back. Nothing could have surprised him more then hearing her voice.. “Please, dont kill me” Since when did the Umbranoids start to talk english? He never heard anything but moaning and gasping from them during the years, but on the other hand, had he ever tried to talk to them?? “Please, let go of me, I wont attack You” she said, and even if he didnt know why, he let her up, waiting for her next move. He studyed her carefully while he tried to determine his damages, and when he saw it was just a fleshwound in his upper arm, he relaxed, and took out some bandages to put on. She started to talk again. Im sorry, she said, I thought You where one of the outlaws, so I wanted to protect my sisters. Outlaws? What are You talking about? He was a bit confused and eager to hear her out.. The outlaws You know, they come here since most of us been exterminated, they usually go here to amuse themselves, if You understand what I mean..My two sisters and I managed to stay away for long now, but 4 months ago, they caught me alone, and they took ,my eyes out, she said.. Thats why I try to guard here, since Im the one having the least to lose.. He felt like a cold breeze just run across his neck ! What the hell was this?? What had gone in to people?? And the more she told him, the more it convinced him that the Council totally failed to make Calypso a good place, when they accepted that people like those outlaws did whatever they wanted.. Even if it always been free huntingseasons on the Umbies due to their hostility, well, there where limits, boundrys not to pass.. He didnt understood why he told her his story, but she listened to him, and said.. We do have contacts now among humans, ppl that help us out a bit, since the hostility no longer exist in general between us, but we stay on our turf, and keep out of reach for safety.. She told him a lot about what happend on the planet while he was gone, about the spacetrips trough beamers, about the big findings of ore and enmatter, that made people crazy, how they tried to do almost anything to get their hands on a massive finding.. It had gone worse then Klondyke, that was for sure, traders doing enormous profits on newly found equippment needed for mining, and other usefull stuff.. The council, who made new rules almost every week, changing the concept as the pleased, to get the colonists to fight each other to get their hands on the biggest profits, made them invest more and more in eqippment supplied by the council. She said that there still where some opportunists out there, who helped newcomers to adapt without any other reason then just to give a helping hand, but they where doomed to go down according to her, since they devoted their time to much to the newcomers, and had little time to support them selves. While she finished talking, he heard soft fotsteps, and suddenly two Umbies came around the corner. She said something in a strange language to them, and they started to greet him in english, it was her two sisters. They said it was safer to follow them up to the other shack in higher ground where the river did that sharp bend, since not many knew about it, hidden as it was under the heavy vegetation. They offered him food, and he ate with good apetite, and when they told him to stay the night he accepted, but he slept with one eye open, and his Maddox in his hand...just in case.. At least he thought soo, but when he woke up, the sun stod high, and he realised he been sleeping heavily, so if they wanted to kill him during the night, he would have been without a chance. He was alone when he woke up, but soon the girls, (Yes, according to him, they where perfect girls, except for their grim faces) returned, and with them they had a bag and a big box. They opened the box and took out maps from it, “Its new maps”, the blind one said, lots have happend during Your absence, new towns, new tp:s, new shopcontainers, and new areas owned by colonists who regenerated a lot of mobs in them. You will need these to be able to forfill Your mission. When they opened the bag, it contained weapons , and other things.. We killed some of the outlaws, they said, and they had a lot of new technology on them..ever used a tp chip? Nope, he said, wasnt available when I where here last, he said, tell me about it. He had forgotten about the tremendous pain, when inserting a new mindforce implant, because he was heavily sedated that time when the USG removed everything from him, but now it was like yesterday again, and after he tried to get rid of that headach.. He stayed with the Umbiegirls for one more day, and learned everything about the new things he got from them. They also offered him a new armor, Supremacy something they said, but for now he didnt want it, unsure if the hermite hunters really had such now a days, and his disquise as such was important for his mission. He took a harness though, the good old Vigilante, he wanted it just to protect him self a bit from direct chest hits, even though he didnt know if it was any good against new weapons. It was time to start his long walk to reach Cape Corinth, and he was afraid to use the digipass yet, if it was deactivated, or if the system should recognise it as a non valid, but he recon he could get there quite fast with the tp chip, he´d been training all day to use it with help from the Umbie girls, and he where amazed over how it took him from point to point in seconds. After promising the Umbies to return, and to keep quiet about them, he started of, but he run off first, as long as the terrain allowed him, to gain strenght and health back..He really needed the excercise. When he sat down and arranged for a cop of hot coffee after some hours, he took out the pm transmitter from its case, and he was surprised to se it was activated, but in the same time happy, because it had troubled his mind, what would happend if he turned it on, and everyone on Boomers friendlist suddenly saw a ghost in their list?? He guessed the pm transmitter would have screemed from incoming messsages, because their had been a lot of roumors about Boomer beeing dead or not. Well, the device was lithium powered, so it would last for 10 years, and it only been out there for 3, so he wasnt afraid it failed him, he just had to remember to leave it on, so none should get suspicious, and he needed to evaluate carefully, whom to contact when time was in, and how to explain. When looking at the list, he realised that none of the names there had OA as soc, not one of the ppl, he knewed, they all had prefixes of other socs before their names, socs he never even heard of. Well, either Old Alphas is dead as a soc, or people just moved on, it will be hard though, to find someone to trust, he thought..as long as they belonged to OA, he was sure everyone where trustful, but now?.. He saw his own name there on the list, but it was off course not active, and his socname, Scientist Supreme, wherent there.. He had to visit a socterminal, and find out a lot of things.. He finally reach the outer part of Cape, and he slowly went closer, and while hiding behind some threes, he took off a scope from his DAR and used it as a binoculare to get an overwiev of the area.. Almost no people at all there, Cape who had been a rushy place back then, and now it where only 10-15 people outside the servicecenter. He stod almost 800 meters away from town, and he never reacted on the steps, so that deep growl surprised him a lot, and he turned around to meet the open jaws of an Atrox Guardian ! What the hell, he thought, where did You came from, should only be Sabakumas here as he know, and with that thought in his head he automatically rasied and unsecured his Maddox, while he started to move backwards. He always loved that gun due to its firerate, usualy it hit the mob so fast it had no time to hurt him, but he was quite rusty after all, so he was happy about the harness.. What he didnt counted on was that every mob had grown stronger during his absence, due to heavy hunting and mutation from landowners, so he got some real blowes, and felt he didnt had enough strength to stand against an Atrox without armour, like he used to. Just before he blacked out from a massive strike by the Atrox left paw, he heard gunfire from a laserweapon, then everything went black, and a blessing peace surrounded him.. Chapter 3 When she saw him struggling with that Atrox, and realised he was going down, she hurried up to his aid, and hoped that her ammo would be enough after her long hunting trip, but he already had that Atrox almost down before he fell, so she killed it with only two shots.. At first she thought of healing him right there, but since he was seriously wounded, she decided to take him to her beach house south of Cape.. When she leaned over him, that´s when she recognised him.. Oh My God! She cried out, it really is Whisper..Alex “Whisper” Billington.. It’s impossible; he was deported for life to a space prison?? She had a hard time carrying him to her house, but she realised he was quite thin, and even if he never been heavy, well. Now he was light due to the bad nourishing in the prison.. And now she looked at him, sleeping in her bed, and her thoughts went back in time, she had a big crush on him when they arrived to Calypso almost in the same time.. Yes, he was a lot older, but as they say..love is blind.. Then he met that woman, Jennie Despriee, who totally twisted his mind, and got him around her pinkie like nothing. Well, he paid his dues for that mistake, that’s for sure. Everyone in his friend circle knew what happened when that female dog framed him. She never knew her nick, but thought “female dog” was appropriate, she laughed at the thought. He had been at her house for two days now, sleeping all time, but the first night he had been delirious, with high fever, and after, he got the chill, shaking like a leaf in the bed.. She had crawled down to keep him warm without hesitation, and she smiled when she wriggled her body closer to him, to transfer her heat to him.. What do I do if he wakes up? And find me here. Almost naked beside him?.. Could be a laugh, she thought.. She was pulled out of her thought when he was moaning, and after a while he opened his eyes.. He looked at her for a moment, and then opened his mouth… Nea? Is it really you? How? I mean, where am I, and what happened? Hysch! Stay put, I will bring You some hot tea, and a sandwich, You need liquid for the dehydration, and some food to regain Your strength. Then we talk, she said and gave him a comforting smile.. She noticed that her heartbeat raised while she prepared his meal, it was different now, when he was awake, it got to her in another way. She sat there while he chewed his sandwich, and then he sat up a bit, and enjoyed the tea. She asked him about his whereabouts and how he could be on Calypso, and when he told her about his escape, she said: That explains the high security the last week, lots of robots from USG, and raids in the bars and shop centres almost every day. You cant go around out there yet Alex, they will find You at once. I have to, he said, I need to find out a lot of facts, so I can clear this up, I don’t intend to spend my life on SS X3, that`s for sure. Easy now, Nea replied, I will help You gathering the information You need, but first I can tell You what I already know. She told him that Jennie Despriee got her reward for framing him, and sold their little house at once, she now lived in a big villa with a lake view on the new continent, and there where always Hughes parties going on there.. Don´t You worry, she said, That lady knows how to amuse her self, lots of men there, a new one every week, and they made her a member of the USG Security Council as well. She will walk over corps to get what she wants, believe me. She has a couple of goons that follows her around everywhere, and she better, because I guess there is one or two who wouldn’t hesitate to help her out of her misery, if they had a shot at her. He sat there with a sad face, and she could feel his pain when he said. I really loved that woman, I still do, and yet I know its crazy, but who can control the heart? She was everything to me Nea, she was my life. She doesn’t deserve You Alex, no matter what, she should be grateful that You wasted Your love on her that long, she treated You like a poo, and I would like to rip her satisfied grin from her face. I have known You for very long, and in my eyes You are a decent, caring man that deserves a woman who really appreciate You..Right? Ojkey, okey, he said..Enough flattering now, can I have my clothes please? And would You mind? Turn around please.. She smiled when he stood up to dress, and she looked at him trough the mirror, she laughed, and said, Who do You think took of Your clothes to take care of Your wounds? He He, I washed your body from top to toe Alex, and I enjoyed every second of it. She laughed loudly at his face .. He blushed a little, but realised she really had, well, so what, he thought. He took out the maps he got from the Umbies and told her about his meeting with them. Shiit! She said, I was hunting Umbies last week, but now I have to reconsider that. Never know they where like that, but its good to hear, because I never liked to kill them anyway, but they do carry good loot. Nea helped him out with the map, and showed him even more tp:s and other spots that came since the Umbies got the map, he sat beside her and looked at her, thinking: Nea, the girl that always put her makeup on before she hunt, so vain that she needed to be perfect even to visit her storage, always perfectly dressed for the occasion, and her hair, every straw where in perfect order. She was a smart girl too, so he guessed that her vanity was just play for the fun of it. He knew she was a really good hunter, and she had always been a good friend to both him and Boomer. That woke some memories, so he told her about his visit at Boomers tomb, and she said, I´d really like to visit that place one day, will You take me there? And he promised her that, since he knew she would keep the place secret for ever. Suddenly, someone was banging on the door, and he throwed himself at the chair beside the bed, to reach his Maddox, while Nea took out her gun from its holster. She went to the door to look, and seconds later he heard a loud and noisy laughter, and seconds later the face of Vaps stood there looking at him.. What the hell old man?? What are You doing here?? Never thought I see you again, but geeze, Im happy to see you I could ask You the same old mate Alex smiled, What are you doing here? Even though its nice to see Your ugly face again, and that awful haircut of Yours. Ohh, Vaps replied, you know me, if there are beutyful girls somewhere, You find me there too, He he… They sat for a long time, talking about old days at first, then Vaps wanted to hear about the escape, and he laughed about the shuttle in the crashed cargo ship.. Well, they may have the power right now, the Council, but brains never been their strong side, he laughed. I suppose You are going to stir up some dust shortly, so I will speak to the others in cK, and I´m sure we all will help You out when its time. And if we contact some other old friends with caution, I guess we will gather a great bunch of ppl willing to have a little riot, to cause some trouble to the Council, He he.. Alex was happy about Vaps attitude, and realised that old friends is something You can count on forever, and he remembered that time when he and Boomer just had arrived to Calypso, and Vaps shot Boomer in PVP1, and then a couple of weeks later, Boomer challenged Vaps in a duel.. It was like David vs. Goliath, with the exception that they both had MANN MPH, and Vaps was a veteran already, with great HP. It had been really fun, and off course Vaps got victorious, but just slightly due to lag, and after he took Boomer on a long hunting trip, and teached him a lot of useful trix. The daylight slowly went off, and Vaps had to go, but promised to get back later with information, and they decided to use Boomers pm transmitter to keep in touch.. Scary, Vaps said, like talking to a ghost, even if I know its You I`m talking to..I often been looking at Boomers name in the list, always online, and I thought that if I get a message from it, I would poo my pants for sure.. They shook hands and Vaps left them alone again. Nea prepared a delightful supper, and they ate it without saying a word, Both occupied with thoughts of their own. After dinner, Alex asked about Old Alphas, since it seemed all members got to other socs. Nea told him that many left when Boomer disappeared, but some oldies where still there, and some new members had come too, among them Ayla Payne, the former queen of Aquarius, and that Electro the old wise man still hold the fort. Alex was surprised when Nea told him that Boomer still was the Master of OA, and asked why? As far as I know, they all refuse to accept that he is gone, and since those in the first circle can handle everything administrative, they never voted for another Master.. Hmm.. seems there is a lot to find out he thought, but first I need to find Dinara, because she has connections on every level, and she if anyone, could get the inside information he needed.. Also, she was someone he without doubt would put his life on steak for, someone he could trust without fear. We better get a nap now, we have a lot to do tomorrow, Nea said, and went to the bedroom. He sat there, and took one of his precious cigarettes, the first in many days, when she called him, and said.. Are You coming? He raised from the chair and went to the bedroom door,.. I´m almost okey now, so I wont take up Your bed anymore, he said with a smile.. I´m sleeping on the coach, if that okey with You.. No, its not, she replied, but have it Your way, I will give You an extra duvet my friend, and wish you a good nights sleep then.. He took the duvet from her and laid down on the coach, under the newly washed and fresh smelling duvet. He looked at the smoke from his cigarette, and tried to put the last days together, to find out what to do next.. All the information he got from Nea and Vaps, made him realise he had to change his earlier plans. In the same time, just outside PVP1, a group of USG men stood in the cargo room of the old cargo ship, looking at a little black box, and if Alex could have seen them, he would realise he had to change his plans even more.. The only thing his tired brain forgot was the black box, almost impossible to destroy, and off course the rescue centre picked up the distress signal from the shuttle, but since the shuttles where outranged from other newer space stations, it took some time to determine the ID odf the shuttle.. The council didn’t put much effort in keeping records of such material.. One of the USG:s sent a message to the Council, and when the it reached the Security Officer, he immediately sent a patrol to Jennie Despriees house. When she opened the door, the patrol heard loud music, and they also saw a lot of people in there, looking like they had a real ball. They told her about Alex Billingtons escape, and she stood there while the color in her face shifted to ash grey.. Chapter 4 Jennie Despriee just stood there on the porch, watching the USG: s leaving, and suddenly she felt cold, even though the night was warm.. Her mind was totally occupied with this new unexpected problem..Shiit! Alex was supposed to be permanently out of her life by the actions she been taking.. Now he was here again, and he would certainly want a word or two with her. She realised that she underestimated him, even though she knew about his skills in several areas, and that he had a brilliant analytic mind. Suddenly, she remembered how it was to see him real angry, and how he reacted on foul play, The fear rushed through her veins, and she turned around and run in to the house.. Hey! She shouted, Party is over, I want everybody out ! Now !! As soon as the last one left her, she run in to her chamber, and took out her guns.. The fear was complete now, and her irrational behaviour made it even stronger.. She closed the curtains, put out all lights and sat there in the darkness, armed to her teeth, and waited for the unavoidable..His return, his revenge.. In the meantime, Cpt. Shogell, security officer at the Council gathered his staff and informed them about the situation. We have to find Billington, he said while his mind was occupied with how Despriee fooled him to help her in framing Billington. He understood that he would end up on Billingtons FTK list sooner or later, and while giving orders to his staff, he tried to find a way out of it all.. At least he had some dirty files he could use against Despriee, but he doubted that it would make Billington forgive him. Hopefully he be able to blame everything on her, and as a last resort, he could always turn her in, to make a deal for his own safety. Nea and Alex had a quick breakfast the next morning when Alex suddenly got a message from Vaps on the PM transceiver. He is coming here soon, so we better wait for him, Alex said while he lit a cigarette and really enjoyed the smoke, even though he knew as a scientist, it would kill him…but what the heck, something else probably will before.. When Vaps arrived and they sat there with a hot coffee, he told them that his mates in cK always enjoyed a fight, especially to stop something like this, cK had their honour, and even though they had a “bad” reputation, they where a bunch of ppl who easily stood up for justice. They had a discussion, and the suggestion was that Alex should join a couple of cK: s in their spaceship, and hide out up there for a while, so everyone could collect necessary facts, and they be sure Alex was safe in the meantime.. USG almost never visited the space station, and it was a great mix of both hunters and outlaws up there, so Alex wouldn’t have any problem to blend in and keep away.. Nea was going to look up some of Billingtons oldest friends to find out if they where reliable, then tell Alex. Vaps had some inside connections at USG, since a year back, when some groups decided to infiltrate the Council to stay a head of them, and avoid surprises. Alex decided to take a chance, or rather, he know it would be safe.. He contacted Electro, one of the few still on Old Alphas list, and as he expected, Electro answered right on without a sign of surprise.. “ Hey, good to hear from You, I have been waiting for You my friend..after loosing Boomer I never doubted for a second that You would come back some way..what can an old man do to help You?” I need to know who the members in Old Alphas are today, and whom we can trust, Alex said. Also if You have any additional information about Jennie Despriee and her whereabouts.. Electro laughed and said: Count on me my friend, those thinking they can count me out due to my age will learn different..I get back to You as soon as I have the information for You. For a starter, I can tell You that You can trust and rely on every single member in OA right now, I give You my word on that, and if they get a chance to help You out of this, You can bet they will.. When the morning sun came, it was a very tired and frustrated Jennie Despriee who tried to arrange a cop of coffee, to “wake” up after her sleepless night.. Her brain worked on overtime to find a way to get out of it all, and she had been planning an escape during the night..after all she had a quite big fortune stacked away.. During these two years, she been doing her best to build it up with all means, and her membership in the Council had made it a bit easier too.. Problem was though, returning to earth was a problem, because there she was officially dead, since she had to arrange that due to a lot of ppl who was looking for her, mostly men.. Billington wasn’t the first one she trashed on her way to fame.. Her new identity and the trip on the colonisation ship had been costly, and now she had to do it all over again, only trouble was, she had to get some papers first, and make sure she could return as someone else.. Damned, why couldn’t she be a little less greedy, it was stupid of her to frame Billington the way she did, but it was his own fault she thought.. He was getting to close to her, and she felt that panic..no man should get inside her..never.. Men was only tools she used to get what she wanted in life..of course she needed them for bodily satisfaction too, but not for long.. Later that day, Alex followed Vaps to cK:s spaceship, and none even looked at him, assuming he was just another of these hunter going to space.. On the arrival, Vaps took him to one of the bars, where there was a lot of lap dancing, and none had any interest in looking at arrivals.. There was to much else to keep an eye on.. At one of the tables in a shady corner, there was a man sitting..Vaps introduced Alex to him, and said; Backstabber here will help You as long as You are up here, he isn’t much to trust, but he fears cK more then anything else, so You should be safe with him.. To be frank, I know You will, because I have some undone business with Backstabber, and he will support You in everything to avoid having a discussion with my enblade Vaps laughed.. Pm me if there is anything at all mate, I will go back and see what I can find out in the meantime.. Alex sat down and when he got his drink, he studied Backstabber closer.. Most significant was a long scar from his chin, across his left cheek, all the way up on his forehead, and it glowed white against his dark skin in the shady lights.. Backstabber smiled, and said..well Vaps gave me that a year ago, when he caught me stealing from him, he could have killed me back then, but didn’t, so I guess I owe him my friend.. Vaps pm:ed me about Your case, so we will meet another guy here later on, who have some useful information, and maybe even some useful stuff for You.. Enjoy the lap dancing in the meantime, cause we will be here for a couple of hours.. Meanwhile, Nea, back on Calypso went off to Troy, where the Council and USG had their headquarter in the tall building behind the service centres.. She had some ideas of her own, she wanted to try out. She had no problems to drop her lighter outside, and to get the guard at the entrance to pick it up.. He was amazed over her smile and her looks, and Nea used her skills to get him to loosen up on his knowledge.. Never knew that this building was so important, she said, must be a lot of ppl working here.. I guess You don’t even know half of them or what they are doing, she said with a nice planted smile against him.. I mean, she added, off course they wouldn’t let a guard know about everything, would they? He looked right in to her flickering eyes, and tried to look like he was the boss of it all, and said.. Hey, I happened to know a lot, I know everyone working here, its my job.. If something happens, I must know where to go straight on.. I don’t believe You, Nea said..I think Your trying to impress an innocent girl like me.. There are surely other guards, who will have the responsibility to protect different levels if something happens.. I mean how could You possibly be able to reach the Lab or the Councils quarter in short time if something goes wrong..She laughed a little, and gave him one of her glimtz again, and he took the bate.. If You just knew, he said, there is a special express elevator behind that side door, and every guard has a special card giving them access to it, so it wouldn’t take me more then 15 seconds to reach the top floor where the council presides, and less the 10 seconds to level 8 where the Lab is. My! That’s nice, she said..So there is only You then? Cant be use for more guards since You are on top of it all ready? No, even if Im good, there are 3 more guards here at night, and 7 of us in daytime, all experienced and skilled in handling any danger, he bragged, and heaved his chest to look even bigger.. Nea, reacted by taking a sidestep, and by that she tripped on her high heels, and fell against him.. He almost dropped his carbine while he tried to catch her, and she fell straight in his arms, with her lips close to his ear.. Mmm..arent You a strong man, handsome.. He helped her back on her feet again, and she backed away, throwing him a kiss with her hand.. Thanks handsome, I better go home and change to something more suitable, I think I might stretched my foot, she said, and made a painful face for a second.. You do that, but come again, maybe we can go somewhere You and I when Im off duty, the guard said with a smile all over.. Sure handsome, anytime, Nea replied, and walked with a slight limp against the tp.. As soon as she turned her back against the guard, her whole face went grim, and she muttered, Yak! What a creep..Then her face went in to a big smile, and she said to her self..Never underestimate the female power, You smuck!, You just met Nea Nea Shaefer, and she is THE best.. The guard returned to his stand, and tried to look hard, when ppl passed him on their way..He never discovered that it only was a little string left, where his card had been attached to the uniform.. Electro was excited over Alex return. He hadn’t been happy at all since Boomer died, and when Alex was deported, he felt helpless, and lonely, since the three of them been the best of friends, and shared a lot together.. He contacted two of the scientists he knew since a long time, two MD.s with whom he often had meetings to discuss the human psychology, and its effects on the colonists.. One of Electros greatest interests, was human behaviour, and he was working on a PHD, despite his age. He met Dr. Langden, and Dr. W.W. Marsden at Langdens house in Raven Valley, and the three of them began to make plans. Dr. Langden was the one who invented the toxic shot for the contaminated zones, like PVP 3, and his knowledge on tranquilizers could come handy. They also made flowcharts of people involved, those who where on the enemy side so to speak, and tried to determine in what way they where expected to react, and what actions they might take, all based on their joint knowledge of human behaviour and psychology. First they discussed Despriee, and agreed that she would be scared when she got the news, because Alex knew a lot a bout her and how she reacted on things, something You cant miss when living together.. Electro knew already by Alex, that she had a short fuse, and often blow a fuse about nothing.. She probably would try to get away, and preferable away from Calypso and Amathera, and since none of the space stations would be safe for her, there was only one option left, Earth. That means we have to put surveillance on her, cause I doubt she leave everything behind her, what I know about her tells me she will collect everything before she leaves, Electro said. We don’t have much time, for now she is probably shivering and trying to think, but she is canieving, so she will soon gather her minds, and try to figure out a way to get off the hook. How about if we slowed her down a bit, Dr .Langden said with a cunning smile. How do You mean? Both Electro and Marsden asked with one mouth. Well, we could place some toxic at her place, if we can get in, and it will make her a bit num and dizzy for a few days. She will have some trouble to get her thoughts together, and I guess Alex wants her in reach, when he is ready to move in. I think he has enough to worry about as it is, so there is no reason he should have to hunt that lady all the way back to earth, and he will need her to proof his innocence and reveal the framing. Ok, Electro said, lets talk to the OA members, and see if any of them can place the toxic in a good position. They continued their planning, and also consumed a big amount of Scotch, so when the first daylight came, the three of them where quite tired, and decided to get at least a couple of hours sleep before doing anything more. When Electro woke up, he sent a pm to Ayla Payne, one of the OA:s, and she turned up at Langdens house for a briefing. When she heard the idea, she said, I have an even better idea, can You make an amp who fits in my high speed tranquilizer rifle , she asked? Sure, said Marsden, what do You have in mind? I tell You if it works, she said, I will be back later today, to get it, and just in case, make it two.. The evening before this, Alex finally met with the man Backstabber been talking about, and he was working as an infiltrator at the Council.. I´ve been asked to help You, he said, just tell me how? Well, Alex thought for a second, then said.. I need to know if Boomers tp chip still works, or of it been disabled, because I cant risk being killed by the security system, and I need to move around fast to be able to solve my problems. Ok, I be back tomorrow again, need to visit the Security Centre to check that out, so don’t do anything until You know.. Great, can You also supply me with some blueprints over the Council headquarter? Jeez man, You ask for a lot, but I will do my best. Those blueprints are stored on a special server, and I don’t have access to that one, but I might be able to fix it anyway. I need the code on that tp chip, so I can check it, Boomer been away for 3 years now, and back then, it wasn’t the same security, so it is possible none ever thought of disabling the card. Thanks for Your help, Alex said, but before You go..who are You? I guess You have a name? The man smiled at him and said.. You can call me “Mystifier”, its my nick here, and that is all You need to know, I will add You on my pm transceiver, but You cant add me, cause I don’t want to be connected with You, if the catch You, understood? Sure, I understand, and I don’t want anyone helping me to jeopardize their safety more then necessary.. When Mystifier left, Backstabber took Alex to his quarter in the space station, a small rent room, with a lot of crap in it, and piles of dirty laundry. You can sleep on the coach, he said to Alex, and gave him a less then clean blanket.. Alex was dead tired, so it only took him a few minutes to fall asleep, but before, he put his Maddox under his pillow, and held his enblade in his hand under the blanket. His last thoughts was about Jennie Despriee, and while his memory took him back to the time he thought she loved him, his eyes slowly closed while he went in to a heavy sleep… to be continued...?