“Iris? Did you hear that?” Adrian asked, Iris could hear everything Adrian could, through his imp.
“Yes.” She said.
Adrian turned, and tried to see if there was anything, but there was nothing. Slowly he started walking again. He didn’t make two steps before he heard the sound again. On the second hearing, he realized that it sounded like a cry of pain. At the realization he hesitated. He knew that there was wildlife around the city, and those were all small animals, herbivores. Humans tried to interfere as little as possible, but from time to time the animals would wander close to the city, some even coming inside. There was no danger to humans, as none of them dangerous. Not even the one predator species they discovered. So Adrian decided to investigate. He set in the direction of the sound, adjusting his path as he heard more yowling. Two minutes later he came upon a shrub beneath one of the trees, surrounded by roots. Below the shrub was a recess in the earth, it looked to Adrian as if it was dug out recently. Confirming his reasoning was the beast lying inside.
“That’s a wolion.” Iris said unnecessarily. Adrian already recognized the animal. It was lying on its side, with its legs pulled protectively around its middle, and its head turned straight towards Adrian. The animal was almost invisible, its blue fur melting into the teal of the bush in the shadows of the forest. Though no one would miss it this close. Its head had a gray streak going between its eyes, meaning that it was a female. The animal was breathing heavily, obviously in pain. Its dark gray eyes were bloodshot, and there was slime around its nostrils. Its great head started to drop, and its eyes slowly started to close. Adrian took a step forward, and immediately the animal raised its head, its eyes opening and started to growl. Adrian froze, he didn’t move for a count of ten, and the wolion again dropped its head. “She is dying.” Adrian told Iris.
“Yes, I don’t think that she has long left.”
Adrian drew closer, the wolion tried to growl again, but it came out only as a gasp. Her breathing intensified as he grew closer.
“She is scared of you Adrian.”
Adrian started making placating sounds. “It’s okay girl. I’m not going to hurt you.” He said as he drew even closer. Two steps and he was close enough to touch her. He extended his hand and touched the wolion’s snout. It tried to move but was too weak. He made circular motions softly patting the animal, until she calmed down. A minute later she stopped trying to move, whether from exhaustion or because she now trusted that he wouldn’t hurt her Adrian didn’t know. He kept stroking her snout, not knowing what to do. They didn’t know anything about wolions, so he didn’t know anyone who could treat her and save her life. And he realized that even if there was, help would come too late. A quick search with his imp and he knew that the veterinarian was on the other side of the city, he would need to come with a grav-car, and even if he started immediately he would still take more than half an hour to get here. And Adrian could see that the animal was on her last stretch, she would die any moment. So he decided that the least he could do was stay there with her until she died. Then he heard another little yelp, and for a moment he thought that it was coming from her, but the second one brought Adrian’s attention to the wolion’s middle, the sound was coming from her middle, behind her limbs. As soon as he realized what that meant, he felt the wolion going stiff. Adrian turned his eyes to hers, he found that she was looking straight at him, studying him. Her eyes were beautiful, even though they were bloodshot. Eerie silver in color, Adrian realized that they had eyes similar to humans, meaning that they had a circular pupil. All four eyes were focusing on Adrian, and Adrian found himself lost in them for a moment. The more he looked, the stranger he felt. In an instant it felt as if he could feel the wolion’s pain, but it passed quickly. Adrian felt dizzy and a soft pressure built behind his eyes. The wolion moved its legs revealing what it was hiding. And then in the next moment the pressure was gone, as was the wolion. It let out a long breath and died. Adrian looked down at two small creatures, they looked like little puppies, and from the look of them, he knew that they hadn’t been in this world yesterday. They were keening and putting their little paws on their mother, their little snouts hitting her belly. One of them had a little gray streak between her closed eyes. Adrian took off his jacket and reached down, he gathered them in it and lifted the up. They barely weighted anything.
“What are you going to do with them? They can hardly survive without their mother.”
“I’ll figure something out.” Adrian said, already formulating a plan. It would mean he would need to delay his trip, but he could afford a few days. The ship should be finished in a month, until then he will see what he can do for the two little wolions.
Chapter Sixteen
Sanctuary space
The holographic viewscreen showed nothing amiss. The images from outside the science vessel Insight were completely normal, space with the nebula in the background and a small black probe floating there. Small in a relative sense, it was the size of a grav-car.
“Are we ready?” Seo-yun asked.
“All readings are within acceptable parameters.” Luna answered through the speakers.
“Start the generator.” Seo-yun said.
Mia, Seo-yun’s assistant swiped her fingers over the holo screen.
“Field reaching threshold output in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.” The image from the outside changed, the probe was suddenly engulfed in purple light waves, and the next moment it was gone.
Everyone on the bridge watched the screen, and a moment later cheers broke out. Seo-yun cut them short by turning to Mia. “Are we receiving anything from the probe?”
“Nothing.” Mia answered.
“Is there debris as last time?” She asked. Mia turned to the screen. “No, there is nothing.”
“Are we reading anything Luna?” Seo-yun asked.
“The trans particles are disrupted. Your speculation appears to be correct Seo-yun, once something passes through the translane, nothing can follow for some time.” Luna said.
Hearing that Seo-yun allowed herself a small smile. “Alright, I want everyone to monitor the communications, if the probe went through it will send a signal back when it arrives.”
Seo-yun looked back at the viewscreen where the probe was just a minute ago. She had half convinced herself that she was wrong. After the test failed each time, with the probes they tried sending through blowing up without them knowing why. This test was their first success, at least for now. And it was also the first test that they did at this location. All of the previous tests were done at the location where the Union ship entered the Nebula, between the third and fourth planets. The reason for that being was simply because that location was closer to Sanctuary in its current place in orbit around the sun. But after the fifth failure, Seo-yun decided to move to the other location. The one where the Union ship exited the Nebula. According to the records that point should lead to the Nuva system, which made things a bit awkward if they did succeed. The probe is nothing but armor around a communication and sensor equipment, though it could self-destruct. Seo-yun believed that there was little chance of it being discovered, the exit point was supposed to be close to the orbit of the second planet in the system. And in Nuva’s current orbit it was partially obscured by the sun, they would need to look for the probe specifically in order to see it.
Seo-yun couldn’t yet figure out why the attempts at the other point failed while this one succeeded on the first try. They did everything the same. After Seo-yun figured out how Union ships traveled, the only thing she had to do was figure out how to replicate it. They had found the trans particles and studied them in great detail, afterwards they found the way to interact with them by using a “trans” field generator. They had the blueprints for the generator since they found the alien ship. But until now they had no idea what it was supposed to do. Now on the other hand, they discovered that by projecting the field onto the area filled with trans particles they could send objects through the translane. Which is the way that the Union ships traveled. It was supposed to be much faster. But also limited, translanes were natural and could only go to one location, and the quantity of mass that can be sent is limited by the intensity of the trans field. In order to send multiple ships one would need to generate a trans field of much greater intensity than the one that would be needed for just one ship. Unless of course that one ship out massed all the others put together. And if Seo-yun was correct in her findings, it had one more drawback. The failed test made at the other location suggested that the translanes could only be used in one direction. Seo-yun went back to her quarters to rest. The Union ship traveled the distance of some 12 light years in barely two days. For now all Seo-yun could do was wait.