Hunting Cari (First Wave) Read online

  “That’s why I woke you Scaden. The frequency is encrypted. Nothing I have ever seen before. I had the computer trying to figure out what race it could have come from, and it got an answer!” Gracus said with rising excitement. As Scaden waited for his friend to continue, Gracus said the last thing he ever expected to hear.

  “It’s ours! And from almost two thousand years ago! That’s how long it’s been since we used that encrypted frequency. I checked and re-checked it and its right. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing so I had the computer check and look at the history of this quadrant. I was thinking maybe one of our ships might have left something in that galaxy that might be emitting the signal. Let me show you what I found.”

  He turned back to the screen, and his fingers flew across the panel until an official fleet report came on a nearby screen. Pointing at the screen, Gracus continued, not realizing that every person on the bridge was now surrounding him, hanging on his every word, including Scaden.

  “Almost two thousand years ago, we discovered that this world,” Gracus began, pointing to the planet again. “Was inhabited. They were an extremely young race of humanoids, which were not only sentient, but also had begun to develop language, social and building skills.” Not hearing anything from Scaden, he turned to see if he was still paying attention. Not only was Scaden staring intently at the screens, but it looked like half the ship had come on the bridge and was staring as well. He was surprised since he never heard anyone else come on the bridge.

  Turning back around, he continued, “The Council decided that the planet met the criteria for an outpost. And we set one up here.” He pointed to the fourth planet from the sun. “Things seemed to go according to normal protocol for about thirty-seven years. Until we received a distress transmission that the outpost was under heavy attack by the Relians. Then it was silent. The council sent out two ships to determine the damage, casualties and what assistance might be needed. By the time they arrived, they only found this.”

  Gracus pulled up another screen showing a barren planet. Obvious pieces of their technology, metals and crafts littered the brown, dirt like surface. Panning the images to other areas of the planet, they could see several pyramid structures and a ‘face’. The latter caused grunts and growls of anger among the assembled crew.

  Scaden stared at the images on the screen. Like the rest of his men, he knew exactly what they were. The pyramids were used by the Relians to rape a planet of its resources by utilizing certain energy frequencies to the resources to it, and the face was an image of their king. It was used to claim the planet and warn anyone who came near that the planet was now owned by them. There was no sign the Relians had stayed on the planet in the footage from the initial report. What happened to their people? “Continue.” He told Gracus, wanting to find out the rest of the information.

  “They found no signs of the Relians or our outpost crew. Landing teams looked on the surface and found the remains of some of the crew, but many were unaccounted for. It looked as if all of our ships there had been destroyed, and it was assumed that the rest of our people had been captured since we could not account for all the bodies.”

  “It was the heaviest loss we’ve ever sustained at an outpost. It hit everyone very hard. Several of the council members lost family on that outpost. They kept the ships in the area for years hoping to catch another distress signal, but none were ever sent. They even sent search parties to every planet in this galaxy and neighboring ones hoping that maybe some of our people could escape and were hiding out elsewhere. But no one was ever found.”

  “They eventually decided that since it was too far away from any other outpost or reinforcements in the event of another attack, that they would not rebuild the outpost, but would monitor the planet periodically for development. Now the subsequent reports,” Gracus continued, pulling up more reports on the screens, “Showed that the inhabitants seemed to be progressing well. They were developing basic technology and evolving, with the normal cultural skirmishes most societies go through.”

  “The last report was around two hundred years ago and it was all normal development items reported. Now for the interesting part. We stopped using that encrypted frequency around two thousand years ago. But we still randomly scanned for it in this quadrant for almost a thousand years after the destruction of the outpost in the hopes that we would find survivors somewhere. Nothing was ever found… until now. And even more interesting is where it is originating from. Here.” he concluded pointing at the third planet from the sun.

  The room was completely silent while everyone seemed to try to process the information and the possibilities of what it might mean. After several minutes, Scaden broke the silence, “My immediate thoughts are that the Relians kept some of the equipment from the outpost, fled to the other planet and have finally broken the encryption and are luring us into a trap. Or somehow a piece of equipment ended up on the planet and one of the inhabitants accidentally set it off. Anyone else?” He asked of the assembled crew, valuing the opinion of the intelligent and diverse men around him.

  “Sir, if there were prisoners, they may have found the equipment, or somehow gotten to the equipment and were able to activate the beacon. They could have been waiting to be rescued all this time.” A MedLab tech in the back of the room stated.

  “You are correct. We have to also consider the possibility that we may have survivors, and if we do, I have every intention of trying to bring them home.” Scaden acknowledged. “I want everyone to turn their thoughts in to the First Commander. Gracus, assemble a team immediately, I want the probabilities of each suggestion calculated. Bring me the list of the highest likely scenarios. The tactical teams and I will try to determine our best course of action. I won’t endanger this ship or the crew on what may well be a trap. Everyone is dismissed.”

  Scaden watched his crew leave the bridge, talking excitedly among themselves. When all but the on duty crew members had left, he lowered himself into the seat next to Gracus. “I want your every thought about this situation. Don’t hold back. And find out everything you can on that planet and this solar system. I want as much information as we can gather. Their language, the capabilities of their technology, any weapons, anything that might help us figure this out.” Scaden said quietly, not wanting the rest of the bridge crew to hear.

  “Will do. I’ll have the reports sent to your comm as I get them. When will you be contacting the Council?” Gracus asked.

  Scaden ran his hand through his hair and huffed out a breath of frustration. “I don’t plan on contacting them at all until we have some solid information. You said it yourself; there are Council members who lost family on that outpost. We could get their hopes up for nothing. I won’t be responsible for forcing them to grieve all over again if this turns out to be nothing. In fact, I want you to put the ship on a comm block to Valendra. I don’t want this information getting to anyone at home until we have some answers. Send the notice to the comm’s now about the block. I’ll be in the tactical room with my team reviewing what we know and the updates as we get them.”

  Scaden stood and turned to leave when Gracus put his hand on his arm to stop him. “Scaden, I understand why you want to keep this quiet for now. But don’t wait too long before you contact the Council.”

  “I understand your concerns my friend. It’s a good thing I have you here to keep me out of trouble, or to blame if this ends up a big mess.” Scaden joked as he walked off the bridge.

  Chapter Two

  Campbell County, TN

  Randor was already regretting his decision to let Cari go in the store by herself. In twenty two years, he had never been more than twenty five feet away from her. Even though she’d only been in the store for fifteen minutes and forty two seconds, every instinct in him had been screaming at him to go inside and protect her. The rational part of him knew that she was more than capable of calling for him if she was in danger, but he still worried. He’d give her fifteen more minutes, and then he w
as going in after her.

  Unaware that Randor was becoming upset, Cari was trying her best to concentrate on getting their supplies. However, she kept finding herself just leisurely looking at everything in the store. It was the first time she’d ever been able to just look at things. Uncle Randor was always trying to be seen as little as possible wherever they went so they rushed through the stores, grabbing only what they needed. She’d never really had a chance to see everything that was actually in a store like Wal-Mart.

  There were so many different fragrances just in the air freshener aisle. She was fascinated by them all and had already put eight different candles, two plug-ins and four bottles of aerosol cans in her cart. Uncle Randor wouldn’t be too happy about it, but he would indulge her; she thought with a smile.

  “The lavender is much better than the orange spice.” The voice so close to her ear, startled Cari so badly that she dropped one of the cans and spun around to face the person who had spoken to her. He was at least six feet two inches tall, heavily muscled with short blonde hair and blue eyes. He had bent to pick up the can she had dropped and held it out to Cari. Looking down at the can in his large hand, she noticed that he held it in a way to make it almost impossible for her to take it without touching him.

  For some strange reason, the thought of touching him made her stomach lurch. Although a handsome man, with a nice smile, there was something about him that repelled her, almost to the point of making her physically ill. “Thank you, but I think I have enough already.” She replied and walked quickly away from him, leaving him holding the can.

  She was grabbing two gallons of milk when she heard him beside her again. “I’m sorry if I startled you, it was not my intention. I’m Vince Baker.” He said as he held out his hand to her. Cari looked around and saw the people in the aisle staring at their exchange and felt trapped. She knew it would look rude to these people if she didn’t take his hand, but she dreaded it. Already feeling nauseous from the man’s proximity to her, she prepared herself for his touch.

  “Mary Rogers,” she lied easily and quickly shook his hand before turning away from him. She willed her stomach not to heave from the brief contact with him. Although he smiled at her in a pleasant manner, it seemed contrived and his touch repulsed her.

  Her joy at being in the store alone had quickly evaporated, and she vowed to finish the shopping as fast as possible. Luckily, the only things left to get on her list were yogurt and cheese, all close by, and then she could leave. This was one time she was grateful Uncle Randor insisted that the supply lists were organized by where the items were located in the store, to minimize the time spent in them.

  She began throwing random yogurt containers into the cart, not caring what she got, just wanting to hurry now. Feelings she couldn’t seem to define rolled off of the man in waves, making her more nervous by the second. She had to stop herself from leaving the cart and running outside to Uncle Randor and safety.

  She couldn’t really say she felt she was in danger, but she was uneasy. And she knew she couldn’t just run to Uncle Randor. He’d never stop treating her like a child if she did. She needed this to show him that she could take care of herself for the minor things, like shopping. That she could at least help out for more than just the household things that needed to be done.

  “You must be new in town. I haven’t seen you here before. Did you just move here recently?” He asked from behind her. For some reason, the fact that he kept coming up behind her bothered her a lot. In fact, it scared her. Her need to get out of there grew much stronger now. “Just vacation,” she replied, walking away from him for a third time. Why wouldn’t he leave her alone! She grabbed Uncle Randor's favorite sliced cheese and headed to the front of the store to check out, hoping he wouldn’t follow her.

  Her arm was yanked roughly back, spinning her around to face Vince Baker. The overwhelming nausea hit instantly, and she used her other hand to cover her stomach, hoping she wouldn’t throw up in the aisle. She looked around and noticed a few people paying attention to the exchange between them. She had to get out of there! Trying to think through her near panic she almost screamed at him, “What the hell is wrong with you? Since when is it ok to grab someone you don’t even know like this? Take your hand off me NOW!”

  Vince Baker looked at her with fury in his eyes and tightened his grip on her arm until she knew she’d have bruises from the grip. She bit back a cry of pain, not willing to give him the satisfaction she somehow knew he would get from hearing it. “You’re hurting me! Let me go!” She said loudly, noticing the crowd of people around them getting larger.

  “Sir, take your hand of that poor girl! My wife has already notified security!” An older man said to Vince while hurrying up to them. Cari flashed the man a grateful smile for intervening. She guessed him to be in his late 40s. And although shorter than her, he was pretty stocky. He stared angrily at Vince and again demanded, “I said to take your hand off of her!”

  Two younger men in their mid-20s joined the growing group, one going on each side of Vince. The bigger one on the right looked at him and said, “Are you stupid or something? Get your hand off of the lady.”

  Vince increased the bruising grip on her arm for a second, before finally letting go and stepping away from her, the look of barely restrained anger on his face promising retribution. What was wrong with this guy? Was he mentally defective? Why would he attack someone he didn’t even know like this? Cari wondered in shock, trying to calm herself.

  An older woman pulled her gently away from the men who had surrounded Vince as soon as he had let her go. The men were using their bodies to herd him farther away from her and towards the front of the store. He glanced back at her, and the anger and possession in his eyes caused an involuntary shudder to run through her body. The older woman noticed and patted her arm.

  “It’s alright now honey. Those boys will get him out of here. I’ll bet you’re ready to check out and get back home to your Uncle too.” She said gently, walking her toward the check-out lines. She must have realized Cari didn’t want to talk about it and kept up a steady stream of chatter about joining her church, her children, grandchildren and the weather.

  She barely heard a word the woman had said. Her thoughts were on Vince Baker and why he would target her like that, and in such a public place. He couldn’t possibly know who she was, or who Uncle Randor was. It just didn’t make any sense. He had to be one of those random freaks she’d read about and seen on the news… a stalker. She was grateful they’d only be here another few weeks before moving on. And although she’d gotten distracted in the store, she had gotten enough supplies to last them until they left.

  Her thoughts in turmoil, Cari didn’t even realize they were in the parking lot until she saw her uncle walking towards her. Drawing her attention to the older woman still next to her, she realized thankfully, that the woman wasn’t speaking of the incident inside the store. Not wanting her Uncle to know what had happened, she looked to the woman and quickly said, “Thank you so much for the invitation to your church. If we happen to still be in town, we will certainly consider attending.” She gave the woman a pleasant smile and hurried to meet her Uncle before the woman could engage him in a conversation that might lead to him finding out what had happened with Vince Baker.

  Finally seeing her safe, Randor breathed out a sigh of relief. He’d been panicking for nothing apparently. From what he’d overheard of the conversation with the woman who had walked out with Cari, she was interested in trying to get them to attend their church. He knew they wouldn’t; even if they stayed longer than the few weeks that they had planned. As he reached Cari’s side and took the cart from her, he noticed her scanning the parking lot and looking kind of distracted. “Did everything go ok? You run into any problems?” He asked her suspiciously, quickly evaluating his emotions.

  Hearing the concern in her Uncle’s voice, she realized what she’d been doing. She quickly stopped scanning the parking lot for Vince Baker an
d pretended to just be interested in the area in general. Shrugging her shoulders in an attempt at nonchalance, she replied, “Everything went great. Although… I did spend a little time just looking at everything and probably bought a few things I shouldn’t have…” She gave him a beautiful smile and her best pouty face that she always used on him to try to get out of trouble. As usual, it worked as she knew it would.

  “I’m sure whatever you bought is fine Cari. I know you don’t often get a chance to indulge in things like other girls your age, so when you do have an opportunity, I don’t blame you for getting a few things you want. So what was it this time? Clothes, purses, make-up… wait I know!!! You bought jewelry!” He teased knowing she’d never been interested in the “normal” female things that other girls seemed to be interested in. Not that she needed to, she was truly beautiful without any accessories.

  Cari laughed while helping her Uncle load the supplies into the truck. “Actually I got twenty five tubes of lipstick in every shade they had.” She tried to tease with a straight face. Randor knew better and just laughed at her. “For some reason, I don’t see you doing that. But we can see what treasures you indulged in when we get to the cabin. Let’s get out of here before the people staring at us decide to come over and ask us to their church… again,” he said with a grimace.

  Darting a quick glance around the people who seemed to be staring their way, she gave a sigh of relief when she didn’t see Vince Baker anywhere among them. However, she’d still feel a lot better once they were back at the cabin. Hopping in the truck, she calmed her nerves so her Uncle wouldn’t notice and delve into why she’d seemed so nervous.

  *****

  Scaden was in the Tactical Room surrounded by his team scanning through the mountains of information that Gracus had already gathered so far. Apparently, the planet had made some major technological advancement since the last time there had been a report done. Gracus had been able to hack into the basic computers of the satellites orbiting the planet and had retrieved most of the information they were currently looking at.