All Chapters of Dark Goddess: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The incident in Sector 13, a few standard weeks earlier Commander Franak ToÖren was suddenly startled from his vain self-observation - he was standing in front of the large screen with reflector function that filled a wall of his private room. The reflector showed a tall, broad-shouldered man in the nicely cut Federation Patrol uniform with long, wavy, blond hair and a thick, light, well-groomed beard - his reflection filled him with deep satisfaction. Then the alarm sounded - a hideous, up and down signal, the screen turned milky for a moment and then gained depth again, but behind the screen there was no longer an image of the room in which it was standing; the background was much larger and equipped with windows that looked out into a rolling landscape, so almost inevitably showed a sea beach. There, apparently two meters away from him, stood a slender, dark-haired man - Avatar actually - in a bland gray suit, a para

“ What is it actually made of? ”The question came from Relaf the Emeraner, the man next to Sitha.Franak was repeating what he knew and that wasn't much. “Commander SeFrin will tell us the details as we approach Yssar's orbit. We should deal with the plans for the mining station. ”“ What is being mined on the planet? ”Asked a delicate woman with pale skin and silvery hair.“Eleftrin, which is important for the Enigma interuniversal space technology”, Franak replied, “Nadar, the plans please.” In the center of the circular room, a three-dimensional, partially transparent model of the building complex became visible, which was eagerly studied by the crew. Fortunately, the facility was manageable, the corridor system in the central building with the crew's common rooms was rather simple. The topology of the area was also of interest in case a surprise attack on the pirates in the buildings should take pla

Ivarn The next morning Tjonre got up early, not as early as the sun, he never did that if it could be avoided. Early for his own terms. He had an extensive breakfast on the veranda, which could be entered through the dining room, because the day began promisingly, there was not a cloud in the deep blue sky. He had informed Ma Handor of his plan, albeit without revealing any details. As so often, Ma kept him company at breakfast today. He had hoped she would take his protégé with her too, but was disappointed. "How is the little one?" He asked.“She slept well, very calmly, she doesn't snore either, that's a pleasant surprise,” Ma chatted, “she's now eating her breakfast in the kitchen; a little later I show her the manor, introduce her to the most important people before they leave for the harvest and then bring them in contact with the children. Then we'll see ... "" Did she sa

In the center of the room a small but intense point of light appeared, which quickly expanded and took on the slender shape of an unusual young woman. She sat in the Vis a Vis armchair and wore a light-looking, turquoise, floor-length dress without sleeves, had very white skin and golden, hip-length hair. Her irises were as golden as her hair and they completely filled her large eyes. The pupils were slit vertically and every now and then they were covered by a nictitating membrane that closed outwards from the inner corner of the eye. Her eyelids, however, stayed open all the time. She smiled at Tjonre with blood-red lips, her long, fine, pointed upper canines clearly visible. Tjonre had designed Talira himself and was proud of the result. She replied in a pleasant, warm and full voice: "Hello Tjonre, how are you?""Hypothermic, shivering, horrible actually." The air around Tjonre immediately became warmer. "How are you?" He asked."Both the ferry and the mother ship

“ Well, ”replied Tjonre,“ the latter is just a conclusion. The fact that the medallion with the pictures of the two people, one of whom is PaDorkis, is of such enormous importance to her, suggests that the most obvious conclusion is that these two people were her parents. But I don't know for sure, I haven't been able to have a more in-depth conversation with the young woman, her state of health does not yet allow that. Should she actually be his daughter, it follows from the fact that she was sold as a slave that her parents are either captured or dead. In any case, one can be sure that they are not doing well.Will you allow me a question? ” “ Commander SoErgen, you want to ask me why PaDorkis is so important to me? ”Tjonre nodded. “On the one hand, because he's a personal friend of mine. We studied together at the most famous university on Itirana and became friends at that time. In contrast to me, however, he wanted to see the kno

“You sent the code, as discussed!” Shouted Araissa, “that means you are inside - and apparently unnoticed until now. Galaxy! How stupid this Commander ToÖren is! ”“ You can be very convincing, princess! ”Said the muscular, dark-clad bald man who was lounging on a sofa opposite her and holding a glass of Nijem wine in his hand. He owed his nickname “battering ram” to the fact that he had already smashed countless nasal bones with his hard skull. He was a pirate feared everywhere and proud of it. He wanted to be known, in contrast to his playmate, who liked to change her identity. Acting was in her blood, as was unscrupulousness. Anyone who knew her in spite of her changing roles knew that she did not deserve the endearing word “princess” that her lover used so fondly and that had finally become generally accepted. She was a beast. But it was unwise to tell her that. Besides, you could be both - a princess and a

Ivarn After his return, Tjonre was so fully occupied with the affairs of the estate for a few days that he hardly had time for anything else. He spent the days in the cellar to monitor the fermentation of the Nijem. Carriages full of Nijem fruits came every hour, which first had to be pounded. This was done in the traditional way, with the manor's helpers trampling on the innocent fruit in special press vats. The pressed juice, which as such did not contain any digestible components, was transferred to first-stage fermentation vats, where small, worm-shaped creatures were added that could use it as food and produce various sugars and acids as metabolic waste products. These in turn were converted from classic yeasts to alcohol and a variety of aromatic substances after being transferred to second-stage fermentation vats. The process was complicated, the microorganisms required a certain environment, overheating during fermen

Yssar Franak had participated in what seemed to him an infinite number of highly realistic simulations, which were quite similar to the situation he was now facing. He had always done well and that made him feel secure now. They were in the corridor to the central dome, Sitha next to him, the other three behind. At a running pace they covered the distance to the next lock that was supposed to give them access to the central dome. Just before they got there, the alarm went off, a piercing howl. At the same time the lock was locked."On the ground!" Franak commanded and the well-rehearsed team obeyed immediately. He ran on himself, took a hemispherical, palm-sized sticky mine from his gun belt and attached it to the circular gate. He set the timer to fifteen seconds and then was in a great hurry to get away from the portal and throw himself to the ground as well. Shortly thereafter, the detonation took place, despite th

Ivarn  The sky was too slowly turning gold against the horizon. Both sunrise and sunset could be admired from the veranda, which is very conveniently located in this regard. Ma had set a table for both of them and served a light summer salad and non-alcoholic fruit drinks. She had also put down a candle. After that she had brought the girl here and had disappeared nicely afterwards. They sat across from each other, far too far apart in his opinion. "I still have no idea what your name is," he began, "what should I call you?"She smiled, then looked shyly down. “Ma often calls me 'little one' even though I'm taller than her. But she usually says 'sparkle' to me. ”“ Because of your shimmering hair? ”“ No, she means because of my sparkling eyes. She says they shine like stars. ”“ That's right, they do, ”he confirmed, and there was warmth

“ Can you imagine why your parents were killed? ”“ No, ”replied the girl,“ but others lived in the apartment and smashed everything. You were looking for something! But they sold the valuable things together with me. ”“ Do you have any idea what they were looking for? ”Tjonre had a notion that he could not verify at the moment.“No,” she said, “I had no insight into my father's work. What can a historian have that is worth murdering? ”“ Have you ever met such creatures again? The kind the killers were? ”She shook her head and looked scared. "No, luckily not."While she was talking about the fate of her parents, Tjonre had taken her hands again and, in the brief pause that followed, was considering whether he should let go of her again. Since he could not think of a compelling reason why he should do this, he decided against it. He looked briefly at the ho