Twinks in Space: Fantastic Voyage - Part Two - 9. Chapter 9 - The Scientists

Ogdia and little Roovin led Stawren and Lyoth to another teleportation doorway, and the two warriors stepped through it. They appeared on the planet Xecot. The Blue Allarei man who had contacted them over the Galaxy Surfer’s coms while it was still traveling through the nebula was awaiting their arrival, and he welcomed them.

“Greetings, travelers!”

“It’s Ilial, right?” Stawren confirmed.

“It is indeed, well-remembered!” Ilial was dressed in a fitted indigo and pale pink pinstripe blazer, and from between its lapels flowed a frilly lace cravat. He also wore a skirt that was all the warm colors of a sunrise, and beneath it, his feet were in a pair of bright yellow pumps. “And how is your arm?” Ilial asked Lyoth.

“It feels better than I could have imagined,” Lyoth replied, and he rubbed his shoulder. “Thank you for sending me to your healing center.”

Ilial smiled wide. “I’m so glad to hear you’re feeling much more like yourself again! Do you two mind joining me? I’ve brought together a few members of the science team that I’m part of, and we’d all love to hear more about your search.”

Ilial led Stawren and Lyoth out into a courtyard, and the two warriors looked up at the sun. It was bright, but the void-generator at the center of the planetary system was unlike a natural star, and they could look at it without hurting their eyes.

“How did you lot build that?” Stawren asked Ilial.

“It was one of our first developments, before the nebula even existed.”

Lyoth pointed at two different positions in the sky. “You can see the other planets.”

They were pale against the bright blue, and a thin trail of energy stretched from the artificial sun to one of them.

“That’s Gartrio,” Ilial commented, indicating one of the planets, “and you just came from Pilia.” He extended his arm toward the other, but Ilial then dropped his gaze back to where he was leading them, and he smiled. The trio was approaching a large building. “Almost there.”

“Is this a library?” Lyoth asked.

“It is indeed!”

Lyoth grinned. “I spent a lot of time in libraries as a youth.”

Ilial brought him and Stawren inside, and they entered a quiet lounge with dark walls and large soft chairs. Three people were waiting in the room, and they were very excited to meet the new arrivals. Ilial was the only Blue-skinned Allarei.

“Lyoth, Stawren,” Ilial said, “this is Tillok, Vinia, and Wadi. Tillok, Vinia, and Wadi, this is Lyoth and Stawren.” He smirked playfully. “Don’t worry, you two, there won’t be a test. Now please, go ahead and tell us everything you know about the lost starship, and we’ll try to come up with a way to assist you in finding it.”

“That’s very generous,” Stawren replied, “but why are you so accepting and willing to help us? I thought you lot decided your tech wasn’t meant for the rest of the universe.”

“You two aren’t the first outsiders to come to Aergoroth since the establishment of the nebula,” Ilial explained. “We four are part of the group who stayed when this system went into isolation almost thirty years ago. Our science teams have developed advancements over the years, and we don’t use them for violent ends, but we were aware of how our tech might be utilized in ways we did not intend. Those others who found out about this system, and managed to locate and traverse the nebula have done so at great peril to themselves, and we have chosen to help who we can. We haven’t given away our tech freely, but when it has been possible, we have shared our advancements with others.” Ilial smiled at Stawren and Lyoth. “But please tell us more.”

The pair explained the predicament with the Ulaa-Lah, and the quartet of scientists sat riveted.

“Eventually my aunt came across an old file about the Aergoroth Nebula in the high science archives on Allthrin,” Stawren informed them, “and Lyoth and I decided to see if we could find you. We’re hoping your scientists have developed – or can develop – a more extensive means of searching uncharted space.”

Ilial turned to his three fellow scientists. “An intergalactic scanner for searching vast uncharted regions of space is an interesting idea.”

“It would require components we don’t have and can’t synthesize,” one of his companions replied. “We could construct a refractal computing core surrounded by a microstructure inversiverse framework, like what’s in a void-generator, but tiny.”

“Right,” another agreed, “and all of it will need to be encased in a shell of nano-radiation shielding. We’ll need a significant amount of something like calstos wood for the microstructure framework, but those species of trees have been extinct for thousands of years, and their petrified remains have been all but used up in the systems where the trees used to grow.”

“I was going to say the same thing,” Ilial replied. “Calstos wood is a necessity, but where in the universe are we supposed to find any of the raw material?”

Lyoth spoke up, “What’s special about this wood?”

“All trees in the calstos species have a cellular makeup that is unlike any other plant. Instead of normal plant cells, calstos are made of tiny mineral structures; the trees grow as living rock.”

Lyoth brought his hands to his chest. “Are you talking about granitewood?” He pulled the collar of his shirt down and revealed his geometric tree tattoo.

The four scientists all looked confused.

Lyoth released the neck of his shirt and continued. “The granitewood trees of Jitha?”

Stawren also did not know what he was talking about. “Is Jitha a planet? I’ve never heard of it.”

Lyoth let out an amused scoff and declared dramatically, “Jitha is my home planet!”

Stawren was upset at herself for never having asked him. “Wait, where are you from?”

He laughed and shrugged. “I’m not surprised that none of you have heard of Jitha. It’s way out in the outer rim.”

“Tell us about these granitewood trees,” one of the scientists encouraged.

Lyoth brought a palm to his chest again. “They haven’t grown on Jitha in over a million years, but granitewood doesn’t decompose. When they used to grow, the trees had the consistency of petrified wood, and my people still use them today in the same way as granite or any other type of stone.”

Ilial turned to the other three scientists. “As long as granitewood possesses a living-stone cellular structure similar to calstos, it should work as a replacement. Let’s move on,” he recommended. “What else would an intergalactic scanner need?”

One of them said, “Liquid doziniath, but in its solid state.”

“Oh, you’re right, Vinia,” Ilial conceded. “It only occurs as a solid at locations with abysmally naught temperatures.”

“At least we’re aware of some regions where it exists,” Vinia added, “but a scanner will also require parstiline.”

One of the others rolled their eyes. “Ugh, you mean, volcanic parstiline. I used to deal with that junk, but luckily I haven’t needed to in years.”

“Volcanic?” Stawren asked.

“Yes, parstiline degrades quickly. It needs to be collected and preserved right away. It’s produced on volcanic planets with cores that contain high concentrations of the compound di-mercury hydride condensed to a liquid and encased in a tri-lithium di-arsenic shell. After the volcanoes expel the parstiline, it instantly starts to break down. There’s a volcanic moon in a nearby sector where it can be obtained…”

“But it’s not going to be easy,” Lyoth concluded.

The team of scientists shrugged, nodded in agreement, and one of them said, “Correct.”

Stawren wanted to be prepared for the task ahead and asked, “Do you have equipment that can deal with the lava?”

“Not here,” Ilial replied, “but there’s a volcanology research and tech-development center on another planet in the same system. They’ll have whatever is needed.”

Stawren leaned aside and whispered to Lyoth, “I suspect that you and I will be the ones getting these different ingredients.”

“Ingredients,” he repeated with a snicker, “like they’ll be casting a magic spell, instead of using these components to make a device.”

Stawren smothered a laugh.

Ilial then added, “The final unique item required is talsimite crystals.” He looked at his fellow scientists, “And you three know the only source.”

They cringed and shook their heads.

“What’s wrong?” Lyoth asked. “What’s the source of the crystals?”

Ilial took a deep breath before answering. “The only known source of concentrated talsimite crystals…” he hesitated, and he winced at his own words as they came out of his mouth, “is godstroll blood.”