Halapatov

Chapter Twelve

           

"These are mainly the copies of physical files from the cases right?" Sophie came over, interrupting mine and Riowyn's silent reveries as she looked over the folder Riowyn had been showing us.

Riowyn nodded. "Yeah, pretty much all the technical data and statistics, theories, that kind of thing, is kept online. It's easier that way. I keep that on my data logger at work. Speaking of, I do need to head into work at some point today. You two can come along and I can show you. I don't know what it is, but you guys were all wrapped up on that thing on Flauraan and you witnessed this attack, so I guess you might be important. Besides, you're giving my story the time of day, so that's always nice. I'll just grab my things and we can go."

Sophie and I murmured our assent as Riowyn moved away from us, gathering up her stuff. Briefly, my best friend caught my eye and looked away. I could tell what she was thinking. Riowyn was right. It was uncanny us both being involved in not just one but both of these incidents, and although the first incident could be explained simply by circumstance, for this one, I wasn't so sure.How had Sophie and I managed to witness a ghost just moments before an attack happened? Why had we both been having nightmares the night before? What did these ghosts have to do with us, if anything? These were minor things but I could understand Riowyn's decision to involve us in this.

Once she was ready, we followed her out the door and downstairs, out into the street, and matched her purposeful stride as she led us toward's a reporter's workplace. I could guess that it would at least be within walking distance, considering her apartment and her dedication to her work. Convenience was key, even in sprawling cities such as those that Halapatov boasted. As we walked, Riowyn turned to us once more.

"So it's not just me who is looking into this," she explained, and Sophie's eyebrows rose thoughtfully. "People have been noticing these things and trying to figure out why they're here, and how to stop them, for years now. There's a whole community of us, some people just like me and even some scientists who are searching for a scientific explanation of the ghosts. We all communicate and share findings on a database someone created a few years back. It's helpful, feels like we're not going up against this alone." She looked at Sophie. You've got some scientific background don't you? You're linked to that research ship from Earth. Would you like to have a look at it? There are some parts I don't understand so well."

Sophie smirked, eyes alight. "I'd love to! And I'm sure wording I don't understand, Abi can help me with."

Riowyn nodded. "Sounds good. Nothing's too sure at this stage, these ghosts are apparently difficult to even catch a trace of. It's something to do with staar matter and energy or something, but they've been trying to scan them and it seems like they need very specific circumstances or something. It's odd."

"So there's actually been a fair bit of research done into this?" I asked, brain whirring.

"Yes," Riowyn answered. "To be honest, some people are starting to worry that the ghosts are just a native creature to Halapatov, and that we won't be able to stop them. But we just don't know."

Sophie and I both made low humming noises in agreement, then glanced at each other, our muted expressions turning to smirks at our simultaneous response. Riowyn managed a small smile too, but then the moment slipped away and we continued in silence, Riowyn's solemn words hitting me fully. We won't be able to stop them. And since Sophie and I had arrived, the attacks were becoming more frequent. What were we going to do?

After a good many blocks of walking, we were greeted with a high-rise building with a large sign adorning it, an apparent news corporation.

"This is it." Riowyn gestured unnecessarily, and then led us through revolving doors. She briefly talked to someone at the front before heading upstairs. Sophie and I followed, silent, both taking things in and still thinking, thinking.