Methaphoras

15 SMUGGLERS

Kayros went to compare his counts on the four inhabited beacon planets which confirmed his suspicions step by step. He returned to the government city, where he verified the combined figures together with Morgani. They concluded that there was no lasting improvement in Brymir's behavior since the previous open confrontation. The master builder did not communicate about his plans and resided somewhere in mystery, shrouded in deafening silence. In addition, he no longer appeared on Posedaone, which aggravated the situation because he apparently lost interest even in his beloved sharks. Kayros's conclusions were ready. He prepared to leave with his rolls filled with numerals when he noticed a tall, heavily built figure in a black hooded coat that was waiting for him nearby his ship. He immediately recognized him and shouted cheerfully to the individual:

'Shall we make a little voyage, oh Lord of the Fire?'

'Obviously, I assumed that you were here not exclusively gathering information for Lord Ardor and other important personalities in Di'aull.'

'There is indeed still an issue that needs some attention, dear lord.'

'Yes, a matter concerning certain freedoms with which someone can travel from the inside out and vice versa.'

'I rather was thinking about a certain product against hangovers and coma!'

'The first is the price for the latter or the other way around.'

'Splendid, that's how we understand each other. Get in, be seated, and show me the way to your hidden treasure.'

Despite his eagerness, Agny's natural distrust made him handle it with some restraint. He admittedly took necessary risks without delay, but except to Intiëll or Oric, he was not going to share the locations of his harvest areas, nor just explain his production process just like that. A solid dose of slyness advised him, not to bring Kayros to his veiled breeding planets. Instead, he brought him to a place where no one ever came and where his supplies were hidden. Excited, they headed for Neptanos, the stillborn beacon planet.

They divided the spoils at the foot of the pristine gold-colored beacon, and Agny noticed, with some exaggeration, that he had almost nothing left for himself because he still had others to pay. While estimating the quantities, Kayros asked:

'Morgani maybe? Was he not one who shared your views?'

'Morgani? Not at all, he is entirely trustworthy and righteous. Our views lie not all that far apart because without him there would be no basis in Vegapolis to fall back on, and without me, the lords would have slaughtered each other a long time ago. Let us inspect the harvest and leave political worries aside for a while. Shortly, we can discuss my promised price plus a small extra.'

'We will see if your product meets the quality requirements and maybe then we will speak about any possible encores.' The two enjoyed a double portion and admired the spectrum that was being displayed by the cosmic rays. Mortals were barely able to survive more than a few heartbeats in a place like that before their double-stranded propagation molecules shriveled. On the other hand, a Metha experienced the radiation as an, not unpleasant, itch.

Shortly thereafter, Kayros experienced the characteristic phenomena of intoxication and shot full of energy. The euphoria of his first acquainting with Agny's snuff was totally back. It made the color palette of the radiation on the dead planet many times more intense. In his immaterial form, he bounced back and forth through the universe. He floated in the swirling magma streams of a new planet and held a contest with three comets at the same time. Agny tried not to follow him because he knew that such an attempt was doomed to fail. He wisely decided to wait until Kayros returned to his body, for he knew the stuff well, and counted down until the excitement subsided. The ornament around Kayros' neck stimulated his curiosity enormously, yet he did not dare to touch or examine the wreath. To resist the temptation, he also made a trip to a point in the endless void and when he passed the location he enjoyed several heartbeats of a certain unfathomable but friendly silence.