Project SALLI

Chapter Seven - Meetings and Gatherings

Major T'kyra is as excited now as she was 4 hours ago. She is buzzing with energy. Giddy, with a huge smile across her face. Fidgety and impatient, she sits at the table in the hall, barely staying seated, waiting for every one else to arrive.  

Oso looks nervous, shifting his weight about in his seat uncomfortably. He thought the report could wait until morning. Instead T'kyra convinced her father to call a midnight meeting, waking everyone up and ordering them to the hall. So here they wait. 

Oso looks at TK as if to say 'stop fidgeting', but for some reason it comes off more endearing, like 'Don't worry'. Oso is the one worrying; no matter what he tries, he can't seem to push TK away. 

"I'm nervous!" T'kyra exclaims to her work partner. The young captain just looks down at the desk. 

Luckily Chief Palliko chooses right now to enter the room, followed by some bleary-eyed heads of departments. Kara, Grant, Forska, Gaia, Amicus, and Biruda all walk in, some blinking away the sleep in their eyes. None of them look too happy about being woken up. Palliko is the only one who looks remotely alive. 

The members of the council all take their seats. Some look at each other, wondering why they are here. Some look at Palliko, silently demanding an explanation. Others just look down, barely staying concious, drifting back in their seats. Eventually, one of them is brave, and concious, enough to speak up. 

"So what is this mega emergency that has us all up at this hour?" Gaia is the head of agriculture, and is supposed to be up again in just a few hours.  

"Good question, Gaia." Palliko replies. He turns to his daughter who looks like she is about to pop like an over filled balloon."T'kyra? Would you like to tell everyone what you and Captain Oso have found?" 

TK leaps up from her seat, excited to tell everybody of her discovery. "Ladies and Gentleman." T'kyra has suddenly decided to turn into the lady she should be. "Tonight we have a special report, brought to you by the very best of the scouting world!" 

For some reason, this rousing introduction has not made much of an impact on the assembled audience. It seems no one is in the mood for a magnanimous stuck up girl. TK doesn't mind though, she knows what is coming. 

"Today, we discovered a powered building, which contained an electro-magnetically sealed door." Eyes snap open at this deceptively simple statement. The fact that there is still an active power source after 200 years is astonishing. What is more important is that it is supplying something as powerful as electro-magnetic locks, rather than a collection of light bulbs. Add to that the fact that this facility has not been found by anyone else, or destroyed by A.I.s in the war, it means that this is a very special find indeed.  

As TK and Oso relate all that they found, Palliko briefly disappears into his private chambers. Just as his daughter is finishing, he reappears holding a box, and quietly takes his seat again. TK finishes off her report and takes her seat. Now the council must decide what to do about this discovery. 

Palliko stands to address his clan.

"As per usual, this briefing is classified, and no one is to discuss any details outside of this room. Now, I have something to tell you all that goes beyond normal classification. The contents of this box are only shown to the clan leader, and have been passed down through the generations since the war. Hearing what has been described has given me reason to share it with you all." 

No one has heard of this box, not even TK. Everyone wants to know what is inside. 

The box itself is unremarkable, made of wood and secured with string. TK spots only one distinguishing feature, the same triple helix symbol that she saw in the building.