Age of Lies (Original Version)

Chapter 12

A dark room deep within the mist shrouded mountain slowly brightened as the dim overhead lights flickered on revealing a large stone meeting table where twelve seats lay empty. A slight mist hung in the air due to the planets peculiar atmosphere giving the room an ancient and mysterious feeling. The door to the room finally opened and soon seven of the seats were filled. The dim light cast shadows upon the faces these people who sat in silence. Suddenly holo-graphic projections appeared and filled the empty seats, showing an image of their usual occupants. As each member nodded a silent respectful greeting to the other members a man shrouded in shadow was projected in the middle of the table. The twelve gave a slight bow of respect and then waited for the man to speak.

"As you all know, the UPSF has begun to move against us more and more openly. Recently as most of you have probably heard, the Talon was listed as a high target for the Night Ravens several weeks ago after they joined our cause after learning the truth behind the UPSF. I had hoped they would make it back home so they could hide and stay safe. However the Talon and her crew were destroyed around a week ago. They were returning from a mission and were to get some R&R at the trade station above Yemopite while the Talon was to be repaired and resupplied when the Night Ravens caught them while they were unaware. They were the ones who gathered the information about a rather . . . peculiar event that has happened rather recently."

The man paused letting the words sink in before continuing.

"You all know of the rumors and legends that surrounds the Ghost Ship. Some say that it is an alien ship lost in time, others say that it is a simple ghost ship that doesn't exist. No matter what others may think, we know the truth of it. Thanks to the Talon we now know that the ship went missing and was most likely destroyed when the UPSF tried to capture it. However, there seems to be a single survivor of the original crew. For the moment we will send a fleet to secure the salvage from that ship, and secondly we need to find the person who survived. They may know some answers to the questions that we have. Now, go forth and set operation Riptide into motion."

The silent twelve rose from their seats and gave a quick salute and then turned and headed out to start their separate missions. The projectors shut off and the room fell into darkness once more.

Markelium tossed and turned as he lay in his bed asleep. A steady beeping noise finally woke Markelium from his fitful sleep. His vision was blurry and the room was dark as he tried to make out his surroundings. As his vision cleared he saw his holo-pad pulse gently with light as its content waited to be viewed. He looked over and checked the clock for the time and saw that it was just after three o'clock in the morning. He sat up and reached for his holo-pad and brought up the announcement.

"Attention crew. The Prince will be making port in six hours. Report to your stations by 0700 for the final approach and docking preparations."

Markelium rubbed his eyes of sleep and keyed the lights on and kept them dim.
"Might as well do a few work outs till it's time to head out."

Markelium began doing a few stretches to loosen up before starting on his workout routine. He started out with fifty pushups and sit ups and then did sixty pull ups and then started it again by doing one hundred slow pushups and sit ups and then one hundred and twenty pull ups along with several other minor work outs. After doing a few more sets, Markelium went to the gym and ran on a treadmill for five miles and completed a few other workouts. After sitting down and drinking some water to help refresh himself, he stood up and began walking back to his cabin. On his way back he passed Joe who had his nose stuck in the manual for the new fighters again.

"Hey Joe. I see you are still studying up on those new fighters. Ready to see them up close and personal?"

Joe looked up startled and smiled when he saw Markelium standing there.