"Welcome back to Axis. I apologize for the crowding, but over four million Romulans have been recovered from the flight. Some of these Romulans will reside in Sector B, others in our brand new Sector C. The Council will determine which sector you are in, once you are in the registry. You can either reside here temporarily or permanently, depending on your preferences. It is highly recommended that you reside here until a new home is made for you. If you are a Romulan of higher role, we invite you to be part of the Axian alliance. Romulans looking to be added to the registry, please head to booth #A3498. For those survivors who have boarded the ships of Booths #A7645 and #A7648, please head to Booth #A5428 for your next steps. Thanks for listening."
That was the first thing the four heard when they got back to Axis. They were in the same port, #A9. But why were the booth numbers different? Perhaps it was because the council didn't expect so many survivors.
"We need to go to Booth #A3498 next. It's this way." Tenya stated.
They followed him and many other survivors, over to #A3498. Some aliens noticed Brendon and Clancy and wanted their autographs. They gave them their autographs for free, which was a gift of generosity since they would have costed 150 dollars USD. They were cramped in a huge crowd at times. But once they got to Booth #A3498, the crowd turned into a line, and the four were separated. Clancy was the closest to the front. Once he got to the front he inserted his ID and the AI gave him instructions far different than the others. The alien behind him noticed, and he also noticed the radiating sea-green mark on his right hand.
"I noticed the mark and that you were given different instructions. I recognize the looks of the mark from Romula when we were saved by this one guy. The mark was also on his right hand as well as other marks. You didn't look much like him but were you associated with him?" the alien asked.
"Yes. Actually I was a part of him." Clancy answered.
The alien's eyes widened in shock. Humans with marks can fuse? Clancy left and followed the instructions the AI gave him. The instructions were to head to another booth for something important. This was far different then the alien's instructions which were just to head back into the resting area. Clancy left to head to that booth. He was walked through crowds of Romulans and aliens until he heard a call from the distance. "CLANCY! WAIT UP!" It was the voice of Frank. Clancy came to a halt, then Frank came up to him. "Brendon and Tenya are still coming. We should wait here for them." he added.
They waited a few minutes. Then, Frank saw that Tenya was coming. "TENYA! OVER HERE!" Frank called out to him. He came and then Frank said, "Stay here, wait for Brandon." Tenya agreed to wait with the others. A minute later, Brendon came. "The gang's all here. Time to go to that booth." Frank finally announced. They walked through crowds of Romulans. They kept walking until all the Romulans were out of sight, which cleared the way for them to walk faster. They kept walking faster and faster, until the finally reached the booth. Once they reached the booth, replacing an AI, there was a man. A Tablite man.
The Tablite had a body shape similar to humans, except it was more squarelike. He had a skinny neck and a face that looked like one of the old iPads with dynamic screens from 2156 that Tenya had somewhere in his Earth homespace. The iPad had a screen, the screen could give itself texture and open itself up. The screen was three-dimensional and fluid unlike those 2010 iPads.
"I've been waiting for you four... Rumor has it that you are the four." the Tablite stated. The Tablite had unusually sharp teeth with in its mouth, but it's not like the four have never seen a Tablite before, because the truth is, they have.
"How do you know?" Frank asked, with skepticism in his glare.
"I know, because I've heard a lot of them survivors talking about some dudes who saved them. A few of them provided descriptions which are quite fitting to you all. They were also talking about one dude, who had distinct marks on his hand. One of them described the marks as 'glowing' and 'colorful'. I also see that you also have marks on your hands that I could use those words to describe. Was that man one of you? Or perhaps... he was all of you." the Tablite replied, with his curious look.
"That man was our Resonance," Brendon stated. "That explains our marks."
"Huh. The reason why I sent you four here was because, of course you know that I am a Tablite, and if you've heard about an event with Tablites and Apsirums..." the Tablite added.
"Yes. I know. In 2788, some Tablites got killed by Apsirums in a mission." Tenya briefly explained.
"Someone's got a gifted and great mind here! In fact, one of the aliens has described the Resonance as 'genius'." the Tablite complimented. "Well, anyways, I am here to give you a reward. It was mostly from sneaking into Romulan minds, since you know that thing about Tablites and mind reading, but still. I am here to reward you."
The four were confused. What reward? We want to get back to Earth.
"In case you didn't know," the Tablite got up from his seat. "I am Kyo Xione. That same Tablite who started the Interspecies Discovery Project, the Tablite representative of the council, and the one who started up the Apsirum and Romulan trips. I am rewarding you for your heroism in saving so many lives. I am rewarding you for going beyond expectations, and predictions. I am rewarding you for breaking destiny and using those pieces to build a better future. Please, tomorrow, come back to this booth to receive your rewards."
The four gasped at the familiar name. It really was him. But Clancy still kept his focus on going back to Earth.
"We want to go back to Earth. Today." Clancy replied.
"No worries. When you head back to Earth, you can have your award be sent with you! People on Axis can still see it too! There is a flight to Earth leaving in an hour or so, you can get ready there. I'll come with you!" Kyo assured.
The four agreed and Kyo joined the group. Tenya walked to a nearby panel. He typed what he wanted and multiple results came up. He calculated the closest one and decided to head towards it. After some walking they finally got to it, and Kyo wanted to consult the operator. The operator came and gave the four brief instructions. They followed the instructions and are ready to leave the flight. They headed for the Port while Kyo stayed for a little bit longer, mainly to talk to the operator about important things about the rewards and their treatment.
After about an hour, Port #6 was open and almost ready for departure. The four got in, and Kyo followed. They walked through halls, slid their ID cards into the tablets and then entered the ship. The first thing they saw was a lot of seats lined up neatly against the walls, unlike the other spacecraft, which was more for fighting than for passenger carrying. It also had windows, so that space could be seen.
Cargo was placed inside the spacecraft. The cargo contained many important content, and most of which belonged to Kyo. Brendon, Clancy, Tenya, and Frank's supplies were also loaded into the ship. This time the ship was ready for departure and not much announcements were needed due to the lack of passengers at the moment. The ship slowly departed Axis and entered plain space.
They were sitting in the ship. Tenya pulled out his minicomputer with concern as to why Daepi did not reply yet. She should've replied by now, he thought. I think it was the noise that signaled that the message wasn't sent.
Tenya looked out the window. He saw two things that puzzled him. The first was a robot adjusting a satellite back into place. Oh yeah, no wonder the message wasn't sent. The satellites need to be precisely aligned in order to send the signal thoroughly and correctly. It's better she received a proper message later than a corrupt one now. But the second thing that confused Tenya was the beam of light projected slightly away from the ship. Strange. This doesn't usually happen. What even is this beam of light? If it was harmful then wouldn't ships be coming for it? I guess it's not, then.
After this, he went back to doing his own thing.
What he didn't know was that the beam was a good luck beam from Daepi.
