Astral Legacy Book 1

13

Kershala opened his eyes slowly he was laying next to Kale who was still asleep. His implant had shut down and put him to sleep to prevent a sensory overload, the result was that he was incredibly tired. He felt like he barely slept when he sat up, he realized that the AI was hovering in front of the couch projecting an image.

"What are you doing Anubis?" Kershala stood up slowly and walked over to the couch.

"I have now decrypted seventy-eight percent of the access device. I am currently accessing the ships internal sensors to map out the vessel." The images changed rapidly as Kershala watched the AI moving through out the ship.

"This is good news. Are you able to access the ships teleporter unit yet?"

"I predict I will be able to access ships primary functions one I have reached eighty five percent decryption."

"Have you determined if there are any other life signs on the vessel yet?"

"I apologize, I only have access to tertiary sensors, they do not allow me to scan for life signs." Kershala had a sense of dread fall over him that the AI was able to detect. "If there is any other life on board than it will likely be other prisoners, not likely to be hostiles. The Arktora do not travel together and are thought to be loners. If there are other Shiron up there, they will likely be neutralized very quickly and pose little threat."

"Can you show me the external view of the ship?" asked Kershala taking a seat on the edge of the couch.

"What's going on?" asked Kale clearly groggy. Kershala didn't notice him stir as he spoke with the AI.

"Anubis has accessed the sensors on board the ship." Kale sat up slowly and put his hand to his head covering his eyes.

"Ah dammit, last night must have done a number on me. I haven't felt a headache like this in a long time. Definitely a migraine." Kale laid back down and Kershala walked over to him, he wasn't feeling great himself, but he wasn't in pain.

"What can I do?" Kershala knelt beside him put his hand gently on Kale's shoulder and kissed the hand he held over his face.

"A drink of water's a good start." Kale kept his hand over his eyes. Kershala reached over just behind the makeshift bed to where they kept one of the bottles of fresh water. He opened it and placed Kale's free hand on it. "Thank you." Kale twisted the top off and let it fall to the side before raising the bottle to his mouth for a couple of small sips. "Any idea how long this is going to last?"

"The effects of the process used have been known to last on Daoran minds for twelve of your hours. But in those situations, the memories were extracted from criminals against their will. Estimating based on previous recovery time and the amount of time you slept, it should not go on for much more than a few hours," Anubis explained.

"I guess that's good," said Kale running his hand through his hair.

"Come, sit with me while we look at this vessel." Kershala sat on the couch, he watched and waited as Kale slowly stood to join him. When he was close enough, he took his hand and guided him he sat down. "Rest my en'saba." Kale looked at Kershala confused as he laid his head down on his lap. "It is a term of affection, Kale." Kale smiled at him as he got comfortable. Kershala rested his hand on Kale's chest and massaged it lightly as he watched the AI project an image of the ships external hull. Kershala turned his attention to the projection. "Activate a tactile interface and bring the image closer." Kershala ordered. Kershala watched as the image faded and reloaded there was now a clear spherical interface around it so that he could touch and manipulate the image. The ship was bigger than Kershala had first imagined, it seemed too big for one being, at least twice as large as the ship he and his family used. Kershala manipulated the image with one hand and zoomed out from the image, the ship was heavily armed with several energy weapons mounted in strategic locations around the vessel. The surface of the ship seemed to be showing signs of battle stress, he could see several scars in the vessels heavy armor that were likely from energy weapons. Kershala could only imagine the poor souls that had come face to face with this vessel and its pilot, he would likely find the evidence of their struggles when they got to the ship in the form of their remains. He flipped the vessel to be able to see the underside. He could see where both the sub-light drive and main engines were located, it seemed to be equipped with a standard pulse drive with several smaller thrusters for maneuverability. The shape of the ship itself was unlike anything he had seen before, two large pincer-like apparatus extended from the main circular hull giving the ship an almost insect like appearance. The hull itself was not smooth like most ships he had come across either and seemed as though every part of the ship was forced into place. He wondered where it had come from, the design was clearly not of Shironian origin and he could tell it had been heavily modified. He felt Kale move his head on his lap as he studied the ship.