Astral Legacy Book 1

15

"These suits are really comfortable for what're they made of," said Kale. "It seems a little odd though that the Arktora would have these. They obviously wouldn't fit it; I wonder if there was ever someone else on this ship with it." They continued walking as Kale spoke, Kershala paying more attention to the layout of the hallway and the components of the ship. He could see where parts had been taken from other sources and merely added to the design. "Do you think it kept slaves at one time maybe?" Kershala stopped and looked at Kale who was a step behind him.

"The information contained in it's personal computer would suggest so yes." Kershala's connection told him that Kale was disturbed by this information and his features showed this as well.

"What do you think happened to them?" asked Kale swallowing hard seemingly already knowing the answer.

"They outlived their usefulness. Must we go into details, Kale?" Kershala stepped up to him to offer a shoulder of comfort and took his hands. Kale put his arms around Kershala's waist and pulled him in close.

"I hate to think what would have happened if you didn't win that fight on the hill that day." Kales stare was powerful and Kershala could see that something was making him emotional. Kershala brought a hand up to rest of Kale's cheek and leaned into a kiss.

"I am sorry that I cannot give you more reassurance Kale, but you give me a good reason to stay free," said Kershala as he pulled from the kiss and met his lovers gaze.

"It's okay, I'm sorry I think the last few weeks are starting to catch up with me again." Kale took a step back from Kershala.

"Do you want to go back to the bridge for awhile?"

"No, I'll be fine, I just needed a little bit of closeness." Kale took a couple of steps down the hallway toward the next door. "I wouldn't mind a little bit more, next time we can get a little bit of privacy..." Kershala smiled at Kale and walked past him on to what seemed to be the last room on this floor as he approached the door it rushed open. Taken aback Kershala was hit with a flush of rotten smelling air as it permeated his senses from the room ahead. Kale gagged at the smell and attempted to cover his mouth. "Oh my god, what's that smell?" he asked through the arm he covered his nose and mouth with. They walked into the room and Kershala was suddenly hit with a certain unrecognizable fear remaining silent as he took in their surroundings. Kale seemed to get used to the smell and Kershala stood looking around the room.

It was quickly becoming clear by what they saw what kind of room it was. The room was easily two thousand square feet in size, in the middle there was a huge vat of boiling liquid that was undoubtedly the source of the smell and the heat. The wall immediately in front of them was lined with seemingly different types of body armors of varying configurations. Kershala recognized from the varying limb counts and orientations of them that they were from different species, some familiar some not. Some of them were clearly humanoid others clearly weren't. On the left wall high above them several skeletons were held in place by an energy field of sorts, some clearly or presumably animal others were humanoids of several scalable sizes. Below that several large pelts covered the wall and at floor level on a shelf were several vials of colored liquids. The implant quickly recognized the liquids as blood plasma, given the rest of the room, this was not a surprise. On the right wall there was several unrecognizable items, personal items.

"This is a trophy room," Kale gasped and covered his mouth. He walked up to Kershala and retook his hand. Kershala barely noticed, lost in all the information the implant was taking in.

"This creature has caused so much pain across the galaxy." Kershala spoke low and walked deeper into the room. The door shut behind them startling Kale.