Chapter 4
Lost Kitten
HIMS Leo Rugiens, High Orbit of Bellator
The Lord Admiral Nuresseif Beck sat in his quarters with a cigar in one hand and a snifter of brandy in the other. He was a thickset man with a broad nose and thinning hair. The way he slouched in his chair did not show much military bearing, nor did his heavy-lidded eyes give much sense of the pride of the Imperial Navy.
The walls of his quarters simulated the view of a beach at twilight with the speakers delivering the sound of the waves rolling in the distance. When was the last time he enjoyed a real beach? Perhaps he would need to grant himself some shore leave once they secured a beachhead on this planet. The surveys indicated a favorable Mediterranean climate on the southern coast of the North Continent.
Only once in his career had he been privileged enough to travel to Mother Earth herself. This world, Bellator, was perhaps one of the closest to Earth in terms of climate and geography. Had it been engineered that way? He knew of the cultural phenomenon dubbed 'Homecoming Syndrome' where these Lost Worlds would seemingly unconsciously try to recreate Old Earth as they rebuilt civilization. How much stronger would that effect be on a planet that so closely resembled the original homeworld?
The sound of the waves was interrupted by the chime of the viewscreen. His adjutant Stabsleutnant Popovich appeared on the screen.
"Herr Admiral," he said, "I have StabskapitÀnleutnant Lunden's report from the surface."
Popovich was standing at attention, but the Admiral continued to slouch in his chair, taking a long drag of his cigar.
As he blew out a stream of smoke, he replied, "Go on."
"Yes, Herr Admiral," Popovich said. " StabskapitÀnleutnant Lunden and his team have reached the crash site of Oberleutnant Van Houten's pod."
The Admiral arched an eyebrow.
"Crash site? She's dead then?"
"There are no remains to be found, sir. Leutnant Reyes has detected residual energy from an Arcanic sequence whose signature closely matches Oberleutnant Van Houten. It is believed that she destroyed the pod after touchdown to throw us off her trail."
"No tracker signal?"
"Negative, sir. The signal was lost during the entry blackout. If Oberleutnant Van Houten is still alive, she must have extracted her tracker then."
"Are there any signs of life?"
"They did find traces of blood matching Oberleutnant Van Houten from approximately fifty to one hundred meters from the crash site, but the trail is lost after that."
"Expand the search to a fifty-kilometer radius from the crash site," the Admiral said. "Observe but do not engage unless you have a positive ID. We have not yet begun our diplomacy yet and I would like to avoid alerting the locals to our presence. Satellite observation should be available within the next 48 hours."
"Aye-aye, sir," Popovich said. "I will inform StabskapitÀnleutnant Lunden of your orders. Popovich, out."
The viewscreen went dark, leaving the Admiral with the waves for company. He held the snifter up to his nose and drew in a deep breath but did not take a drink.
"You are causing me a lot of trouble, my kitten..."