The planned posh frock and dinner jacket grand dining experience that
the Tornados crew were looking forward to, never happened, and was replaced by
beer and burgers in the hotel bar where Merri and Dwyn tried to make sense of
the doppelgangers in front of them and the rest of the crew watched with
fascination as Merri and her carbon copy found out about each other.
Dwynwen Strong, like
Merri, was
born on Earth Secundus in the Overtonis System, but a year later than her
cousin, and to Ben Strong’s younger brother Owen, and the reason neither of
them knew of the others existence was because the brothers had a falling out
when Merri was three years old, which was why Ben Strong left the Overtonis
System to work for the Garangon Mining Company, and from that moment
on, the Brothers raised their daughters in isolation and with no mention by the
fathers regarding the existence of their cousins.
At the time the Garangon Mining Company went
out of business, after inadvertently destroying the moon they were mining, and Ben
Strong kept the Tornado in lieu of payment, Owen Strong was pursuing his own
career as an archeologist, and Dwynwen followed in his footsteps, and by the
time of Ben Strong’s death, when the Tornado passed to Merri, Dwyn was well
respected Archeologist in her own right, while her father Owen had found that
his strengths lay in the halls of academe, and was a Professor back on Earth
Secundus.
Because of her reputation in her field and a
recommendation from her father, Dwyn had spent the previous three years aboard
the Alexandretta, which was an exploration
vessel, searching for all things of mineral, zoological, agricultural and
archeological interest, and she had planned to spend a further two years aboard,
but something happen and she disembarked at the Aurora 6 space station and took
a berth on the first vessel to depart in the opposite direction which was a
heavy transport called the Agamemnon, bound for Eikon Major, a journey
which took three months.
But she surprised the whole group, including
Merri, when she said that her first port of call, after three years away and
three months on the Agamemnon, was the Andraxian Embassy in Rendon.
Dwynwen explained that the mission brief for the Alexandretta scientists was to
ascertain if planets had ever sustained any significant civilizations in their
past and gather data by the least invasive means and document their findings, this
did involve taking samples, but again these were kept to a minimum, but when
evidence pointed to significant sites of a former sophisticated culture, and
their locations were identified, Dwynwen and her team were allowed down to the
surface to investigate further which ultimately lead to some excavations, and
if any artifacts were recovered they were again documented and packed for
return to the museum on Andraxis.
However, after three years it came to Dwynwen’s
attention after she quite by chance came across a data packet, which contained
shipping manifests, but not the ones she had initialed, after completing the
loading, but substitutes, detailing that of all the artifacts shipped to the
museum, less than half of them completed the trip.
After further discreet investigation she
discovered that Captain Bersian of the Alexandretta, two of the Science
Directorate aboard, Brenhol and Ocec and the Captain of the freighter Hollander,
Ca Erdd, had all signed off the falsified manifest.
She continued to gather information until the
Alexandretta docked at Aurora 6 Space Station to take on supplies which was
when she made her move and without telling a soul aboard she gathered up her
most precious belongings, and the data tablets, and while everyone else was
looking for some fun she was boarding the Agamemnon bound for the Eikon
Cluster.
“So, what now?” Merri asked
“I have to get to Andraxis and give evidence
to the Messengis
Science Congress”
“Wasn’t the physical evidence enough?” Asti
asked
“No, I have to give a verbal account as well”
she explained
“So, until you do, you’re a target” Parse
pointed out
“That’s why I have the body guards” she
replied and indicated with a nod, the two Andraxian Agents, who couldn’t have
looked any more conspicuous if they’d had signs around their necks.
The senior agent was Ferro Scanner, tall dark and
strikingly handsome, with jet black hair and the typical Andraxian opaque grey
green skin which darkened or lightened depending on their mood, he was
physically fit, well-toned and could no doubt look after himself and Dwynwen, his second in command was Ambor Etra who was five foot eight with short black hair, in
a pixie cut, mesmerizing eyes and a very decent figure with a pert derriere and
disproportionately large breasts and long slender legs.
“How long before you leave?” Merri asked
“I have to report to the Embassy in Rendon tomorrow night, then leave the
next morning and later that day we have to Rendezvous with an Andraxian Frigate,
which will take me all the way there” she replied
Andraxis was two systems away from the Cluster in the Messengis System
and the Andraxian’s were an ancient Culture and considered themselves to be the
moral guardians of the known universe.
“So soon?” Merri asked
“I’m afraid so” Dwyn replied
“The universe can be very cruel, one day I discover I have a fully-grown
cousin and the next she’s off again” Merri said
“Yes, but I know you exist now and where you are” Dwynwen said and
hugged her newly found cousin.
After a prolonged hug Merri pulled herself free and discreetly wiped a
tear from her eye and said
“Well if you’re off leaving tomorrow we need to make the best of the
time we have left so let’s get partying!”
In ones and two’s, the rest of the crew
called it a night, including Merri’s lover Parse, but Merri and Dwynwen partied
long and hard and Merri ended up crashing in Dwyn’s suite.
It was far better accommodation than Merri
and the crew could afford, but then Dwyn couldn’t afford it either, the only
reason she was there was because it was provided by the Andraxian Embassy where
she and her body guards could stay and keep her protected.
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