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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