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.
