Meltdown Ophilion - Book One

19_CLUE

The four young people edged closer.

"This...is a summons," he explained, "a very old one too," his voice grew more dramatic, "and definitely not official." He looked up at the four pairs of round eyes on the other side of the counter, "I would say," he lowered his voice as if they were discussing shady business in a spin-house, "definitely... hexolium pirate charts." Their eyes grew larger still. The old collector seemed to derive pleasure from his audience' reaction. "Yes," he said pensively, "who knows what goes on up there... in the forbidden zones."

The four young people turned to look at each other as the old man studied the summons.

"I'm afraid I can't make this out though. It seems it's somehow encoded." He looked back up at them. "But then, the hexolium pirates always do use codes of various kinds to keep their best rocks safe." He chuckled, "In any case, whenever this summons took place, it must have been a long time ago. By the looks of the charts I'd say... about one-hundred fifty cenro."

He straightened his posture and placed both hands on the counter. "I could get you a very good price for these," he said confidently, turning to business. "Good condition, original folder and insignia. It would take a few calah, but I have a buyer that I'm sure would be interested." He smiled at Orion who had done the talking.

"Um..." Orion hesitated, "I don't think we're ready to sell just yet. We'll probably hang on to them for now; we just wanted to get an idea of the... value, and... age."

"Well..." the old collector said somewhat crestfallen, "when you're ready, you know where to come. I'll fetch you the best price possible; I'll guarantee that."

"Thank you," Orion replied, "thanks for your help."

"Not a problem... you know," the collector said as an after-thought, "you might be able to decipher that summons if you use the com-drives at the Central Archive Building. You won't find cipher programs for this on the info-lines."

"Thanks again," Orion said, "when we're ready to sell them, we'll contact you."

The last Orion saw when he glanced over his shoulder on his way out the door was the perplexed look on the old collector's face, as if he were wondering why a group of Cholan young people would want to hang on to something like old mining charts when they could make a good chunk of quick credit off it. They exited the shop and walked to the end of the block.

"Whadaya think?" Orion asked.

They studied each other's faces. It was clear that between them they had a variety of opinions.

"I think it's pretty neat." Fel said, the excitement evident in his voice.

"What?"

"That they're old pirate maps!"

Celli looked dubiously at him. "I don't think they are."

"But you heard the old man," Fel countered.

"I don't think hex pirates made our necklaces; and they certainly didn't create the circumstances that brought us here."

"Well, what else could it be then?"

"The Merenthaal agents," Celli stated matter-of-factly. "Do you have a better theory?"

Orion smiled mischievously, "Oh, so now you believe all of that is real."

"Perhaps," Celli said defensively, "at least it's the most logical explanation so far. Coincidence is out of the question at this point. I think someone else is involved and I'm honestly curious to see what's going to happen next."