Five minutes slowly passed, then ten, then fifteen. Nothing.
"Maybe we got something wrong," Orion said, at last. He didn't want to give up or give in to the possibility that they were wrong about the whole thing. Not yet.
"Maybe something happened to whoever we were supposed to meet," Fel offered, "or maybe they're late for some reason; the summons was made a hundred fifty cenro ago after all."
Celli felt panic beginning to rise within her. What if the whole thing really was just an amazing chain of coincidences? What if, by trying as hard as they had, and taking the chances they took, they had brought themselves here and no one was ever going to meet them? This could be our doing... She turned her head and looked at the Regalan. Jenna's doing, she thought, and it made her sick to her stomach. Confusion set in, and with it fear. Her breathing became shallow and beads of sweat formed on her forehead. The others noticed.
"Celli?" Jenna said and touched her hand. Celli jerked it away. Jenna slowly took her hand and held it. "Celli, control your breathing," she instructed.
Jenna seemed to know exactly what was going on. Celli looked into her eyes. Jenna could see the fear clearly written there. Celli could see in Jenna's eyes the opposite: confidence, poise. Celli's fear grew momentarily. Who is Jenna? Who are the Regala? Is this all their doing? Did they bring us here? Why? She was looking for someone to blame, something to blame. She couldn't have allowed herself to become the victim of some bizarre deception – could she?
At that moment Celli was aware that she was holding her pendant in her free hand. She involuntarily shifted her gaze to it. In a torrent, the events of the last six days rushed into her mind. Her eyes widened and her breathing slowed. No... it's true. Everything. It has to be – too many coincidences... this feeling. Last of all she re-lived the relay she had experienced early that day, on the transport, as Hanthran was rising above the free-zone. That alone was enough to tip the scales. Her confidence was returning. She was holding a pendant with her name on it. The episode had passed.
Celli wondered how many more of these insanity sessions she would have to endure in order to find what it was they were searching for - and why they were searching - what it was that was driving them. This was the worst episode so far and she didn't like it. She had never lost contact with reality before they had found that safe. Of course, her concept of reality was changing by the day.
"Celli," Jenna said. "Did this ever happen to you before we met?"
Celli looked at her apprehensively and nodded. "When we found the sphere," she said in a low voice, "that was the first time."
Orion and Fel exchanged concerned glances.
Celli understood their meaning. "That wasn't the first time?" She asked.
Orion reached up and scratched the back of his head uneasily. "It happened in the forest on the way to find the crater. We didn't tell you about it. I guess we realized something was happening, but... then everything happened and I forgot about it till now."
Jenna gave her a reassuring look. "I don't think it's anything to be worried about, Celli. I think it comes with the mental abilities you have. Maybe it's the rapid adjustment you are going through." Jenna looked at her with a blend of admiration and envy. "You are the first non-Regalan that has ever been chosen by the agents for a relay; as far as I know. I think that means something. All of us that are relays for the agents have difficulties that others do not. It comes with the job." Jenna half smiled. "But I think it's worth it."
Celli began to realize what this might mean for her now, and in the future. If she really had been chosen by dimensional entities because of her special abilities – abilities she had only recently discovered even existed – then she wanted to figure it out as soon as possible. She hated being in the dark about things and that's why this whole adventure agitated her as much as it intrigued her.
Fel looked over at the Regalan. "Jenna?" he asked, then paused as if reconsidering his question; but it was too late, everyone was watching him now. "Do you think that the agents will choose us to be relays too?" He indicated to Orion.
Orion was glad Fel had asked; he had the same question but was too self-conscious to put it into words.
"You have been chosen by the agents," Jenna replied without hesitation. "You have pendants with your names on them. Among the Regala I am the only one who has one of these, but it's the same as yours. We were chosen – all four of us, that much is clear. Whether you will be relays, I don't know, but that's not the goal, just a means – a tool.
"The way my people understand it is that when we do what we have the power to do, we receive assistance, and that multiplies as we proceed. That's the way it's worked for three-hundred cenro. That's why the Merenthaal came to help us in the first place. And even though we don't understand a lot about them, we are grateful. I don't think we would even be successful as the Regala without their intervention."
Celli felt reassured after hearing Jenna's explanation. She would move forward gradually and try to adjust to these changes and see where they would take her.
Celli's episode had distracted them but now they turned their thoughts back to their present condition in the asteroid belt. The time of the summons had come and gone and they were alone. The agents had not attempted to contact them by means of relay and there were no further instructions or clues. They had no path forward. Their only option was to return to the surface - to Portos-Caas - and take Menaro to a med-center.
They sat quietly looking out the windows of the command deck hoping for a signal. All was peaceful and very quiet.
Celli decided to make use of the mental abilities Jenna said she had. She didn't fully accept Jenna's explanation yet, but in this place, forty thousand CTs away from their planet's surface, in the middle of hex-pirate territory, she was willing to give it a try.
She breathed deeply and attempted to project her thoughts in order to feel whatever was out there, or whether she could sense the mind of an agent. The others noticed her and watched in silence, hoping that she would be able to tell them something.
She spent a full minute in concentration. "They're here," she said quietly, in that same faraway voice she used in the forest before they found the sphere, "they're here...waiting for us." She nodded. The look on her face became serene. "I can feel it." She waited half a minute, just sensing; endeavoring to see with her mind what was invisible to her eyes. But beyond the feeling there was nothing; no words, no relay. She looked around at her comrades. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't hear anything. Did you Jenna?"
"No," Jenna replied, shaking her head. "But I have never tried doing what you just did – projecting to sense something like that. Maybe I should try; but I don't think I would sense more than you did just now."
They waited for more ideas.
"Celli," Fel said, "what did you mean when you said that they were already here? You mean... already on the asteroid?"
Celli tried to relive the feeling. "Actually... yes, I think that's what I felt. I know it sounds crazy because there is nothing on the scanner, but... yes I think they are here."
"Who did you feel?" Orion asked. "Merenthaal agents?"
"Yes, I think that's what it was." She looked at them with wide eyes. "But I'm not sure. It was a strong impression." She looked to Jenna. "What do you think?"
Jenna took a deep breath. "I don't know why they would have us come out here to meet them, but... yes, I think you could be right. They can operate in the First Dimension, that means they can be invisible and undetectable to us in our dimension - the Second Dimension." She looked at Celli. "Unless we use methods like the one you just did." Jenna looked over the floor of the crater from one side to the other. "At this point I wouldn't really be surprised at anything."
"So, we just keep waiting," Orion commented, and the rest of them nodded.
They resolved to keep a less strict vigil and relieve their nerves by chatting about nothing important. Before they knew it a whole hour had passed.
Then they heard it.
The com-screen beeped four times and blinked blue, then a message scrolled into view. Everyone huddled around to see what it said. Celli read aloud:
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Welcome, dear friends and comrades. You have passed the difficult primary tests and now it is time for you to see a larger picture. You chose to follow the clues we gave you. You chose to trust us, as we requested, and here you are: in a place you ever expected to be. We told you that you would understand in the future. The future is now. Are you prepared to understand?
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They all waited in perfect silence to see what would happen next.
Nothing happened. The floor of the crater was as barren as it had been before the message arrived.
"What should we do," Fel whispered.
"I don't know," Jenna whispered back, "I guess we just keep waiting."
They had no doubt that it was the Merenthaal agents who had sent this message – but if they could only be more explicit and less enigmatic. 'Are you prepared to understand' sounded almost ominous, and they wondered what the 'larger picture' would look like when they saw it. They began to have doubts about the benevolent nature of these beings now that they were alone on the edge of outer space.
However, they had referred to them as friends and comrades. No, they had to be on their side. How could beings who did all that they had done have less than benevolent intentions.
"I wonder why they would send a message like that?" Celli pondered aloud, "and then just leave us hanging." Her impatience competed with her apprehension now. Her emotions seemed to be alternating at an alarming rate and she felt quite concerned.
"Can you identify where that message came from?" Orion asked her.
"I can try," Celli said, attempting to clear her mind. "It didn't come in the usual format..." she tapped on her keyboard for a few seconds and stared at the data incredulously.
"What?"
"It came from right beside us." Celli looked quizzically up at the pilot. "I don't know how – it's like there is another ship right beside us, but it's invisible. The scanners don't see anything at all, but the signal tracer shows it very clearly, as if it were coming from right outside our ship."
They all jumped for the second time when they heard three loud knocks on the hull of the Elen-Tron. It was as if a bomb had detonated. Their hearts stopped and their ears rang in response to the vibrations of metal on metal.
"What was that?" Celli's whispered.
Nobody moved.
The knocks came again, from the same place.
"That's coming from around the emergency hatch inside the service tunnel," Fel said in a constricted whisper. "Close to where I found Menaro."
"So," Orion said between shallow breaths, "what do we do?"
"We go and see who's there," Celli said, without thinking.
They stood in silence for half a minute, unable to move.
"Okay," Orion said, "I'll go first." He felt his mouth go dry. He began walking but found it difficult to put one foot in front of the other. He wished someone else had taken the lead, but at this point he simply wanted the tension to break – as if he were charged with dangerously high amounts of static electricity which might cause him to self-combust, or as if he were standing atop a dam that was ready to burst its barriers.
The floodwaters would carry him downstream – to a place where, he sensed, he needed to be. He should go there, and the water could take him. Absurd. The entire picture was irrational, illogical, preposterous, and inevitable. Orion was moving towards the escape hatch in order to put a hole in a dam. Then they would see what would happen. Destiny would Act.
The others gladly stepped aside as Orion made his way, with unsteady gait, out of the bridge. He felt his legs were made of rubber. He felt prickles run up his spine and into his scalp and tongue; he tasted the electricity like jibbit candy – acidic extreme. Squares and triangles swam before his eyes and he felt himself falling forward. He staggered into the hallway grasping the handrails with both hands to steady himself.
"Are you ok?" he heard someone ask, he wasn't sure who; his ears were ringing; the voice sounded distant.
He breathed deeply and his vision cleared. He felt strength return to his legs, though they were still wobbly. He raised his head, looking down the hallway into the central lounge; the rich burgundy of the sofa.
"I'm ok," he said in a feeble voice. He hoped that someone would offer to take the lead, but no one did. His friends politely waited for him to recover.
The pilot took one last deep breath and began moving forward.