Gilgan by KS Augustin

Author:KS Augustin [Augustin, KS]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Space Opera, Science Fiction Adventure, Republic, Galactic Empire, SF Saga
Publisher: Challis Tower
Published: 2016-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

The Perdition had one meeting room that Quinten hadn’t got around to gutting while he was busy rearranging the ship’s innards. He was glad of it now. His crew was arranged around the oval table while Oisyn positioned the booty from the Sapporo vault into neat, separate piles on the smooth surface. Even though he knew that what they had collected was antique, there was still an air of alien novelty to the items that pulled at his sense of discovery.

He nudged a row of slim rods that resembled sticks of coloured glass. “I presume these are the data rods?”

Oisyn nodded. “They match the descriptions I’ve been given.”

Quinten stared at them. “I haven’t seen data devices like this before. Are they really a new communications technology? Saff, I don’t suppose we could decipher them ourselves?”

“Don’t even think of it, Tamlan,” Oisyn said. “Whatever you’re thinking of now, the Republic had already thought of it decades ago. And, no offence, they have many more resources at their disposal than we have.”

Quinten’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not even curious, Erna?”

“Curious?” She snorted. “Of course I’m curious, but unless my curiosity is going to materialise fourteen kilo-credits out of thin air, I’m better off swallowing it and selling the merchandise to the Besibisa. Don’t go undermining the first rule of piracy, Tamlan—the merchandise is key.”

“I’m not a pirate.”

“Yeah? Try telling that to the Republic.”

There was no answer he could give, so Quinten moved on, pointing at a heap of clear crystal sheets in the centre of the table. “What’s that?”

Oisyn shrugged. “I don’t know. Research papers, weapon specifications, could even be some kid’s employment record grabbed on an alien planet by Republic goons who could barely read. They’re pretty though, aren’t they?”

His reply was noncommittal. “I suppose so.”

“Leave it to Saff and me. We’ll try to see if we can figure it out.”

“What made you take them if you don’t know what they are?”

“You get a feel for these things.” Oisyn smiled at the sheets. “They look so mysterious, they gotta be worth something.”

Quinten shifted his attention to the third and fourth exhibits on the table. “And those?”

“The long bullet-shaped stones are actually organic. I figure they’re part of some cache of sacred objects. Highly-polished, with very delicate engravings on all of them. If we can find the owners, we may be able to sell them back to them. The last thing is not the box you see but what’s inside it.”

Quinten waited but Oisyn remained silent.

“Okay,” he said, “what’s inside it?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. It won’t open.”

“It’s an antique, surely we can—”

“I’ve tried everything I can think of. Maybe it’s a genetic code, which will take a while to decipher, much less crack. Maybe it’s something else. I’ve tried scanning, but it scans black.”

Quinten regarded the four piles of merchandise they’d recovered from Sapporo and shook his head. “Looks like we brought back more questions than answers, Erna.”

She was unperturbed. “We brought back some puzzles and one set of merchandise that, alone, is worth a lot of money to certain interested parties.

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