Meltdown Ophilion - Book One

22_ELEN-TRON

The twenty-five mec-tah signal was given. All passengers began preparing for arrival at the com-zone of Portos-Caas. "Well, here goes," said Orion nervously. He began to feel less confident as they approached. Many things could go wrong. It was likely that Uncle Menaro wasn't even in the city; he spent much of his life in the air.

"Don't worry," Jenna said, "a solution will present itself, somehow." The Regalan was feeling much more optimistic. Now that Celli shared the burden of communication with the Merenthaal her responsibility had been halved. She figured that Celli would now be a permanent contact. She took a deep, invigorating breath, feeling her muscles relax.

Orion eyed her skeptically. "Yeah, but we haven't heard back from my uncle. I don't know if he'll even be here today."

"We'll take it a step at a time." Jenna smiled.

Orion nodded grimly, counting on her certainty. "Okay... well, let me check and see if my uncle sent a reply." Orion pushed a button on his wrist-com and a blue sign flashed on the screen. "He sent a reply!" Orion said excitedly.

The others leaned closer.

"It's a voice reply... should I activate it?"

"Yes!" they chorused.

Orion punched the same button again and his uncle's voice sounded: "Orion, what a surprise! I was just thinking of you and your mom and dad yesterday and the trip we took to Helena, remember that? Well, I suppose you didn't come all the way just to say 'hi', it must be something important, so I've sent someone to get you from the dock. Just wait on the platform, he'll recognize you. I'll see you soon – your friends are welcome too."

Orion's eyes lit up, "Well... that's good news, isn't it?" He said with immense relief. The others nodded. Their mission status had been upgraded from bleak to moderately probable.

They waited on the dock platform for about ten minutes until a smart-looking young man in an immaculate beige and white uniform and what looked like a permanent self-satisfied grin on his face approached them.

"You must be Orion," he said, extending his hand.

"Uh, yes, yes I am, and these are my friends, Celli, Fel and Jenna."

"Pleased to meet you all, do you have everything?"

"Yes, I think so," Orion said, rather uncertainly.

***

"Make yourselves comfortable," Paril said in a pleasant but authoritative tone once they had seated themselves in the late-model Keneso transport. "Our trip to the hangar will take about twenty mec-tah. If you would like something to drink, please help yourselves."

The four travelers looked at each other wondering how all of this might turn out.

"This is your first time to Portos-Caas, am I right?" Paril asked as he took the ship into a sky lane and headed west, towards the outskirts of the com-zone.

"That's right," Orion said, "for all of us."

"Well, we have a wide assortment of some of the best entertainment on the planet," Paril went on, "In fact; right here in Portos-Caas they're developing a new form of calen-trance called teneral-trance. It's going to put everything else out of business within a couple of cenro, I promise. If you're here long enough I'll take you to see what I consider the pioneers." He shook his head and laughed, "Stuff that'll blow you away."

Orion nodded politely but did not share Paril's enthusiasm for calen-trance, although Paril seemed to think everyone did. "So, what do you do for my uncle?" Orion asked.