Space Shift Stories: McGuffin 46

What Just Happened

Julia and I walked back to the port. But as we arrived there were barricades in place. I looked at Julia, she curious. We both came closer to the port gate. There were two guards blocking everyone from entering. I approached the guard. 

"What happened here?" I asked the guard. 

"We can't tell you anything. This is an active crime scene please move away" The guard told me off. 

Julia stepped in. She pulled out her identifications "I'm a reporter." She told the guard. 

The guard looked at us. He looked back at his partner. He whispered something then he looked at us. "There was a shootout. Five dead, they didn't even had time to shoot back. And there's one ship burning." He told us. 

"Do you have the name of the ship." I asked. 

"The Swift…"

We both looked at each other. Julia asked the guard a favor "We liked to get inside". The guard looked at his partner then back to her. He lifted the barricade and let us in. 

From the inside we saw that the entire port was in disarray. There were still no sign of law enforcement on the scene the scene. We walked near where we parked both ships. Julia was terrified of what she saw, I felt a little shock. The aliens that hunted us earlier. All lying dead on the ground. Some have blaster wounds while others have dismembered appendages.

"Could Strife do this?" Julia asked me.

"No. If he did this he would've called me" I replied giving her a little assurance. "Stay close" I told her as I held her hand. It was cold, shaking. It was apparent that she this was the first time she saw something like this. We entered the Swift and looked around. We called out their names and no one responded. Julia looked even more worried. 

"What do we do? " She asked me. Her voice was shaking. 

"Stay here" I said. I walked out of the Swift and went into the Carpenters. 

I looked around everywhere. From the from the top level to lower level. From the engine room to every bathroom. They weren't there. Then the anxiety kicked in. I shifted my focus from searching Strife and Celestine to looking for the tablet. Again searching high low. And like I feared it wasn't there. I quickly rushed over back to the Swift. Julia was just standing still. She may be nervous but not hysterical. Which is fine. 

"So? " Her voice is a little bit calm.

"Not there. And the tablet… " I paused. "C.H.R.I.S. where are they? " I asked the A.I.

"Hello Rover. Celestine and Strife are not here." The A.I. replied. 

"I know that. Can you still track her."

"Yes..." The A.I. paused for awhile. "They are currently exiting the orbit"

Julia gave me a condescending look. Clearly upset about me tracking her cousin without consent. "What? Did it to me first." I told her. I looked out the Cockpit. "Is there any ways we can figure out if Strife's with her?" I asked C.H.R.I.S.

"Accessing nearby camera."

"You can do that now?" I was genuinely surprised. 

"Of course. It was a part of the remodeling, they updated me… I have the footage. Displaying now" 

The holotable and Cockpit computers opened. It showed us Strife and Celestine walking in. Then we saw two guys walked up to them. We also saw the stand off and what we assume is the negotiation. The footage also included and ended with Dhurnuth massacring the aliens.

"So they were taken?" Julia said

"Seems like it"

"We need to go after them. Rescue them. Or something" She muttered all other possible things we should do. 

My mind raced. "Give me a sec" I told her as I walked out and back to the Carpenters. I approached the holotable. I accessed the file manager and typed in the keyword 'Sim Gaia'. There were a bunch of files. I transferred them all to my holowatch. I returned to the ship. "We won't go after them." 

"What?!" Julia grabbed me by the collar. 

I took off her hand. "We need to get the codex first"

"Why? Why not get them? That seems better… Or maybe you value money more than your life?"

"You saw what that other guy did to those Littles guys. I don't think I can beat him head on" I felt a little embarrassed. Trying to admit to a girl of something I can't do. "That's why we need the codex. As a bargaining chip"

"How could you say that?" She looked curious. Her eyes looked around my own, trying to figure out why I came to that conclusion. "There's no audio on the footage. How can you say that we need the codex to use as a ransom?"

"Because the tablet isn't there" I fiddled with my holowatch. Opening the files I copied from the Carpenters. I flicked them toward the holotable, everything was mirrored there. "Here's everything Strife digged about Sima Gaia and the tablet."

There were holograms of different ancient text and other photos concerning the planet. Julia curiously looked over each one of them. "Strife researched this?" She looked at me, one brow raised.

"What? You think we just pick a random planet out of a hat and start digging randomly on the chosen planet?"

"I thought..."

"We technically do that. But we research it well, we don't want to waste our time." I told her while skimming through important details. 

Julia still couldn't believe that she did not realize this step. I saw one text translation that states 'A message carved in stone will propel the path to our survival'. I took that photo and showed it to her. 

"The tablet" Her eyes widen. Then it shrank. "Strife has it. How can we do find the codex without him?"

Both of us were so caught up in the moment of thinking about how to do this. It's true, we don't have the tablet. But there was something in the Swift that gave me an idea. The camera drones that hovered discreetly behind us. I looked at Julia's chest. Obviously looking at her body cam. 

"Well anyone can be a scavenger. But if you want to be 'The Scavenger'. You'll need a bit of luck and the ability to improvise" I turned around and grabbed the drone assigned to me. I connected the drone to my holowatch. "C.H.R.I.S. can you give me a quick render for a tablet. Dimensions twelve by six." the monitors started to create a 3D render. I scanned the drone looking for the footage where it gave a 360 on the tablet. Once I found it I screen grabbed the frames where each side of the tablet is seen. "Importing the textures"

C.H.R.I.S. quickly showed me a render of the tablet. "Render complete." It looked exactly like the one we found in the forest. Honestly, this is the first time I saw the tablet. Before it was just filled with scratches but now it's detailed. Very detailed. There were lines and symbols, at first glance you could say that it is a map. But I can't point my figure where this map's supposed to be. 

"Would you like me to print it out for you?" C.H.R.I.S. asked.

"Yes. And do me a favor. Scan this this image through every iconography and space charts out there"

"Will do"

"Amazing. You managed to remake the tablet with just the drone" Julia smiled.

"Credits goes to C.H.R.I.S., I only asked"

"How long will this take."

"Few minutes to an hour. At best"

Julia was looked gloomy. "We can't wait that long"

I looked down, wanting to think of the next move. Then I saw my holowatch still displaying everything from the drone. "C.H.R.I.S. does the escape pod have any computers?"

"Yes. In fact I can be transferred there in case of emergency. Which mean I too can board the escape pod." He proudly answered. 

"Good. Prep the pod and transfer there. We're leaving in five."