Scavenge for the Future

by Evilhumour

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

It was a while before Scratched was able to lift herself upright. She took a slow look around her room with the dim realization that this would be her home for the future as she could probably never go home again.

With a sad sigh, she drifted lazily out of her bedroom into the hallway of the Excelsior and made her way to the cockpit to find out what was going on. Opening the door, she saw her friends at the controls with both turning around to look at her.

“Scratch,” Aerostorm said while flying over to her and pulling her into a tight hug with her arms and wings. “Love, how are you doing?” she asked amid kisses pressed against her head and cheek.

Scratched couldn’t begin to even think of how she was feeling let alone properly articulate herself and just nuzzled into her girlfriend’s side who started to rub her back. After a while, she managed to calm herself enough to pull away from Aerostorm and ask where they were.

“Near the rim of the system,” Zaat said, softly, giving her mournful eyes. “We already alerted Zeehale Habitation Zone Beta and we would have gone there but as you know they’re a week away and he’s a lot closer…” Zaat trailed off, not willing to say anything more about him.

Scratched stared at him before nodding her head. “Smart,” she said softly before turning her eyes around and spotting something that made her breath stop short. Walking over to her computer station, she reached for the data box and turned back to her friends. “Do we have any idea what it is?” she asked them with both of them shaking their heads.

“We were waiting for you,” Aerostorm said. “And we were trying to put as much distance between us and that person, we didn’t really think of it.” Zaat nodded his head in agreement. Walking over to them and leaning back into Aerostorm’s side, Scratched activated the data box.

Ears flicking from the burst of static that blurted out, they could only make out a bit of the message.

‘-ttack … Hesturland… -th phase then will commen …’

They stared at each other before Aerostorm broke the silence with her coughing. Scratched looked at her before turning her eyes back to the data box in her hoof.

“I might be able to get more of the message out but if it is real…” she said slowly, still trying to comprehend what she had heard.

“Anyone planning an attack on Hesturland has to be insane,” Zaat said, rubbing his chin. “But with what happened, I…”

“If we had found this without that fucker doing anything, I would have written this off as some stupid joke,” Aerostorm said. “Now…”

“Now,” Scratched said in agreement, rolling the data box in her hooves. “I may be good with tech, but I don’t know enough about this to actually pull out the rest of the message without damaging it.”

“So what can we do?” Aerostorm thought out loud.

“Wait, where exactly are we?” Scratched asked as she got up and walked to her terminal. Pulling out the starmap for their region, she began to examine the nearby systems with her eyes going over each one quickly before dismissing them. Aerostorm shared a quick look with Zaat before she walked over to her girlfriend and read over her shoulder.

“Ah-ha!” Scratched suddenly exclaimed before tapping one of the systems to highlight it.

“The Jukern system?” Aerostorm asked as she tried to figure out why that system got her so excited. “What’s the-oh, the archive planet, right?”

“Of course,” Zat said, slamming his fist into his hand. “If any place would have information on how to take these things apart, we can find it there.”

“Exactly,” Scratched said as she began to put the directions into the Excelsior's computer. “And then once we know what’s going on, we can…” She trailed off as she hadn’t thought that far yet.

“We’ll cross that sand dune once we get there, love,” Aerostorm said placing a kiss on her cheek. “Just take it easy, okay? Trust me, you need to take time to adjust after something like this happens.”

“Yeah.” Scratched took a deep breath. “Yeah… I know.”

If she’d had a hand instead of hooves, she’d have clenched it. “But somehow, that guy’s going to pay for what he did - to everyone.”

Aerostorm nodded. “He will, love. He will.” Squeezing her shoulders, the griffon then led her out of the chair and back to their room. “Just come and rest for a while longer, please.”

Nodding her head, Scratched leaned into her side and felt herself begin to melt away in her soft feathers from her lovely wings.

---

It had taken nearly six Zeehalen days for them to make the journey from the Zeehale system to the Jukern system and they all had to busy them themselves in one way or another. Aerostorm had been piloting the Excelsior through a few detours and doubled back at points as to throw off anyone that could be following them, while Zaat kept an ear on the bands to see if there was anyone out there and keep track of the local news. Scratched had been doing maintenance on their ship, cannibalizing anything that they could use from the wreckage they had pulled aboard back home. Though after three days, they had jettisoned it into the local star as to avoid any potential tracking devices built in that they couldn’t detect. The decomposing body went with it, because having it around was just… disturbing to them.

It had been a weird experience, especially as they knew so little about the stallion. After searching the ship, the only thing they could find was the earth pony gun that he’d used to kill himself and after some prodding, Scratched took it for herself.

Scratched had had some practice with guns in the past, with her dad and Aerostorm wearing her down a couple of months back. She was somewhat decent, though still very hesitant to actually use one.

For the most part, however, Scratched had just spent time sleeping or leaning into Aerostorm when she wasn’t working as to avoid thinking about the loss of her mom and dad. Leaning into her girlfriend’s soft coat and being covered by her wings helped more than she thought it ever could. Soon enough, they reached the Jukern system and began making their way to the sixth planet from the sun where the planet was in the midst of being converted into an archive world. There were a swarm of convoys going from much larger ships and the other planets to the world, no doubt bringing over varied forms of stored knowledge and building materials to Jukern VI. The larger ships were mainly frigates of a standard build with no noticeable characteristic flair from one galactic nation visible, though there was the emblem of the intergalactic agency on their hauls.

As they got closer to the planet, the hails started to came in with Zaat working to sync in with them.

“Please state your designation and purpose for being here,” a voice called out as soon as Zaat keyed into the local frequency.

“This is the Excelsior ma’am,” Zaat said over the radio. “We are requesting permission to land.”

“Please state your purpose; this planet is a part of an intergalactic operation with only those approved allowed to come within 30,000 kms,” the voice said.

“Research,” Zaat replied. “We are respectfully asking permission to use your facilities, ma’am.”

There was a moment of silence with the larger class ships moving in front of their own and the three of them were getting worried before the person re-contacted them.

“You are clear to land, Excelsior,” the person said, her voice noticeably softer now. “While this place is meant for those who come after us, there is nothing that prevents ordinary people from using it. We can talk more when you land; sending you the landing coordinates now.”

“Thank you very much, ma’am,” Zaat said while looking at Scratched who nodded her head, signalling they had indeed gotten the coordinates and sent them over to Aerostorm so she could set them down.

“You can call me Cleo,” she said before terminating the link. With that, it was a short travel from orbit to the planet, Aerostorm easily piloting around the frigates to reach the surface.

Jukern VI was in the process of being terraformed and constructed into an archive world, and as they descended, they could see the weather stations anchored in the upper troposphere, keeping any major storms from forming and interfering in the builders’ work. On the surface, massive glass domes were being built, each connected to smaller domes via bridges with landing platforms on them, and a central dome serving as the capital building of the region, if not the planet itself. Looking out, Zaat whistled.

“Impressive-looking place,” he said. “Though a bit clustered; I don’t think a guy could even move down there comfortably.”

Both Scratched and Aerostorm nodded, with Scratched longing for the wide open spaces of Zeehale. “Well, let’s hope we’re not here for too long,” Aerostorm said as she brought the ship slowly, with who could only be Cleo along with a couple other people and a large mechanical construct standing behind around her. They shared concerned looks at the inclusion of the robot but as they were about to land, they couldn’t just leave as it would give Cleo the idea that something was wrong and then things could get out of control quickly.

Bringing the Excelsior down for a complete landing, Zaat and Aerostorm checked that their own firearms were properly charged and within easy reach before giving Scratched a look to do the same. Once ready, the three of them began to disembark and meet Cleo with her entourage, the bipedal robot scanning them before its monitor face flashed red and emitted some sort of alert, moving into an aggressive position.

“You have firearms?” Cleo said, taking a step backwards with her ears folding backwards in concern and worry.

“Yes ma’am,” Aerostorm said, placing a talon on her holster. “Will this be a problem or do we need to hand them over?”

“No…” Cleo said slowly before shaking her head and regaining some confidence. “We have security measures installed in case of an incident, and I am sure that you two have proper carry permits for them, correct?” she said as she pointed a finger at Aerostorm and Zaat.

“We do,” Aerostorm replied, pulling out her permit along with Zaat, handing them over to Cleo so she could hold it up to the machine. After another moment of scanning, its face flashed green and took a relaxed position again.

“You’re clear,” she said, handing the back the permits. “Though I would like to ask you not to discharge them while here. There are a lot of fragile materials here and the paper bound books are quite flammable.”

“If we do, I guarantee it’ll be in self-defense only,” Zaat said. “That’s the only reason we carry them in the first place.”

“Still,” she said nervously. “We have means to handle any issue that could arise and there shouldn’t be any need to do so as everyone that lands is scanned before they are allowed entry.”

Both of them frowned and reluctantly discharged their weapons so that they would only have a few shots to fire before they would run on empty. This seemed to be a fair compromise for Cleo as she smiled wider and let out an audible sigh of relief. “Thank you,” she said, straightening out her outfit with her hands dismissing those behind her though the robot stayed by her side. “As you know, I am Cleo, and I am currently in charge of categorizing all the physical books along with the other means of stored knowledge,” she said as she walked into the dome. After passing a small reception area, they could immediately see rows upon rows of incredibly tall bookcases in front of them and vanishing off to either side, while the main entryway had a moving sidewalk leading to the elevators. But what really took their attention was the sheer amount of people going through different crates of books and other means of storing information before checking holographic notes hovering in front of them and then moving off deeper into the library.

“My colleagues are in the midst of converting the physical items into electronic-based means,” Cleo explained as she led them along. “There are other options in the works as well, for multiple alternate backups in the event of programming changes in the future among other possibilities.”

“These pillars,” Scratched said, placing a hoof on one of them. “They have engravings on them; binary?” she asked, tilting her head.

“Very astute,” Cleo said with a purr. “In case of a total loss, people would hopefully have these to have some recollection of the information we’re seeking to preserve.” She then shook her head, a light blush on her face. “I’m sorry, I have yet to get your names.”

“I’m Zaat,” he said, shaking her hand before gesturing to Aerostorm and Scratched and introducing them.

“We are here so we can decipher this data storage we found,” Scratched said, pulling it out of her pack. “I can get it play some of the message in it and while I could probably pull it out, I’d rather go over some of the basic mechanics of this before I go any further and risk losing parts of it.”

Cleo peered at it before pulling out a holographic list. Scrolling down it, she frowned. “That’s unfortunate,” she muttered.

“It’s not here?” Scratched asked with concern.

“Oh no, it is here, though there is a bit of an issue in that it's not displaying the right location,” she then checked awkwardly. “It is actually showing up in three places right now, in fact.”

“Do you mind if we go looking for them?” Scratched asked.

“Not at all,” Cleo said. “This place is to be a library and it would be against the very principle of a library to prevent those who want to learn from learning.” Reaching for her holographic list, she sent each of them a code clearance and a set of directions. “I do hope you can find what you are looking for.”

“Thank you,” Scratched said, nodding her head before taking her directions and with a quick kiss on Aerostorm’s cheek, she walked off into the library.

---

It had been a while since they had all split up and Scratched had finally reached her destination. Examining the ones in front of her, she could instantly tell that they were not the ones she needed, and cranked her head up to the books on the very top to check them to see that they were the same.

All these books were about a famous mare who had revolutionized the medical field and more or less cured every known disease out there. Scratched remembered her mom talking about her in the past and that her catchphrase was that she hadn’t cured anyone, she was just fixing things which probably was the reason why the library brought her here.

She was about to open one of the books to remember what this mare was called when she heard someone walking towards her.

Spinning around, her heart lurched as she saw the same face that had been haunting her in her nightmares, the face of the stallion who killed her parents and in his magic aura, he was holding a gun aimed right at her.

Comments

[Asolem2]

Spinning around, her heart lurched as she saw the same face that had been haunting her in her nightmares, the face of the stallion who killed her parents and in his magic aura, he was holding a gun aimed right at her.

And this is why you don't split the party

[Evilhumour]

9455006

[ShadowLDrago]

‘-ttack … Hesturland… -th phase then will commen …’

The hell?

The decomposing body went with it, because having it around was just… disturbing to them.

Yeah, that's fair.

“You are clear to land, Excelsior,” the person said, her voice noticeably softer now. “While this place is meant for those who come after us, there is nothing that prevents ordinary people from using it. We can talk more when you land; sending you the landing coordinates now.”

That went well.

“You can call me Cleo,” she said before terminating the link. With that, it was a short travel from orbit to the planet, Aerostorm easily piloting around the frigates to reach the surface.

OK, so we have a name, interesting.

They shared concerned looks at the inclusion of the robot but as they were about to land, they couldn’t just leave as it would give Cleo the idea that something was wrong and then things could get out of control quickly.

Being smart is useful.

“No…” Cleo said slowly before shaking her head and regaining some confidence. “We have security measures installed in case of an incident, and I am sure that you two have proper carry permits for them, correct?” she said as she pointed a finger at Aerostorm and Zaat.

I should hope so.

“Still,” she said nervously. “We have means to handle any issue that could arise and there shouldn’t be any need to do so as everyone that lands is scanned before they are allowed entry.”

If I were to take a guess, I'd say she's new at the job.

All these books were about a famous mare who had revolutionized the medical field and more or less cured every known disease out there.

I have a feeling I know who that is.

Spinning around, her heart lurched as she saw the same face that had been haunting her in her nightmares, the face of the stallion who killed her parents and in his magic aura, he was holding a gun aimed right at her.

You know, I'd make a joke about splitting the party but Asolem2 beat me to the punch.