Touchstone 1 - Stray

found the rest of First Squad waiting, a meal already set out, though they were only picking at theirs. I think they were listening to my log as well, from the way they kept almost-wincing. My thoughts weren’t recorded, so it was all Ddura-noise.
    “Can you describe what happened from your point of view?” Maze asked, while I drank down a lot of cold, tingly drink.
    “Ddura thought you were Ionoth, think,” I said, wishing the painkillers would work quicker. “Didn’t understand what it was saying, but guess from tone of noises. It like big pet, missing Muinans, kill anything it not recognise. I try tell Ddura that Ruuel was a Muinan, and the platform did something, and then the Ddura realise Ruuel not an Ionoth and get all happy. And even louder. Is Ddura thing been making ships explode?”
    “That’s been brought up as a possibility in the past.” Maze shook his head. “It was certainly approaching with intent to kill. When you touched the platform, it withheld the attack, but was still clearly hostile to us. And then very strongly the opposite. The Place Sights could feel something of its emotions through the platform, once it stopped reacting against them.”
    “It knew I not Muinan,” I said, thoughtfully. “Much happier about Setari, once stopped thinking you Ionoth. But it was platform which changed way reacted to you.”
    “Ruuel is using an analogy of security clearance. The device allowed you, who for some reason have clearance, to identify us to the ‘system’.”
    “Our turn to have aether tests now,” Lohn said. He had his arm around Mara, which was the first time I’d seen them publicly behave like a couple. I think everyone was pretty overwhelmed.
    “My turn laugh when Lohn say silly things.” I smiled, then sighed and rubbed my temple. “I try tell it that should protect drones and ships and things, but don’t think it listen. Too busy being happy. What happen next?”
    Maze lifted one shoulder. “We exceeded the mission brief by an order of magnitude. The result is very good, but completely beyond what we were expecting or had planned for. I don’t know if it will delay or bring forward the proposed second trip.”
    “What happens next is you catch up on your rest,” Zee said, squeezing my shoulder. “This is a large development, but in the short term there’s a two kasse journey back to base. And then at minimum a day of argument, tests and analysis.”
    “Still huge changes,” Lohn said. “We mightn’t have solved the overall problem, but our progress on Muina has been entirely stifled by this…security clearance issue.”
    “The Ddura doesn’t explain all of the deaths,” Alay pointed out.
    “But most of them,” Ketzaren said. “Almost certainly most of them, if it’s what has been causing ships to explode. Even massives are minor compared to that, particularly when KOTIS can use weaponry without risk to structures. My guess is that there’ll be an attempt to establish a serious foothold around this town of yours. And from there we’ll search for information about the Muinans of the past, and the way the Pillars were constructed.”
    “One thing Lantaren not know but,” I said. “How their security clearance wiped? They understood all that, they made Ddura. They supposed to be more powerful psychic than Setari. And it kill them. What happen, built settlement here, then security clearance wipe again?”
    “Very good point.” Maze had been playing with his food, and I was willing to bet he’d been thinking over the same possibility. “I certainly won’t be recommending any rush.”
    “Could Setari fight Ddura?”
    “Not a chance.” Zee glanced at Maze, then repeated. “Not a chance.”
    “It’s the first time we’ve been close enough to one to get some estimate of what level we’d face,” Maze said. “It’s a massive made from pure energy which, it seems, can attack in real-space from near-space. I am very glad not to have had to try. And on that note, go lie down. I don’t want to see you again until you’ve stopped looking like you’ve been stepped on.”
    Zee came with me, waiting while I hit the bathroom and then seeing me settled back in my chair-pod.
    “You’re upset about something,” she said, one hand on the pod’s lid. “More than just the headache.”
    “Didn’t want become more important,” I said. If I’m the only one who can give people security clearance, no-one here will ever be willing to let me leave.
    Zee