His vision cleared as he first saw vague shapes that became clearer and clearer to his eyes. The aroma of refuse hit his nostrils. He gazed upward at the sky finding it a pink hue and at once he realized that he had reached his destination. Not precisely where he wanted to be but on the world he was attempting to get to.

He had found that the inhibitors on Shokushu had run interference with his transportation abilities but worked out that he could go from their to elsewhere then to his destination. Of course their were mishaps like this to factor in. Being on the outskirts of a dump had not been his ideal place to be.

Still it was progress. He found himself slithering away, taking solace in an old warehouse he waited for the sun to sink. He would need to focus his energies, make a crude monument to channel his transportation abilities better.

When the sun had sunk he hit a structure near the edge of an advanced town, though he thought that the civilization had been more advanced then he had been use to dealing with. No bother. He had collected up a bunch of headstones, material that he was going to use and that was when it had reached him.

The ping of a conscious mind had his mouth tendrils quivered as he turned in that direction. He reached out as he felt something familiar. Something that made little sense to him. Ishtar? No, it couldn't be her, could it? That made little sense as he tried to rationalize the situation. Yet it felt like her ...

Minerva Rocha sighed as she checked her paperwork. It had been a boring few months as she had dealt with little outside of followup useless leads, all of them dead ends. For once she wanted some action. The red headed agent attempted to upteenth time to brush down that one hair that refused to remain in place only to fail once again.

She wasn't sure why anyone would be interested in planet. It wasn't really an exciting place even though it was fully capable of supporting life. In fact it was so priority, Minerva had chosen to wear only her uniform. She had replaced the standard skirt with a pink one as she felt it accented her hair a bit better. She only carried a pistol as much as a formality as anything else.

Minerva refocused herself on the task at hand, the sooner she had this area fully mapped; the sooner she could move on to a more exciting assignment.

The world wasn't one that he had been all too familiar with himself. There was at least the one advanced settlement and he got all he needed to construct the necessary monument he needed to get back. He should have realized it sooner, that bond between Ishtar and Minerva had felt similar though it should have clicked a lot sooner then it had.

He had business here but he was curious as to her own. At this range he could sense her but had to get much closer to delve into her mind. This was rather fortunate. The leads he had to follow up pointed him in two separate directions and he had come here only because he was less effective against machines though it was always his intent to check that out too if this wasn't the correct path.

The sky went from pink to a darker shade of pink. It was never really black as night set in but it was dark enough. Even the pink sky of the day wasn't so bad with all the cloud cover.

Such a huge galaxy and yet he often crossed paths with agents, probably because he frequented a lot of worlds that were active by their members. Most of his time had been spent on Shokushu but he did leave their from time to time to check on juicy leads.

The more minds he had been in contact with the better the results of his search would be. He was not in a hurry though, he just found the stones more annoying now then he was when younger. Back then he did not mind so much being summoned but the whole deity angle got boring after a few centuries. He had spread those dozen stones throughout this dimension though and now had been on a merry chase to find them all.

If they were used, well that was an easy way to find one he supposed.

He headed into the city drawn closer to the port. Apparently there were only three planet wide but from the little research he had managed of the place there were only three cities that were advanced enough to have them. Apparently the planet was discovered some time back and the natives introduced to the space age. They had launched rockets and such but did not have any orbital satellites. The radiation from the systems binary star system fried them before long.

Aegir was here to get information not really caring about the detailed history of the people. Following his impressions he soon drew closer to Minerva. The aliens here were very accepting of him too he found, it was simply in their nature to be so outgoing and accepting.

Minerva mapping had been part of her assignment since her failure to capture Blue or even really slow him down. Though it was a necessary task for the Directorate, the red headed agent could not help but feel that the task was assigned to her as some sort of punishment from somewhere up the chain of command of the Directorate.

The mapping was going very slow, a process that even the detail oriented Minerva found far too boring. Still she did what she could to keep alert to her surroundings, she could never be too on guard on an alien world. And this world was very much an alien world even as its sun began to finally set.

The sky was an unusual color of pink. And now as the day was finally beginning to change to night, it simply meant the pink was becoming a darker shade of pink.

It was a huge galaxy with many places that yet to be explored by the Directorate, one would scarcely known where to begin. But this place seemed to be boring to Minerva, at least at the moment as she made her way across the planet.

As she crested a hill she was surprised to there was a city in a nearby valley. She had not been able t scan the planet properly due to the binary stars interference, so she did not expect to see much in the way of intelligent life. Clearly the atmosphere and magnetic fields were able to repel most of the radiation making long term habitation possible here. This would also might explain why the sky was pink.

But that was something for the scientists to figure out, Minerva instead began to make her way down the hill to get a better look at the city and see what or who inhabited it.

As she approached the city she came to realize that their were a plethora of aliens here, most were natives that floated a foot or two off the ground manipulating air bladders. They were a light pink coloration and had a mass of tentacles resembling jelly fish. How they spoke was uncertain since she saw no faces but they emitted a blue light as they spoke. Telepathy perhaps? She could hear snippets of conversation as she passed by them as if everything within range heard them regardless of who they were speaking too.

There were other sorts of aliens she had been familiar with, some humans too so she did not stand out so much. There was such an assortment of beings here and the place seemed serene with people getting along. There were no raised voices, no fighting though there were few vehicles that she saw. Most had been at a construction sight where she saw an assortment of aliens working on a building. One of the aliens she recognized as an Adda, a red four armed reptile that stood out here …

There were two castes, the smaller ones more like their workers and the larger soldiers. They were just introduced to the space age and most were primitive. How it was here was a mystery, though it was a larger one he seemed to be getting along with the others though. As far as she knew the Adda had few pilots and barely operated the ships that they had.

Before she could delve too far in her thoughts though she heard a familiar voice within her mind. Bored, I see. It had only taken a moment to locate the Telepathic creature that neared here from the opposite direction. None of the aliens seemed to pay him any mind either. Do you have a moment?

Minerva looked around as she moved to the edge of the city. There plenty of creatures here. Most look like giant jellyfish. How they moved was a mystery to the redhead agent. The young woman also could not understand how the spoke, there was no face just simply a blue light. Still she could hear words, if they were using psionics then it seems to simply extend to a small radius instead of reaching a particular person. Minerva knew that it could be possible, but it the first time see had seen an entire race use this ability.

As Minerva moved into town she saw other humans moving about. The redhead breathed a sighed of relief as it mean that she would not have stood out nearly as much. It seemed this city was use to having multiple aliens in their town and they did not seem to mind. There were few vehicles in the area, however there construction being performed on a building. Here aliens of all types were being used to take advantage of there abilities that would help the most.

Minerva did make some mental notes about the aliens here. The technology is quite primitive and it seemed that the aliens had just achieved space flight. Still some aliens did not make sense here, the Adda for example would unlike to be here given that they had little in there own space fairing capacitiy of their own.

Minerva could here that a voice in her own head. It was a familiar one, one she had met several times. She looked up and quickly spotted the purple alien moving towards her. Ummm….sure. What are you doing here on this planet, the agent asked the purple alien.

Aegir came forth, his head dipping just once as he looked her over. He could sense her confusion and wonder about this primitive world, that was on the surface though it would take a little more scrapping to find out why she was here.

He refrained from doing so, drawing his own conclusions from what he knew. At first he believed that she was looking for someone but reconsidered. This was a world of outlaws and she must have been searching for someone but she seemed too relaxed.

The outlaws were hardly that. Not many violent ones and if there were any they were not so now. He had concluded that the native lifeforms must have been responsible for the change in temperament everyone seemed so relaxed but being immune to psionics outside of telepathy Aegir didn't think he was at risk.

Merely following up a lead about one of those stones. I had two possibilities to explore and came to this one first … the other is a bit disdainful for me … I just arrived here myself not so long ago.

He paused, then moved along with her. Hm ... Aegir considered something, then looked at her I'm assuming that you are here in ADD capacity? What is it that you are attempting to accomplish here?

The purple alien had come closer, his head looking up and down her body. It was probably the first time he had seen her in her uniform as oppose to the flight suit that she normally used in the field. It probably confused him on what she was doing here.
Of course, she did not know what he was doing here either at least at first. Aegir mentioned he came in search of one of stones that he had lost so long ago. Why would these aliens would have them she did not know.

The way Aegir explained it, he believed that his arrival was some what of coincidence. Minerva wondered about the last part.

Still she needed to answer the question the purple alien had asked of her. I am here doing research on how these people developed they have. So far I have not found much.

Oh, I doubt there would be of interest. From my short time here I have gathered quite a bit in fact. Radiation bombards the world often enough though for a short stay it isn't much more then getting two or three dental x-rays over the course of a month, at least on the planet where there's the protection of the atmosphere but it's a bane to their satellites.

Most of the people that aren't native are fugitives but they do possess space age tech, you'll probably see little of it. The natives produce some sort of aura, I am unaffected but from the non natives I gather it's similar to euphoria. Not an aphrodisiac but it certainly mellows out people over constant exposure, you're good for the next week or two I suspect.

He paused, confirming his thoughts by digging into the memories of some of the non natives. He confirmed his theory. Two weeks. I was suppose to met someone here that has some info for me but I am in a bit of a quandary. I do not know if my contact knows of this aura or chose this place because he felt it would be less conspicuous.

But I have other information that I am not fond of looking into. It pertains to machines. I do detest them but have to check out everything. However … there are some aims that you may have an interest in checking into while you are there … aims in the slavery angle.

It would take me little effort to get information on this world for you in exchange of what you uncover. And if you uncover something that isn't quite right, well you could always note it for your fellow agents to deal with after assessing the situation first. He spoke as if he was certain that there was something there, but he wasn't being too specific about it either, at least not yet, even though if he told her someone still had to confirm the information.

It was a bit surprising to Minerva to hear they would not be interested in some sort of space travel. She would have thought that it was the goal of every sentient species to spread out among the stars. But apparently the radiation in this system made it difficult for any space program to develop naturally here.

The place seemed to have many fugitives here and they would certainly have space tech. But according Aegir there was little of that tech around. Apparently the natives of this planet produced some sort of aura that created a euphoric effect. This was making the fugitive mellow out and less of them of a threat.

Aegir explained that it did not take affect until two weeks of exposure. He worried that his contact would be under effects of this euphoria. Of course if the contact would not, then there less likely for anyone to observe what was going on. At least that was one theory, it would not bare fruit until the contact was found.

Aegir explained that there was some machines he needed to look into. The agent was not sure how much Aegir knew about machinery, but he did not like it. It would be something that Minerva could easily enough instead. Especially if it some reason involved slavery.

Aegir was willing to make a trade. If she would investigate the machines, he could explore the rest of the world and give information what he came across to her. The comment about other agents gave her pause. Do you think I will find something that I will not like here. Something that will require direct intervention by the Directorate?

To answer the curiosity she felt in pat at least he addressed the natives spreading out among the stars. The natives do not enjoy hostile thoughts though they eat them with their aura. To much hostility among the stars and it takes too long to consume the hostility in one … that is probably the easiest way to explain it. While here they get to share that burden out there then a few of them or just one has to work and since a creature that leaves the aura reverts after a bit the efforts can be undone. While here a creature can only avoid it by isolating themselves or going some place scarce where the natives are not. I have not delved into how they disperse themselves or if others life here produces such effects, I wasn't planning on being here long so I haven't bothered in uncovering more then the basics.

Such as what happened to the ships of those that got here. They still had at least one place they could launch from but with all the satellites being ruined. Most were probably dismantled some had remained intact though at least one person had to maintain some sort of satellites … or not, it wasn't as if the space lanes were full but without satellites flight control couldn't help much in directing their ships. It could be something that he could look into if he had the time since they were swapping tasks.

He gave it some thought. He knew of the rumors that he got from the minds of this being and that, he also got legitimate info from slavers too. He reviewed that. It is something that someone like you could accomplish on their own but with back up it would be easier. No one will know where you are accept for me unless you transmit coordinates. Either you tell your superiors that you discovered something in which case they might stop you from checking it out right away or I pass on that information to them, I'll have less then two weeks to get everything done, plenty of time, and if I do not hear from you by the time I finish I can pass along information.

It is unlikely you would need to rush, but the longer you delay the more lives that will be ruined in full or part. But you'll be dealing with machines for the most part, which can be l=both rewarding and limited. They will follow their tasks for the most part so sneaking about will be easier since only security droids will be searching for you but if it goes against their programming they will ignore you. There are some organics there though, someone has to fix and program the machines and there are merchants there but not the normal sort … but I'll allow you to make such decisions as you make your discoveries, whether or not to call in back up, how best to proceed … the fewer agents the better. While the ADD has the fire power to subdue them if it turns into a fire fight then valuable information could be lost.

Aegir explained that the reason the natives had not moved out from the homeworld to the stars. They some how eat hostile thoughts though they did not enjoy it. Given the state of the galaxy, there was certain a lot of hostility out there…perhaps too much for the natives. With less aliens here on the planet, the natives probably found their hostile thoughts…more manageable. Aegir seemed to believe that aliens could protect themselves from the natives by isolating themselves from the natives, that distance would protect them. Of course it was only a theory at the moment, something that neither Minerva or Aegir really had time to explore.

As for the ships, it still was not sure what happened to them. At one must have survived and was used in some capacity. How else did all those satellites get up into space? But then again, all of the satellites were wrecked, so that ship may not be working now. It was not very high on Minerva list of questions at the moment so she dropped it. There were more important things for the red headed agent to investigate.

Well currently I have no information to report the Directorate. They are not going to send anyone without some proof. So you do not have to worry about Directorate doing anything from that will interfere with the investigation. I halfway suspect they put out here so I would be out of the way. She now she was wished she was better armed, but it sounded like it wasn’t needed at least at the moment.

Aegir then explained the the machines she would be facing. Most would ignore her, as they are doing what they need to accomplish their tasks. Even the security droids would probably ignore her as long as she did not interfere or messed with anything they were protecting. Still there would be aliens and natives there. She would have to careful around those who were merchants and others who probably maintained the machines, but she should be unseen otherwise. Once I have a good idea what is going on then I can decide if I need to bring in additional agents.

Of course, he agreed. He hated machines himself and dealt with them sparingly. There were a few times in the past where he had to use a piece of tech, he was fine with that, knew how they worked for the most part but preferred not to use them.

Plant creatures and machines had been a bane though he had recently learned how to tap into the wave lengths of the brains of sentient plants he still had no luck with droids. All he could do was use his telekinetic abilities but liked taking a more finesse approach. Suffice it to say the simple natures of most droids infuriated him. True, he liked to occasion surprise but he liked making progress too, even on those occasions where his telepathic abilities had been useless he could still get a read for most beings, Droids were single minded and obsessive so it was a boon running across her now.

He lifted a tentacle, touching it to her forehead an imparting the coordinates of the world into her head along with updated star charts of that system. It was tougher to get too for those that did not have safe hyper space routes.

There was a black hole near the system and a light asteroid belt which wouldn't be much of a challenge except for a novice. He granted her some basic information of the planet itself. It was a world populated mostly by droids with most of the organics coming and going.

The atmosphere and gravity were governed by a central system, the planet virtually hollow and self contained. It was one huge city on the inside with one way in or out though she could set down anywhere on the outside of the planet she'd like if not making a direct approach of picked up by their satellites.

The central computer ran everything from life support to gravity to security and emergency responses. Though the other droids could interface with it to get updates or additional commands for some of the more sophisticated models. But chances were that none of that would matter, a droid would ignore her unless she did something to interfere with it and those updates and additional orders required a reboot on the part of the droids in question so she would be aware of any changes if that were even likely to occur and even then it was rarely done since the droids affected went down for about ten minutes and their other tasks were interfered with.

You should have nothing to worry about unless you go for the central computer or causing some sort of nuisance. There are numerous types that are more interactive with the merchants that you might be able to get more out of with the right questions but most of their duties pertain to entertaining the merchants o filling their orders or … well, I'll leave that to you to uncover or not.

At least the pair agreed that on conditions that Minerva thought there would need for additional agents. It would not make sense for any additional agents to be called in before that point though, that Minerva was sure of.

Minerva knew that Aegir seemed not to deal with droids or robots for some reason, or any technology that could exhibit some form of intelligence. She was not sure if was because he could not psychically interacting with them, or if it was just something that offended him. Minerva had no such restrictions, so had no concerns about dealing with droids and robots. In fact, she would had to adapt to some of the technologies that the Directorate to help automate some of the work the agents needed to perform to keep their ships spaceworthy.

A tentacle moved up and touched her head forehead. In a moment, a the redhead became did dizzy as she could feel something pressing her memory. As the dizziness faded she found that she had the location for a new star system and how to get there.

The system was dangerously nearly a black hole though still too far away to be swallowed by the black hole. Between that and an asteroid belt, it kept most non-skilled pilots away from the planet. It might be while the world was mainly populated by robots and droids.

More memories, at least that is how Minerva would classified them, gave her a better understanding of the planet. It seemed to be one giant city, one that covered the entire planet. The inside of the planet was hollow and also had the same city. It would be very difficult to land without being noticed by the city.

There was one computer that seemed to run the planet. No aspect was beyond the computer’s control as it maintained security, gravity, and life support on the planet. Even the droids and robots would get updates from the computer though they were able to operate independently. As long as she did nothing to interfere with them she would be able to move around she like.

I see. Well as long as I can scout around I should be able to find out what is going on.

He nodded at that. You will have few problems with all but restricted areas. He agreed leaving the undesirable task to her. He then had to provide her with the contact information. There had been a shop he was directed too in his search for the stone he was after. He had been unsure as how to pry the information from it or the computers had the droid been programmed with concealing the truth for whatever reason, denied if someone brought the odd stone to be identified and thus refusing to pass on information to anyone but the client.

He imparted her with those details too. The shop, the triangular shaped stone with the Norse-like runes etched into them. There were several hops of course but everything was linked to one computer so if a strange stone was listed she should be able to find out if it were there and exactly were the information was recorded. Even if she was not a computer hacker some basic details should be accessible.

Aegir preferred things here and would continue with her duties while looking into leads about the stone here. He got a tip and while it was probably nothing it was still worth looking into. He had time and plenty of it.