PEGASUS (FARSIDE SAGA: BOOK TWO)

"Hive minds are nothing new to Farside, but this particular wavelength is beyond measure. It's almost as if they're all connected by some form of higher energy frequency...and you two are part of it." Hugo finished as he looked at Jason and Mike

"Part of what?" Mike asked.

"Throughout the universe, there is an underlying quantum energy field. It connects everything together almost like what you would call a spider's web." Hugo answered.

"Yes, we refer to it as an ether." Jason said as he looked at Hugo.

"Correct, but not every living entity notices it. Surprised that you even know about it actually, but as a result of these events, you, Samantha, and Mike have a direct connection to it through Pegasus. Fascinating." Hugo said as he scanned the almost invisible blue aurora around them.

Hugo was the only one besides Mike, with his optical lenses, who could see it developing around them since the arrival of Pegasus, but he only knew a fraction more than the humans knew about it and only because some of that energy is detected when traveling through slipstream. However, trying to capture and study it is just as elusive as dark energy. A deeper scan of Pegasus and Hugo found he was not so holographic as he appears.

"I am curious," Hugo started, but before he could continue, the commlink chirped on one of the consoles.

"Ummm, Captain? The drop ships are gone." the communications officer said as he scanned through different frequencies trying to reestablish a link.

"What do you mean they're gone?" Jason asked as he walked over to the terminal.

"Don't know, it's like they just disappeared." the officer said as he looked at the captain confused.

"He's right. Even if they just used the maneuvering thrusters, it would still leave some sort of signature. It's like they just vanished." The navigation officer said.

"The Lesser!" Both Pegasus and Nano said at the same time.

The area around them began to darken as a tunnel formed leading them back into open space. Pegasus's image disappeared as the ship moved in behind the Impala trailing it. They emerged from the clouded mist of Xien and quickly headed to where the star drive and the jump ships were.

Just as the Captain was about to order a scan of the area, a black and purple vortex opened in front of them and engulfed both ships, then disappeared without a trace.

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Seemingly trapped in what appeared to be a clouded black and purplish nebula, Jason sat and watched as the communication icon lit up.

"Sir, it's from the Titan." The communication officer said.

"Open a channel....This is the NSA Impala, do you read?" The Captain said as the intercom static sounded softly.

The speaker on the other end was barely understandable as the response came through distorted.

"I'll try and clear it up." The communication officer said, but the more he tried, the worse it got.

Suddenly, clear as day, a soft feminine voice spoke in an alien language. Jason looked at Udar as he looked back at Jason, shrugging his shoulders just as confused.

"Is this better?" The voice said in English.

"Yes. Thank you. Who are you?" Jason responded, even more confused.

"Right now that's irrelevant, but for the sake of argument, you can just call me...Star," she started. "

Jason almost burst out laughing as he quickly made the connection. 'Yep, High Command definitely has some explaining to do.' He thought to himself.

"Oookaay...star, just out of curiosity, how are you connected to all of this. I think I pretty much have the gist of it but let me here your side." He said as he walked over to his chair and sat down.

" That would take too long, but to put it in a nutshell, I.....unintentionally disrupted our universe...and yours is next." She said, almost in a 'you're doomed' type of way.

"That thing you're looking for is a part of me. I'm what you would call....a scientist. We were experimenting with quantumelic bonding...sort of a link with quantum particles. A quantum avatar if you wanna call it that. Something went wrong and as a result I ended up here with a literal split personality. It started off as a clone, but something changed it into what you see now. It's not malevolent in nature but whatever changed it gave it an aspect I have never seen before. Not only did it change mentally, it changed physically too, but it didn't start until it came back here. It just disappeared, then this mess started. Our species are not known for violent behavior, especially of this magnitude. At first I thought it was in desperation of trying to get home but for some reason it's collecting physical objects and converting them into something else I have no idea of. It's as if its trying to build something, and whatever it is, it's going to destroy your universe too." She finished.

"We need to get back to Primora 7" Hugo said.

"Gremlet!" Jason said, thinking he knew where this was going.

"No, John..." Hugo said in response, as if Jason should've known that.

"What has John got to do with this, and who is John?" Jason asked.

"The old human looking dude with the third eye we rescued from the chambers..." Mike said. "The one with the Ancients." A sudden realization came over him as he looked at Hugo.

Jason, coming to the same conclusion, just got another piece of the puzzle, but it only led to more questions. Almost seeing the whole picture, he still needs a critical piece.

"You said you came back here..."Jason spoke into the air. "...How long has it been since you left?"

"A few millennia ago. Our point of entry was just outside of this galaxy. I thought this galaxy was destroyed in the process from the gamma wave. I didn't know it still thrived until IT came back. There was a presence that told me how to get back here to stop it and led me to you Jason. I can't explain what it was but it called itself Maylar." Star said.

"So that's what that purple flash was that made everyone pass out." Samantha said through Mike.

Not only did Jason get the critical piece he needed, he also got the final piece. That explains why the Impala was so important. Not the ship itself, but rather the Stardrive, and how his wife and son along with the Pegasus ended in Farside. What he believed to be an artificial blackhole turned out to be two aliens from a different dimension. It also explains how Farside became Farside. Maylar, on the other hand, even with his presence known, was still somewhat of a mystery.

"Isn't that the Kregorian that brought us here?" Vanessa asked, catching everyone's attention.

"Yes, only I think the Kregorian was just a shell being used." Jason said as he faced her, remembering she was still on the bridge.

"That's why I couldn't make heads or tails of the readings I was getting off it" Danny said as the information finally sunk in. "It was a single split, not multiple signals. I thought it was the minds of all six working in unison with one off."

"So Maylar is a higher lifeform." Jason said as he thought about Frankie...Them.

"From The Shadows." Danny said, thinking of an old mystery novel. Jason looked at Danny as he raised an eyebrow in regards to the reference

"I'm not sure who this Maylar is, but if we're going to stop this thing, then sitting around isn't going to get it," Hugo said. "But first I have to grab a few things from my ship."

#GREENCLOUD79