The Archivist Library on Caelum

Explorer’s League File 23.991

Mars- Galaxy GX-743

37 B.E.C- entered by Cartographer Ales Banda.

PLAYBACK FILE.

Once again I found my finger hovering over the button. The file contained an entry by the original Cartographer and despite the atrocities he had committed sometime after the file had been created, my curiosity peaked to the point I thought I would burst at the seams. Pushing the button with eager anticipation, I waited. Instead of the Archivist, however, this particular file had been moderated by Ales himself. He was as ugly as I had imagined (most Tyrians were). His serpentine face reflected the light from his pores as they oozed a thin, viscous film. I assumed this was an environmental protective measure due to the dry climate surrounding the Archivist Library. The planet Tyr consisted of a thick, humid atmosphere like one giant rainforest.

Behind Ales stood a city skyline similar to those of any major city on Earth. Skyscrapers towered over an angular bridge, bathing it in the brightest white light I have ever seen. It was as if each building had the latest LED technology amplified by high powered ballasts.

“My visit to Pallas City went as expected. The Governor promised that he would station soldiers at the wormhole site to prevent any more unpleasant events. He was also constructing a safe guard to contain the wormhole and keep it hidden from curious onlookers. The two human boys who slipped through the wormhole and vandalized the Aquanaut Temple on Caelum have been punished. In return I assured him that our Science Lab was in the process of building a transceiver to station at that location and control the door leading between our two planets.”

The scene changed from the city skyline to a large shell of a warehouse with two armed guards stationed outside a chain link fence.

“This was what the Governor did,” Ales continued. “Two guards, barely out of the academy, armed with nothing more than over glorified pea shooters guarded a skeleton of a building that lost funding long before it was complete.”

I wondered what the big deal was but then Ales stepped from the picture and I watched while two teenagers, no older than me, stepped from the shadows. They waited for the guards to pass and slipped over the flimsy gate before entering the open warehouse. They sauntered over to the wormhole and vanished before my eyes.

“As noted two more humans made it to Caelum armed with nothing but a desire to cause mischief. See file #24.001 to see further details of the incident. I will not go into detail here, but needless to say the Explorer’s League will not be allowed on Mars until Lead Diplomat Jo and his team can come to a consensus with the Martian government on how to better fortify the wormholes. My opinion regarding this entire mess is that it could have been avoided with better protection around the perimeter. If the Governor managed to take his obligations seriously than those two boys would still be alive today.”

With that the screen went blank. A sentence flashed at the bottom—Please see written addendum that accompanies this video file. I looked inside the container where the video file had been contained and found a small journal, no more than ten pages. I read through it but most of it contained written confirmation of what the video contained. The most interesting piece was near the end, where there had been a description of the condition of the two youth’s bodies. An investigation had been conducted and they determined that a pack of wild animals called “Fire Wolves” were the culprit responsible for the killings. Apparently the two teens stumbled across the animals while attempting to access the temple. Another part of the note I found interesting was that the Pallas City government did not agree with the Caelum investigation. They believed the teen’s wounds were consistent with murder. It seems that the difference in opinion led to further strained ties between the two planets.

I found myself wondering what truly happened to those two boys. Turning toward the archives shelf I grabbed file #24.001 and cradled the disk in my hand. Did I really want to know what happened to them? Before I could answer the question a Defense Fleet soldier entered the room.

“Embeth requested that you wrap it up, Cartographer. We need to move soon.”

I clasped my hands, resting my head on them. “Don’t call me that, anymore.”

The soldier lowered his head. With a curt apology he left the room.

“There is no Cartographer anymore soldier,” I whispered to the empty room. Only the video archives and ancient dusty tomes were present to respond with ominous silence. My voice cracked with sorrow.

“There is no more Consortium.”

-Nathan Chambers.