Chapter 5.2B: To see the forest for the trees

"You have to come alone, ok?." - whispered Aziz to Corbin, nodding towards Erin.

"Hey Erin, I'm going to catch up with an old friend, catch you back at the ship."

"Yes, I'm sure Hank has got everything well in hand." Douklan considers for a moment more. ::There's too many aspects that are contingent on unknown factors to throw away my career on a possibility.:: "Thank you for your time, Captain."

Having taken his leave of the Captain, Douklan considers returning to his bunk, but his mind is still racing from a day spent researching minutiae of local government politics, only to find that there's nothing he can realistically do to affect the situation. Unable to relax and with nothing pressing to do, Douklan decides to take a look around the station.

As Aziz led Corbin through the bustling corridors of the orbital station, the weight of anticipation hung in the air. The two men were accompanied by Aziz's associates, and they soon entered the confines of a small free trader starship. The vessel's interior was modest yet functional, with little in terms of decorations or superfluous spaces. Once settled in a small office inside the starship, Aziz turned to Corbin with a solemn expression, his eyes betraying the weight of the revelation he was about to share.

"Corbin," Aziz began, his voice low and measured, "I am no longer just a major in the Planetary Defense Forces. I have seen too many dangerous things, now, to remain solely in the military. With the general staff's unofficial approval, I am now also a member of the Eclipse Perimeter Agency. "

Corbin's eyebrows raised in surprise at the revelation, his mind racing to process the implications of Aziz's words. The Perimeter Agency was an Earth-sponsored organization tasked with rooting out the use of maltech, technology deemed too dangerous for use or experimentation within human space.

Unbraked AIs, gengineered slave species, nanotech replicators, weapons of planetary destruction—these were the dark specters that haunted the edges of civilization, threatening to plunge the galaxy into chaos and destruction. And it was the Perimeter Agency's solemn duty to hunt down those who dared to experiment with such forbidden technologies, regardless of the ITC's, planetary laws or jurisdiction.

Corbin absorbed Aziz's words, his mind reeling with the implications of what he had just learned. The shadowy world of the Perimeter Agency was a far cry from the free-spirited life of a trader,

Either way, Aziz told him that secret for a reason. He soon explained that he needed someone he could trust and who could operate independently of the Eclipse's Planetary Defense Forces, someone who could navigate the intricate web of intrigue surrounding the Perimeter Agency without drawing undue attention.

"Corbin, for now, I just need you to deliver a hardened and encrypted data drive," Aziz continued, his tone serious. "I need you to meet with an agent of the Eclipse's Perimeter Agency in a couple of days at the Kinjo bar and grill, at Zyronis and give him this Storage Unit."

While conventional dataslabs have ample space to hold any reasonable amount of data, sometimes a party needs to store or acquire a truly huge dataset. This is what a standard TL4 storage unit is for. A portable but clumsy case hardened against anything short of intentional damage with a firearm, capable of interfacing with a wide variety of hardware to receive and upload data. A single storage unit can hold a tremendous amount of data that has been carefully compressed and optimized for it.

Corbin though about it. The Kinjo bar and grill was a notorious hub of activity on Zyronis, frequented by a diverse array of individuals from across the galaxy. It was the perfect meeting place for clandestine operatives, offering the anonymity and discretion necessary for it.

Guided by instinct rather than direction, Douklan found himself at the station's food court. The aroma of synthesized food greeted him as he entered, a comforting reminder of the routines of station life. He selected a meal at random, the taste familiar yet devoid of any real satisfaction.

As he ate, Douklan's thoughts drifted, tracing the contours of his frustrations. Finishing his meal, Douklan pushed himself away from the table and resumed his aimless wanderings. Eventually, fatigue began to tug at his limbs, signaling the end of his nocturnal wanderings. With a resigned sigh, Douklan made his way back to the Celestial Voyager, his now familiar bunk, a respite.

As he settled into his bunk, sleep claimed him swiftly, wrapping him in its embrace as he drifted into the realm of dreams. Soon enough, the next day dawned. As Douklan stirred from his slumber, a memory from the previous night surfaced, the unexpected scent of parchment lingering in his mind.

Had the Zyronians truly fallen into a period of technological collapse? The notion seemed improbable, yet it sparked a flicker of curiosity within him. Perhaps it was time to explore this new avenue of inquiry, to delve deeper into the mysteries of the universe that surrounded him.

The crew would spend this whole day in Verdura, handling some trading and helping Emily, so Douklan was free to pursue his own business until they came back.

"Sure Aziz, I can do that. As long as there's a little flex in the schedule. That's a two day trip and I don't have an update on our departure. Waiting on the cargo folks to do their bit."

Aziz clasped Corbin's shoulder with a firm grip, a silent gesture of trust and solidarity. "Thank you, my friend," he said, his gratitude evident in his eyes. "This disposable compad can be used to contact our agent when you reach the planet. Her name is Jaya. This database could be crucial to our efforts to root out the use of maltech and protect humanity from the dangers that lurk in the shadows."

With a final nod of acknowledgment, Corbin returned to the Celestial Voyager and prepared to embark on his mission.

Frustrated with the anti-ITC he can see developing with John Marr and others getting appointed to powerful Ministry positions, Douklan wondered whether this was what life as an interstellar explorer was like. Were Explorers always discovering societal issues or prejudice and repression, then moving on to another system without being able to do anything for the populations there? Did they have to turn a blind eye in every system in order to seek the stars? He wondered about his own experience in the Navy. How many systems had he traveled through and not realized what was happening politically, socially? It seemed unlikely that the Verdura was the only one, which suggested that Douklan had been blind to it before now. Were Explorers doomed to either be callous in not getting involved in the systems they visited, or to someday quit their dreams of the stars and get involved in the politics of one world? He resolved to work that conundrum into a future conversation with the Professor and the Journeywoman.

As all this turned over in his mind, Douklan decided to get his mind off of it with a simpler question: why the Imperial Library had parchment. Returning to the library, Douklan consulted with a librarian to see the physical records section (and get a policy explanation of why the station maintains a parchment archive).

The librarian explains that these scrolls are the original accounts written in Zyronis, before the founding of the ITC and during the fall of the Zyronis Empire. One of the survivors, without access to modern technology but with access to pen, ink and parchment, reported what happened in the lower levels of the ecumenopolis. The parchments were later rescued by leaders from Verdura and transferred here.

Of course, there were digital copies of them now, so the librarian invited Douklan to read those digital copies if he wanted to.

---

Piecing together fragments of history and whispers of legend, Douklan uncovered the truth behind the downfall of Zyronis. It was a tale of hubris and folly, of a once-proud civilization brought low by using something that had also propelled them to greatness. As Douklan emerged from the library at the end of the day, he carried with him a copy of his findings, a testament to the dangers of tampering with the unknown. Returning to the Celestial Voyager, he thought about sharing his discoveries with the crew, hoping to clarify the mysteries to come. But Hank, Mercer, Peter and Jil had already returned from Verdura, Emily had left, and they were preparing to depart for Zyronis. Sitting at the helm, Douklan followed standard undocking procedures. He would probabily share that tale and his other conundrums with them during the journey.

End of Chapter