which may only serve to bore you.”
I started to voice my protest, but their faces told me to not press the matter. I slumped my shoulders and moped down the hall with Satou. Once we were out of earshot of the others he stopped me.
“I know there is a lot you do not understand, and there is a lot of work ahead of you. The responsibilities of the Cartographer cannot be taken lightly,” he said sympathetically. “But I will offer a word of advice. Make sure to review the files on your computer and study the map. This is the best way you can help us now, for the mysteries of the map have remained locked to us for some time. To help acclimate you to the Argus, the crew has taken the luxury of recreating your room aboard the Argus as well.”
We reached the door to my quarters, but before I could enter, Satou stopped me one more time.
“Remember what I said, Nathan. Within the Consortium, especially to the Explorer's League, knowledge is our currency. The more you can provide to us to help us grow as an organization, the more valuable you are to our society.” He smiled and walked away, leaving me alone to ponder his words.
I entered the room and marveled at how perfectly the crew recreated from the Cirrus. I sat at the desk and flipped on the computer. After spending a few minutes browsing through the programs I found myself drawn to the map. I scanned through the various planets, stars and galaxies that had been plotted during past Explorer's League voyages. Over the next hour I studied the map and realized it was similar to the maps of Earth. Galaxies were marked with symbols and connected by dotted lines. Some of the lines were straight and others curved, as if to avoid some sort of space obstacle. I scrolled through the map and found the Milky Way, except the Explorer's League dubbed it “GX-743”. I clicked on it which revealed a close up of the galaxy and all the planets contained within. I zoomed out and picked another galaxy, marked “GX-744”, next to the Milky Way. I zoomed in and discovered fifteen planets in their solar system. One planet was the size of Jupiter but looked more like Earth. I scanned other planets and noticed a ‸ symbol which I discovered were installed communication transceivers. I was about to click on another galaxy when the doorbell rang.
“Come in,” I called.
Calypso entered and greeted me with a smile. “How are you holding up Nathan? I hope recent events haven't weighed heavily on your mind.”
“Nope. As a matter of fact, I have been looking over the map,” I said, flicking a thumb toward the computer.
He put his hands on his hips. “Oh really?”
I frowned, wondering if I should have waited for someone, before snooping around the map. Calypso recognized my consternation and flipped me a smile.
“I am happy to see that you took the initiative to move forward with learning.” He looked over my shoulder at the map. He appeared enthralled with the information displayed on the screen.
I swiveled in my chair and looked at him. “Did you find out who was chasing the Argus?”
My question snapped him out of his trance. His mouth formed a tight white line and he stiffened. “Not exactly. Captain Jasper said that the vessels resembled those of the Lumagom, but he had to be mistaken.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
Calypso let out a chuckle and hesitated briefly, as if he was unsure how to answer. “Yes Nathan, it is impossible because the Lumagom were destroyed several centuries ago during the battle of Seti Alpha Nine.”
“Seddy Alpha Nine?”
His features softened. “S-E-T-I, with a T,” Calypso clarified. “It is a satellite celestial body orbiting Caelum. They brazenly believed they could attack Caelum directly, and found that they were no match for the planet's defenses.”
“Sucks to be them, I guess.”
“Enough with ancient history and back to the reason I came here in the first place,” Calypso said with a wave of his hand. “The reason I came
I started to voice my protest, but their faces told me to not press the matter. I slumped my shoulders and moped down the hall with Satou. Once we were out of earshot of the others he stopped me.
“I know there is a lot you do not understand, and there is a lot of work ahead of you. The responsibilities of the Cartographer cannot be taken lightly,” he said sympathetically. “But I will offer a word of advice. Make sure to review the files on your computer and study the map. This is the best way you can help us now, for the mysteries of the map have remained locked to us for some time. To help acclimate you to the Argus, the crew has taken the luxury of recreating your room aboard the Argus as well.”
We reached the door to my quarters, but before I could enter, Satou stopped me one more time.
“Remember what I said, Nathan. Within the Consortium, especially to the Explorer's League, knowledge is our currency. The more you can provide to us to help us grow as an organization, the more valuable you are to our society.” He smiled and walked away, leaving me alone to ponder his words.
I entered the room and marveled at how perfectly the crew recreated from the Cirrus. I sat at the desk and flipped on the computer. After spending a few minutes browsing through the programs I found myself drawn to the map. I scanned through the various planets, stars and galaxies that had been plotted during past Explorer's League voyages. Over the next hour I studied the map and realized it was similar to the maps of Earth. Galaxies were marked with symbols and connected by dotted lines. Some of the lines were straight and others curved, as if to avoid some sort of space obstacle. I scrolled through the map and found the Milky Way, except the Explorer's League dubbed it “GX-743”. I clicked on it which revealed a close up of the galaxy and all the planets contained within. I zoomed out and picked another galaxy, marked “GX-744”, next to the Milky Way. I zoomed in and discovered fifteen planets in their solar system. One planet was the size of Jupiter but looked more like Earth. I scanned other planets and noticed a ‸ symbol which I discovered were installed communication transceivers. I was about to click on another galaxy when the doorbell rang.
“Come in,” I called.
Calypso entered and greeted me with a smile. “How are you holding up Nathan? I hope recent events haven't weighed heavily on your mind.”
“Nope. As a matter of fact, I have been looking over the map,” I said, flicking a thumb toward the computer.
He put his hands on his hips. “Oh really?”
I frowned, wondering if I should have waited for someone, before snooping around the map. Calypso recognized my consternation and flipped me a smile.
“I am happy to see that you took the initiative to move forward with learning.” He looked over my shoulder at the map. He appeared enthralled with the information displayed on the screen.
I swiveled in my chair and looked at him. “Did you find out who was chasing the Argus?”
My question snapped him out of his trance. His mouth formed a tight white line and he stiffened. “Not exactly. Captain Jasper said that the vessels resembled those of the Lumagom, but he had to be mistaken.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
Calypso let out a chuckle and hesitated briefly, as if he was unsure how to answer. “Yes Nathan, it is impossible because the Lumagom were destroyed several centuries ago during the battle of Seti Alpha Nine.”
“Seddy Alpha Nine?”
His features softened. “S-E-T-I, with a T,” Calypso clarified. “It is a satellite celestial body orbiting Caelum. They brazenly believed they could attack Caelum directly, and found that they were no match for the planet's defenses.”
“Sucks to be them, I guess.”
“Enough with ancient history and back to the reason I came here in the first place,” Calypso said with a wave of his hand. “The reason I came
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