6
Samh 9.05.1342 8:00
Geodor had slept well and was up before dawn heading to the capital of Anorraq, Tyrol City, and now sat in the waiting room of the castle palace awaiting an audience with the Count of Anorraq.
“Ah, Viscount Elwynalam, what a pleasure to see you. I assume aside from the mishap right before you returned home that your mission went well?” the Count asked, shutting and locking the door behind him.
“I suppose that depends on what you mean by ‘going well.’” The Count raised his eyebrows but made no response.
“Your information was correct,” Geodor continued after a moment. “The Xiepvuians have constructed a rather substantial base on the far side of our moon. I have no idea how they managed to do it, though.”
“Well, that’s rather simple,” the Count responded. “It’s not as if we live in some sort of science fiction novel where every planet is inhabited by some strange-looking alien creature. Everyone in the solar system is a descendant of some human from Earth. Xiepvuians look just like us. I assume some of them or Samhis loyal to their money have probably assimilated on our planet and simply took a vacation to the moon to help work on it. As soon as it was up and going, they could have landed there directly.”
“I did find three people working at the moonstation who seem to be involved,” Geodor said, handing him three paper files and a memory stick. “Unfortunately, time ran out before I could do much more than scratch the surface of what was going on. I estimate they have been working on this for over a year.”
“The biggest question is why?” Anorraq mused aloud.
“I have nothing solid, but I am pretty certain they need minerals.”
“But Thelxinoe V-1398 doesn’t have any resources. We already determined a long time ago that mining any of our moons would be useless—hence the reason they were allowed to become tourist attractions.”
“The base wasn’t set up for mining. It was an outpost. A place to gather troops before an invasion.”
“You think they would dare to attack our planet directly?”
Geodor nodded.
“I will let Emperor Grangschmidt know at once. Unfortunately, we can’t let the Sultan of Upsilon Andromedae and the Galactic Congress know until we have more solid proof.”
“There is one more thing I would like to discuss with you.”
“Go ahead.”
“When a person dies, I believe it is important to have a family, to carry on for them.”
“Really, Geodor? I didn’t expect you were the type of person to harass me about not being married.”
“I wasn’t talking about you. I want to find a wife. Almost dying up there made me realize that I have no one to take care of my sister if something happens to me.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier to find a husband for her? Your lifestyle and positions are not exactly conducive to being entangled with someone.”
“Like you, I have my own ideals. Although I may end up in an arranged marriage of convenience, I would never force my sister into one!”
“Point taken. Find the girl and let us run the checks on her before you propose. The last thing we need is a fortune hunter getting ahold of you. It would be very difficult to keep all your secrets from your wife—even if it were only a marriage of convenience.”
With that, both men parted—each deep in thought about the problems before him.
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