By the time the Muse of Mischief and Agent Brzko returned to their home in Lincoln City, Lelelu had already found a complete history of the planet called Myaad. With the Muse of Mischief at his side, Agent Brzko initiated an interstellar chat session with Lelelu at the main communications portal. Thanks to technology, Lelelu was able to work from her home on the Planet of Portals. She kept her own small ship, and could travel when she needed to. But she had to be careful about visits to Earth and other places with infantile inhabitants. Trelods are bright blue but otherwise look like humanoids. They don’t have hair like humans and while that is easy enough to hide with a hat or wig, the bright blue skin is not.
“Hi Lelelu, I hear you’ve got some information about Myaad.” Brzko said.
“Yes, this is really an interesting place. Myaad is a small, completely terrestrial planet in the same sector as Ploosnar. There is no surface water, what water there is can be found under the surface of the planet in aqueducts. It accumulates there after rains. The Myaads are traders. They operate on a sort of CBDR system – common but different responsibilities. They are made up of three groups; Bivoors, Dumeers, and Rogsaars, one of which you’ve met. The Rogsaars are explorers and scientists, looking for new planets and new species to learn from and barter with. Dumeers handle pretty much everything else; retrieving fresh water from beneath the planet’s surface, building and maintaining housing and other structures, growing, harvesting, storing, and preparing sustenance, and making sure there is adequate clothing, medical supplies, and anything else of a non-scientific nature. The Bivoors are the administrators. They kind of oversee things, but at the same time they stay on the same “level” as the Rogsaars and Dumeers.”
Lelelu’s image was momentarily replaced with an image of all three types of Myaads. The Bivoors, Dumeers, and Rogsaars all looked about the same, the Rogsaars and Dumeers were identical except in size. The Dumeers were taller and more muscular than the Rogsaars. The Bivoors were the smallest group. All three had stark white hair and eyes so dark that they looked black.
Lelelu continued, “They are parthenogenetic breeders, the word they use for their reproductive chambers translates as hive but that isn’t quite accurate. At least it’s not a hive as we would define it.”
“OK, I have to ask…” said M “parthenogenetic?”
“Don’t feel bad M, I had to look it up” Lelelu said. “It basically means that they can reproduce without fertilization. There are several species on Earth that reproduce this way. Most, but not all, of them produce genetic replicas of the “mother” as Myaads do. They are an asexual species – neither male nor female.”
“Wow!” Brzko and M said simultaneously.
Lelelu continued “Almost two hundred Earth years ago the planet went silent. It seems like their trading partners just stopped hearing from them.”
“Have you been able to contact anyone on the planet Lelelu?” M asked.
“Yes, I sent a communication portal to the planet via interstellar bot and I’ve been in touch with one of the Bivoors. We’ve spoken a few times. Most of the population was wiped out by an illness they have yet to identify. It even infected their hives and they have not been able to reproduce. Because of that, their population has been drastically reduced. The symptoms begin with small lesions on the feet, and then eventually it attacks the respiratory system. It doesn’t appear to be contagious, but the survival rate after symptoms appear is 0%. I don’t know how many are left on Myaad. Bivoor says that there are well over one hundred Rogsaars stranded throughout the Universe”
“Have you told Bivoor about Rogsaar?”
“Yes and Bivoor is anxious to have Rogsaar back home. But they don’t have the resources to help. They have not been able to maintain the exploration fleet, and with maintenance neglected for so long they are no longer able to contact the explorers that were on assignment when the illness hit. Much of their infrastructure has fallen into disarray, which wasn’t a big deal with such a drastic reduction in population, except their off planet communication system ceased to function. Which is why Rogsaar, well all Rogsaars, have been left to fend for themselves for so long. They shut down all flashports on Myaad in order to make sure they didn’t add to the illness, they don’t know where it originated. Bivoor said that they have adequate scanning, quarantine, and detoxification protocols, meeting the standards of most interstellar traveler’s.” Lelelu explained.
“So they have no idea what the illness is, or where it originated?”
“They don’t have any enemies. The Myaads are thoughtful in their exploration. They tend to stay away from warring species but since they have had contact with so many I suppose it is possible that someone wanted to harm them. But the general feeling is that this was a naturally occurring illness. Even though their quarantine meets the universal standard, it’s still possible that some biological contaminant made it through.” explained Lelelu.
“Has Bivoor asked us, or anyone, for help Lelelu?” M asked, hoping that she would say yes. She would have to honor their desire to be left alone if that was what they wanted.
“Actually, yes. They haven’t been able to reach out, to communicate with anyone off planet for over a hundred years. So imagine how relieved they were when the interstellar bot containing our communication portal arrived.”
“Have you already made arrangements to for access to their research files? And what about a sample of the disease?”
“We have a full copy of their research files, and I took the liberty of sending a copy to the Suus. They have the largest database we know of so maybe they can help to identify the illness. The interstellar bot has a sample of infected hive tissue. But I have it holding in orbit around Myaad. I don’t want to risk spreading the infection by delivering it until requested.” explained Lelelu.
“I think it’s time to bring Rogsaar up to speed. Brzko, will you please pay a visit? I’d like to contact the Suus and see if they’ve made any progress. I’d also like to bring Emperor Bartala up to speed since Myaad is basically in his backyard.” M said.
“Sure M.”
“Lelelu, will you please get a message to the lead on the Suus research team? I want to visit with them and see if they have had any luck identifying the illness.”
“Sure M. The lead is Kiik. I’ll let you know when I’ve reached her.”
“OK, I’ll be on Ploosnar with Emperor Bartala and Empress Nalau.” M ended the communication with Lelelu and looked at Brzko.
“Thanks for checking up on Rogsaar?”
“No problem, I’m sure he’ll be glad to see me.” Brzko said, holding her gaze.
“OK Brzko, I’ll catch up with you later. Be careful.” M said and embraced her partner.
“Will do M, give Bartala my best.”
And with that, they both left Lincoln City, opening apertures directly to their respective destinations.
The Muse of Mischief 