Free Reborn (The Cartographer Book 2) by Craig Gaydas Page B

sure the wrist connection was snug. “Alright, we go in side-by-side. I want both of you flanking me but slightly behind me. I will take the lead and hopefully get the spray off before they have a chance to react.”
    Kedge nodded. He retrieved his staff and noticed Lianne's sword was already in her hand. He hoped for Nathan's sake that neither of them had to use their weapons.
    Satou opened the door.

A Cure For Boredom
    “This sucks,” I muttered.
    It had been twenty minutes since Satou contacted me. The walls of the shuttle seemed to close in around me and I felt the beginning stages of claustrophobia creep in. I tried to find a scanner on board that would have allowed me pinpoint their location inside the building. After accidentally starting the shuttle, activating some sort of horn, knocking a knob off a device that may have been important I finally gave up and slumped in my seat.
    After several minutes of thumb twiddling I decided to activate the map and poke around the universe. I found myself bathed in familiar green light as the map lit up the room. The map remained centered on Mauritania, which seemed to be a built-in “save your work” functionality. I located the GX-750 galaxy and found the planet Xajax, the mysterious planet where we first encountered Kedge. It was categorized as a new planet (a new find for the Explorer's League) so the template next to the planet was blank. As the Cartographer it was my duty to make sure the Universal Map was updated. It served as the cosmic GPS unit for the Explorer's league. I filled out the template, adding the strange trees with their sap defense mechanism as well as the birds who could fly as well as burrow underground. Since it was also my responsibility to name new species I decided to call the birds Tunnel Owls due to their resemblance to Earth's barn owls and their ability to tunnel underground. The trees I decided to name Pitcher Trees. The name came to me when I thought about pitcher plants, which looked harmless enough until their prey comes close. Xajax's trees were certainly pretty to look at, until you got close. Images of the unfortunate bird that had been thrown against one of them by Satou came to mind. Visions of the bird as it struggled while the sap overtook it sent shudders through me.
    We never got a chance to explore further on Xajax once we found out it was being used as a base for the Lumagom. Our priorities changed and I never got the chance to study any of the other wildlife on the planet. I left the rest of the template blank and marked it as incomplete. I hoped to fill in the blanks one day.
    The airlock disengaged outside and I turned my attention toward the door. The familiar sound of the river filling the cabin soon followed.
    “Well, that didn't take long.” I breathed a sigh of relief. If they returned this quickly then that meant there had been hardly any resistance and that meant minimal casualties.
    I went to the door and waited. The waters receded from the airlock and the inner door opened. “Thank God I hope everything went—,” I froze in midsentence.
    Calypso stepped through the doorway. Next to him stood Natronix, pointing a neutralizer at me. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I briefly wondered if I had fallen asleep and descended into some sort of nightmare.
    Before I could pinch myself, Calypso spoke. “Don't make this harder than it has to be.”
    My mouth hung open. “How…Richat…gone?” When they both tilted their heads and peered at me strangely I knew my mouth was not conveying the correct message. I took a deep breath and tried again. “How is this possible? I thought you were at the Richat Structure?”
    “We are everywhere, Nathan,” Calypso replied mysteriously. “Your friends will be returning soon so I have to insist you come with us immediately.”
    “Why?” I crept closer to the control panel. Located inside a nearby compartment was a spare hand cannon. Satou showed it to me earlier when