{"id":581,"date":"2016-11-15T07:05:11","date_gmt":"2016-11-15T12:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/?page_id=581"},"modified":"2023-11-16T09:42:41","modified_gmt":"2023-11-16T14:42:41","slug":"sibyls-orb","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/?page_id=581","title":{"rendered":"Sibyl&#8217;s Orb"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_716\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-716\" style=\"width: 448px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B08CRRG72X\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-716\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/SibylsOrb-510-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Tales of the Green jinn\" width=\"448\" height=\"672\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/SibylsOrb-510-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/SibylsOrb-510-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/SibylsOrb-510-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/SibylsOrb-510.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 448px) 100vw, 448px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-716\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sibyl&#8217;s Orb<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><em>Dragon Eyes<\/em><\/strong> began this bold science fiction adventure, but <strong><em>Sibyls\u2019 Orb<\/em><\/strong> drags you inexorably into the beating heart of this mystical walk on the wild side of science fiction\u2026<\/p>\n<p>The road to hell is surely paved with good intentions.\u00a0 Just ask Chon Ko Gonin, Captain of the Green Jinn.\u00a0 He would definitely agree with that.\u00a0 With the best of intentions, the Green Jinn ventured into unexplored territory in search of a wanted interplanetary criminal, David Zharn.<\/p>\n<p>Right from the start, the Green Jinn found itself dragged into a battle to save an ancient people from the Merc invaders hiding in the unexplored territory since the Corporate War more than 40 years ago.\u00a0 Right from the start, ancient forces of good, and evil fought for control of Sibyl\u2019s Orb and dragged Chon Ko Gonin into the middle of it.<\/p>\n<p>Sibyl\u2019s Orb was the key that would unlock the mysteries that lay before him, but finding it and saving it would test his strength, and cunning to its limits.\u00a0 However, Sibyl\u2019s Orb would not be his only challenge on this mission.\u00a0 Beyond the orb was an ancient evil.<\/p>\n<p><em>A thousand years ago, I was a very gifted seer.\u00a0 I was Evil\u2019s worst nightmare.\u00a0 So Evil set a plan in motion to kill me.\u00a0 His minions did not know Evil\u2019s whole plan.\u00a0 They only knew their own parts in it.\u00a0 He used that fact to trap me.\u00a0 But in the end, I saw my own demise, and there was no way out.\u00a0 I was doomed.\u00a0 So, I recorded my own moon and hid it away, where Evil would never find it.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>My love, Arowin, felt in his heart the second of my end.\u00a0 To the end of his days did he search for me.\u00a0 Our loving son picked up the task that had outlived his father.\u00a0 My beloved son, Iisax, followed the clues that his father had left for him, but Iisax\u2019s days were also numbered.\u00a0 It was Shirazad, Iisax\u2019s daughter, who found the moon that I had hidden away nearly a thousand years before her.\u00a0 It was Shirazad that handed my moon over to the Council of the Crescent Moon.\u00a0 It was the Council that set my moon free.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>And so now, here I am.\u00a0 I am Destiny. I would find Ojunta and finish this once and for all.\u00a0 But this unexplored territory was full of more secrets as I was to find out.\u00a0 And this ancient evil had taken yet another unexpected turn.<\/p>\n<p>But this unexplored territory was about to give up yet another secret from the past, an old foe of unequaled skill and cunning &#8212; the man who gave the orders to kill Admiral Dallas Blake\u2019s whole family.<\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2>Please Purchase my Books from these fine retailers.<\/h2>\n<h4><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/amazon_1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1132\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/amazon_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"110\" height=\"38\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/amazon_1.jpg 899w, https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/amazon_1-300x104.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/amazon_1-768x267.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 110px) 100vw, 110px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B08CRRG72X\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sibyl&#8217;s Orb on Amazon as Kindle or PaperBack<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Amazon eBook<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>File Size:<\/b> 2127 KB<\/li>\n<li><b>Print Length:<\/b> 200 pages<\/li>\n<li><b>Publisher:<\/b> Five Moons Publishing; 2 edition (July 9, 2020)<\/li>\n<li><b>Publication Date:<\/b> July 9, 2020<\/li>\n<li id=\"sold-by-merchant\"><b>Sold by:<\/b>\u00a0Amazon.com Services LLC<\/li>\n<li><b>Language:<\/b> English<\/li>\n<li><b>ASIN:<\/b> B08CRRG72X<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Amazon Paperback<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Series:<\/b> Tales of the Green Jinn (Book 2)<\/li>\n<li><b>Paperback:<\/b> 227 pages<\/li>\n<li><b>Publisher:<\/b> Independently published (July 10, 2020)<\/li>\n<li><b>Language:<\/b> English<\/li>\n<li><b>ISBN-13:<\/b> 979-8665299457<\/li>\n<li><b>ASIN:<\/b> B08D51CFYK<\/li>\n<li><b> Product Dimensions: <\/b> 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Sibyls-Orb\/dp\/B08BVY26TN\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=bill+parker+sibyl%27s+orb+audio&amp;qid=1599525000&amp;s=digital-text&amp;sr=1-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sibyl&#8217;s Orb AudioBook on Amazon<\/a><\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.audible.com\/pd\/Sibyls-Orb-Audiobook\/B08BWC9CGL\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sibyl&#8217;sOrb on Audible.com<\/a><\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.audible.com\/pd\/Sibyls-Orb-Audiobook\/B08BWC9CGL\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/m.media-amazon.com\/images\/I\/51+Pc+ouS6L.jpg\" alt=\"Sibyl's Orb\" width=\"295\" height=\"295\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h4><\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smashwords.com\/books\/view\/1032393\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1117 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Smashwords.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"48\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h4><\/h4>\n<h4><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/books.apple.com\/us\/book\/x\/id1523365351\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Apple Books<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/s\/2940164184926\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Barnes &amp; Noble<\/a><\/h4>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/store.kobobooks.com\/en-us\/Search?Query=9781005159788\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kobo<\/a><\/h4>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gardners.com\/Search\/KeywordAnonymous\/eBook?Keyword=9781005159788\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gardners<\/a><\/h4>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">SAMPLE CHAPTERS<\/h2>\n<h2>Prologue<\/h2>\n<p>Alone on C-Deck, Chon stood silent for a long moment to quiet his mind. Body follows mind. Mind follows breath. He breathed long and slow until his mind was quiet. A formal bow began the ancient Earth kata that he was about to perform.<\/p>\n<p>Kusanku was an ancient Chinese emissary. One foggy night he was surrounded by fully armed samurai warriors in a rice field sworn to kill him. With only his bare hands, Kusanku was forced to defend himself. This kata was a reenactment of that epic battle.<\/p>\n<p>Chon turned and crouched, peering through imaginary fog. His kicks snapped forward with power and focus. His blocks were as focused as his punches as he moved along imaginary paths at forty-five-degree angles defending himself from the imaginary samurai.<\/p>\n<p>But this was more than just a very powerful man going through the moves of a kata. It had become a meditation in motion. Qi flowed through Chon like a mighty river. The air crackled with the power of his punches and kicks. The decks beneath his feet resounded with his every step. Chon had tapped into a power beyond his own.<\/p>\n<p>Suddenly, Chon was no longer standing on C-Deck, but on a mountaintop in an ancient stone ruins. He took in a deep breath, but the air was thin. A heavy mist and dim light only made this place even more surreal. Sounds around him were the first signs that he was in imminent danger, but in the distance, at the very limits of his hearing, he could just barely make out a woman\u2019s voice call his name. It beckoned him forward.<\/p>\n<p>Out of the mist stepped a fully armed Merc warrior, a pulse pistol in his hand. He fired at Chon, but Chon had already moved. He spun around the Merc, grabbing his wrist and twisting the hand that held the gun. The Merc\u2019s next shot was, unfortunately, with a gun that Chon had twisted around to point at the Merc\u2019s own heart. That Merc dropped on the spot. Chon picked up the Merc\u2019s pistol and continued carefully forward through the mist, crouching low.<\/p>\n<p>Voices all around him only hardened his resolve to survive. Suddenly, a man came out of the mist straight at him. This Merc warrior came at Chon with a blade overhead that he brought down upon Chon with killing force. Much to his surprise, Chon caught the blade between his open palms, turned and snapped it. Before the Merc had time to react, Chon turned quickly one more time as he hit the man with a spinning back-kick to the head. The Merc dropped face down.<\/p>\n<p>The sound of his own heart was pounding in his ears as Chon was drawn ever forward. Two huge stone monoliths stood in his path. He was forced to move in forty-five-degree paths, just as Kusanku had been many thousands of years before him, as voices once more closed in on him.<\/p>\n<p>In the mist, Chon could just barely make out one man in front of him. The smallest sound behind him, though, was the only warning of the next attack. He ducked low as a pulse round just barely flew over him. He spun to the side. Another pulse round flew just barely overhead once more. It would have hit him but for the forty-five-degree angle that he had taken.<\/p>\n<p>But now the first Merc heard the sound of battle and came rushing in. Chon struck him from behind like lightning on a cloudless night and wrapped his arm so he could not turn. The Merc that had been firing at Chon from behind heard the scuffle ahead of him and charged.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEIUS!\u201d Chon growled at him from behind the other Merc.<\/p>\n<p>All that the charging Merc saw through the mist was a man pointing a gun straight at him. So, on pure reaction, he fired, killing his own fellow Merc. As the dead man dropped, Chon fired back, killing the last Merc warrior. There were no more sounds around him now, only an eerie silence.<\/p>\n<p>A woman\u2019s voice in the distance behind him once more called his name. He turned toward her. So it was that he found himself standing at the foot of a paved stone path. Silence engulfed him as he followed the path ever upward into the mist. Out of the mist appeared two huge stones standing guard to a secret courtyard. A young woman in a flowing white gown appeared for the briefest second in the opening. Chon went cautiously inside. In the center of the courtyard was a raised stone as though at some point, it had been an altar, but Chon did not approach that. Instead, he circled around the inside of the courtyard.<\/p>\n<p>To normal people, those stone walls looked like nothing more, but Chon was part Anoza. He knew better. In the misty light, the stone walls looked barren and flat but only if you looked with just your eyes. As he looked, the woman once more appeared for just the briefest second. Chon walked over to where she had stood. Sure enough, in folded time-space, there was an opening in the wall. Chon reached right through what would appear to be solid stone to anyone else. He could feel something large and heavy in a cloth pouch. He removed the pouch from its hiding place.<\/p>\n<p>Chon pulled open the ties on the pouch and removed a heavy crystal orb. It was the most beautiful crystal orb he had ever seen. Its deep iridescent reds and blues were spellbinding. When he touched it, great power flowed through him like ten mighty rivers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood Lord! What was that?\u201d Sienna asked from behind him.<\/p>\n<p>Chon was suddenly back on C-Deck. It took a second for his mind to refocus as he looked around in disbelief of what had just happened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKusanku kata,\u201d he somehow managed to reply to Sienna as he picked up his towel to wipe the sweat from his brow and neck.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHell,\u201d Sienna replied, \u201cI have seen a lot of people perform katas in my days, but I have never seen anything at all like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d Chon wondered. What had she seen?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou moved with such power and force,\u201d she replied.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd that\u2019s all you saw?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah. Why? Should I have seen something else?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. No,\u201d Chon replied, relieved.<\/p>\n<p>Sienna went back to the bridge, while Chon went to take a shower.<\/p>\n<p>~~~<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was that?!\u201d all of the members of the Council of the Crescent Moon clamored to know from Destiny.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know! It was not from me. I did not give him that vision,\u201d she insisted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen who did?\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Chapter 1: Think again.<\/h2>\n<p>Dallas Blake stood in the engineering bay with Hack and Jinn as the anoza technicians worked all around them. Hack\u2019s team of combat droids was helping them move the heavy pieces of equipment into place. The anoza were amused by that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe thought we had it right the first time,\u201d Dallas Blake explained to Hack, \u201cbut we were wrong. The Green Jinn seemed to do the job okay, but its single quantum portal was taxed to its limits when the going got tough. We can\u2019t have that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I adapted and improvised and got the job done,\u201d Jinn reminded him.<\/p>\n<p>He kissed her cheek. \u201cYes, dear. That you did, but the next time you might not be able to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd thus we are adding two more quantum portals to this hall,\u201d Hack told her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExactly correct,\u201d Dallas complimented him. \u201cThe Anoza only equip their small ships with two, but Union Fleet standard is triple redundancy. So, the Green Jinn will have three.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The quantum portals had become a joint effort with Toron\u2019s expert, anoza portal craftsmen building the hardware, Mariah rebuilding the portal software to her own liking, and Hack\u2019s crew of repurposed combat droids installing it all and performing all of the pre-flight testing.<\/p>\n<p>But even that was not enough. While all of that was in progress, Mariah had her own crew of droids helping her change out every one of the quantum-com modules on the Green Jinn. And that included every mindlink for each member of the crew.<\/p>\n<p>Zemi came to sit on Lara\u2019s lap when it came to be her turn. She had a very sad look on her face and looked down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d Lara asked her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWill I still be a magical genie?\u201d she asked, almost in tears.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes. Of course, you will still be a magical genie,\u201d Lara promised her.<\/p>\n<p>Zemi perked right up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn fact,\u201d Mariah whispered to her, \u201cthis will make you an even better genie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>[Good morning Magical Genie,] her new mindlink woke up and addressed Zemi in a female voice. [I am with you always.]<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am still a magical genie!\u201d Zemi told everyone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis new mindlink has a mind of its own,\u201d Mariah told Zemi. \u201cYou should give her a name. She would like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat should I name her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHm. A name is very important. Maybe you should think about it for a while before you name her,\u201d Mariah suggested.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will think about it,\u201d Zemi agreed.<\/p>\n<p>All of these preparations were going on around him as Chon took his seat on the bridge. Underneath his calm, cool exterior, he was still trying to make sense of the vision, but now was not the time for that. Right now, he had to look over his new star charts. This mission was all about recon. Each of these worlds had to be explored to see what was happening at each one. The problem here was a total lack of knowledge. His job was to change that. Sienna\u2019s job would be the information gathering. Sometimes, recon is as simple as that\u2026 sometimes.<\/p>\n<p>Hack found Lara sitting at the workstation next to Chon. She was reading O\u2019Toole\u2019s <em>A History of Mankind in the Outworlds<\/em> in total disbelief, struggling hard to understand how humans could have screwed up their own history so badly. Admittedly, the history of mankind in the outworlds was a total mess. In the end, however, the humans seemed to get it right\u2026 in the end. But, good grief; getting there sure took them long enough.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would like your kind assistance,\u201d Hack requested of Lara.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMe? What for?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI need you to test the new portals to their limits,\u201d he told her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh. That sounds like fun,\u201d she replied and suddenly \u2013 poof &#8211; she was gone. And, poof, she was back. And, poof, she was gone again.<\/p>\n<p>Hack turned to Chon. \u201cI didn\u2019t expect her to be so enthusiastic about it. It is only a test.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That made Chon laugh. In the meantime, Lara was poofing here and poofing there. She went for a poof to her home on Yartu and poofed just as quickly back. Then Lara got Zemi, and together, they tested all three portals.<\/p>\n<p>Hack stood there, on the bridge and waited patiently for Lara to complete her testing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is she doing?\u201d Chon asked him when curiosity finally overcame him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLara\u2019s \u2018poof\u2019 program is actually a very complex way to operate a portal,\u201d Hack explained to him. \u201cIt involves moving both ends of the portal synchronously, using the bottoms of their feet as its base reference point in each place. That is why I asked Lara to test it for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Zemi suddenly poofed onto the bridge, giggling. Lara poofed in and found her seconds later, and so they both poofed back out as quickly as they had arrived.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExcellent,\u201d Hack commented. \u201cThey are not even pushing the new portal processors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sienna peered over the top of the virtual display she had been working on the whole time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you expect me to see?\u201d she asked him, having not missed even the tiniest detail of their previous encounter on C-Deck. At first, Chon hadn\u2019t a clue what she was talking about.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh,\u201d he said when it finally sunk in that she was referring back to their last conversation. \u201cSometimes, when my qi is flowing like a mighty river, I can see the battle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChee?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCorrect,\u201d Hack answered her before Chon could even get words out. \u201cThe word qi is an ancient Earth term originating from the Chinese. I know that it sounds like \u2018chee,\u2019 but it is spelled Q I in Standard Interplanetary English. I know; the spelling of it confounds logic. I would agree. In addition, the ancient Tantric yogis of India described the same force as kundalini.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Both Sienna and Chon were sitting there with their mouths open, astounded that this would be something that Hack, an android starship engineer, would know anything at all about as he continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow, one would think that qi would be some kind of myth, but it is not. Science has proved that the universe is so abundantly full of energy that even the lowly vacuum spontaneously bursts forth with particles created from this abundant energy. So, one may conclude that while the ancient Earth people may not have known one small bit of quantum mechanics, they did figure out how to use it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHack, you are the man,\u201d Chon complimented him. \u201cI would have never expected you to know that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThank you, sir. That is what engineering is all about \u2013 the practical application of science.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Needless to say, Sienna was not about to just take Hack\u2019s word on any of this. She had to look everything up for herself. Her auxiliary virtual display screen filled with cross references.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDamn. He\u2019s right,\u201d Sienna concluded a few seconds later.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, of course, I am right,\u201d Hack confirmed. \u201cAlthough, I must say that I had no personal knowledge of qi until I observed the captain execute his Kusanku Kata on C-Deck. The energy spikes caused several time-space alarms. Then they became so powerful that my monitoring cameras all filled with the noise of it. Your voice brought them all back to normal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sienna smiled. \u201cMy voice,\u201d she repeated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour voice caught my attention and broke my meditation,\u201d Chon clarified it for her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould you teach me to do that?\u201d she asked him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA moving meditation is like apple pie,\u201d Chon told her metaphorically. \u201cI can give you the recipe, but you will have to bake one yourself to taste it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs food all that you ever think about?\u201d she asked, perplexed by his answer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo,\u201d he replied with a gleam in his eye. \u201cI will teach you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou will teach her what?\u201d Lara asked as she poofed in with Zemi.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKusanku Kata,\u201d Chon replied. \u201cIt is a basic fighting form.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood,\u201d Lara quickly responded. \u201cWe will both learn it then.\u201d\u00a0 She turned back to Zemi. \u201cCome on. Let\u2019s do some more testing.\u201d\u00a0 And, poof, they were gone.<\/p>\n<p>Hack was happy that his new work was being so thoroughly run through its paces.<\/p>\n<p>Chon went quietly back to his star charts.<\/p>\n<p>Sienna may have been all calm on the outside, but on the inside, she was so upset that her hair was on fire and sparks were flying out of her ears. At least, that\u2019s what it felt like to her.<\/p>\n<h2>Chapter 2: Mystic crystal revelations.<\/h2>\n<p>Now that the Green Jinn was totally isolated in the network, it was safe for Admiral Johnson to send her best man to do the analysis of which planets to explore first. Chief Navigator, Remiatu Kiriarkin was nothing of what you would expect. He was a younger man, of cheerful attitude and very pleasant features\u2026 for an anoza.<\/p>\n<p>As far as anoza went Rem, as his friends called him, was an odd character, but to humans, he was just a gregarious young man in search of adventure. In the extremely conformist Anoza society, Rem stuck out like a sore thumb, but amongst the humans, he was right at home.<\/p>\n<p>Admiral Johnson always did like odd characters. In their own way, some of them were very talented. Such was the case with Rem. Somewhat like Emma, he had an incredibly intuitive ability to see the complex shape of space and navigate a starship through it.<\/p>\n<p>Rem came through quantum portal-2 with a smile on his face and his duffle bag in tow. Chon was there to greet him. Behind Chon stood Mia and Hack.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPermission to come aboard,\u201d Rem requested.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPermission granted,\u201d Chon replied. \u201cWelcome aboard the Green Jinn. Hack will help you with your things. Mia is in charge of Housekeeping. She will assign you your quarters. The ship will make way at 13:00 hours. Until then, you may want to look around and get familiar with the ship. Oh\u2026 and lose the uniform. We are to look, walk, talk, and smell the part of outworld civilians at all times.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will do that,\u201d Rem replied as Hack took his heavy duffle bag. Admiral Johnson had already told him that this mission was so secret that it was classified as double black, but it really had not sunk in until this very moment. Rem\u2019s brain was on fire with excitement. His whole life he had waited for something like this! He took the first steps into the adventure of a lifetime as he followed Mia to his new quarters.<\/p>\n<p>A half-hour later, Rem wandered into the engineering bay, looking curiously around at everything.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan I help you?\u201d Hack asked when he saw him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, I am just looking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI see that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood Heavens,\u201d Rem commented. \u201cThese are the new quantum portal engines, but I thought that they were Top-Secret, military only.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are,\u201d Hack told him proudly. \u201cOur very own Emma invented them. The Five Moons was the first ship to get them. We are a very secret part of the Five Moons Fleet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood Heaven! Who hasn\u2019t heard of the Five Moons? I am now a part of that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, you are,\u201d Chon answered him from behind, \u201cbut that information is classified. All that anyone will ever see of us is an old war-surplus scout-class ship named the Green Jinn. No one must ever know that we are anything at all more than that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, how very Anoza,\u201d Rem concluded. \u201cWe hide in plain sight. The secret is safe with me. I will never speak it, but it will be a part of me forever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow you\u2019ve got the picture,\u201d Chon encouraged him.<\/p>\n<p>The entire crew sat on the bridge as 13:00 approached. Jinn took the center pilot\u2019s seat. Sienna sat behind her and to her left, in the science workstation. Rem took the seat to Jinn\u2019s right as the navigator. Chon sat at the center of the elevated second row with Aiden to his left and Lara to his right. Zemi had her own seat next to Aiden.<\/p>\n<p>Jinn formed a quantum portal and went through it. The Green Jinn emerged from it at the very edge of this new unexplored territory. That move was purposeful. Jinn turned to Rem.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re up,\u201d she told him.<\/p>\n<p>Rem smiled. He brought up his data and laid it over top of their magnificent view of the stars out before them. His data was a calculated version of the filamentary nature of the thirteen-dimensional space out before them, but now they were here, at the edge of it.<\/p>\n<p>He turned to Sienna.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am told that you have revised information for me,\u201d he said to her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes,\u201d she agreed. \u201cNow that we are on-station, I am allowed to release it to you.\u201d\u00a0 As she spoke, the data flowed to Rem\u2019s workstation, and he went right to work. As he did, the display changed. Most of the changes appeared to be minor, but the longer that Rem worked on the data; the more apparent it became that\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomething is not right here,\u201d Rem concluded. \u201cEven your new data is insufficient for me to draw any definite conclusions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat would we need to do to help you?\u201d Chon asked him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe would have to take some more measurements, I am afraid,\u201d Rem told Chon.<\/p>\n<p>As he said that, a new set of destination coordinates popped up on Jinn\u2019s display and showed up on the main display. Rem looked at the coordinates for a long second.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t do that,\u201d he told Jinn, but now a quantum portal formed out in front of the Green Jinn. Jinn turned to Chon with question marks all over her face.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat should I do?\u201d She asked him.<\/p>\n<p>[This is important,] Destiny whispered into Chon\u2019s ear.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are recon. We adapt, improvise, and overcome. And we strike when the opportunity presents itself. Opportunity just presented itself, so let\u2019s see where this goes. Fly through the portal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But now Rem was beside himself. Inside, he was having a furious conversation with himself over having screwed something up, but he could not even imagine what that could have been. He checked his Navigator\u2019s Log, but it showed that he issued no course. Now he was certain that it wasn\u2019t him, but that didn\u2019t make him feel any better.<\/p>\n<p>~<\/p>\n<p>The Green Jinn emerged into what should have been empty space according to the new star charts captured from the Zharn freighters, but it most certainly was not. Instead, there were stars all around them and an immense nebula. From the inside, the nebula was spectacular, but only because the main display enhanced its colors. It was all lit up by the nearby stars\u2026 none of which appeared on the captured Zharn freighters\u2019 star charts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood work, Rem,\u201d Chon complimented him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I didn\u2019t do it,\u201d Rem reminded him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe not, but your ground work made it possible. You knew that something was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, that is true,\u201d Rem decided, \u201cbut this changes everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s why we brought you,\u201d Chon told him with a smile.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh. Yes. Then I better get right to work on this,\u201d he replied as he did.<\/p>\n<p>Rem thought it would take several hours to for the onboard computers to analyze all of the new data but Destiny secretly used her multiple intelligent processors to shorten that. Over the next few minutes, the new results were displayed on the navigator\u2019s display.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, that explains it,\u201d Rem concluded. \u201cNow all of the freighter courses begin to make some sense. Hm. But why would you do that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo hide the planets that exist out there,\u201d Sienna told him, but Rem still sat there with a dumb look on his face.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWere you briefed on this mission?\u201d Sienna asked him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, not entirely,\u201d he said hesitantly. \u201cI was only asked to analyze the data when it made no sense to anyone else. I told my superiors that there had to be a significant amount of missing data and that I was unable to draw any accurate conclusions from what they had given me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd so, you were assigned to this mission?\u201d Sienna asked him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, no. I volunteered,\u201d he admitted. \u201cI told them that I would have to come out here to see this for myself in order to solve it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd so you did,\u201d Sienna concluded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe so, but now there are even more mysteries,\u201d he quickly replied.<\/p>\n<p>Sienna smiled. \u201cDon\u2019t worry, Rem. We won\u2019t be sending you back any time soon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood. Good. My place is right here,\u201d Rem emphatically agreed. \u201cI have much more work to do if I am to map all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, mapping is not exactly our primary mission, but exploring this new territory ranks right up there in our list of mission priorities,\u201d Chon told him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is our primary mission?\u201d Rem asked him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are recon. We are hunting down an interplanetary crime syndicate and their head man, David Zharn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh? But we are outside of Union territory.\u201d Rem thought this was news to them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is why they sent us,\u201d Chon told him as he got up and walked around the bridge. \u201cOut there is a whole uncharted territory. It was left off of the charts for a reason. It was left off of the charts to hide something. I need to know what is being hidden from us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the uncharted territory, there are ninety-three M-Class stars. They will all have planets, but there is only a 1.3 percent chance that any of them will be a T-10,\u201d Rem offered his opinion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, that\u2019s a start,\u201d Chon considered, \u201cbut that is still a lot of stars for us to explore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI could narrow that down somewhat,\u201d Rem offered as he put the navigator\u2019s automated observatory to the task, \u201cbut it will take me a few hours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_48\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-48\" style=\"width: 183px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/DDP_logo.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-48\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/DDP_logo.jpg\" alt=\"Double Dragon Publishing\" width=\"183\" height=\"216\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-48\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Double Dragon Publishing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h5>\u00a0As originally sold by Double Dragon Publishing<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><b>ISBN-10: 1-77115-396-2<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>ISBN-13:<\/b>\u00a0978-1-77115-396-6<\/li>\n<li><b>Genre:<\/b> Science Fiction\/Dark Fantasy<\/li>\n<li><b>File Size:<\/b> 1106 KB<\/li>\n<li><b>Print Length:<\/b> 254 pages<\/li>\n<li><b>Publisher:<\/b> Double Dragon eBooks (January 30, 2018)<\/li>\n<li><b>Publication Date:<\/b> January 30, 2018<\/li>\n<li id=\"sold-by-merchant\"><b>Sold by:<\/b>\u00a0Amazon Digital Services LLC<\/li>\n<li><b>Language:<\/b> English<\/li>\n<li><b>ASIN:<\/b> B079G3KWH8<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Paperback:<\/b> 204 pages<\/li>\n<li><b>Published:<\/b> (March 12, 2018)<\/li>\n<li><b>Language:<\/b> English<\/li>\n<li><b>ISBN-10:<\/b> 1986478173<\/li>\n<li><b>ISBN-13:<\/b> 978-1986478175<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Please visit my other site too <a href=\"https:\/\/fivemoonscifi.wordpress.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fivemoonscifi.wordpress.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dragon Eyes began this bold science fiction adventure, but Sibyls\u2019 Orb drags you inexorably into the beating heart of this mystical walk on the wild side of science fiction\u2026 The road to hell is surely paved with good intentions.\u00a0 Just ask Chon Ko Gonin, Captain of the Green Jinn.\u00a0 He would definitely agree with that.\u00a0 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/?page_id=581\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Sibyl&#8217;s Orb<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/full-width.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-581","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=581"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1534,"href":"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/581\/revisions\/1534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}