Ellis Scalorr's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

Ellis powered up the control panel and watched the portal machinery flicker. The old equipment hummed but wouldn't stabilize. He adjusted three different settings, but the portal gateway sputtered and died each time. His tail lashed in frustration. He needed to start smaller, learn the basics first. The repair droid beeped and rolled closer. Ellis studied its simple circuits and had an idea. If he could track this droid through short jumps, he'd understand portal coordinates better. He recalibrated the console for a test run. The gateway shimmered open just wide enough for the droid to pass through. Ellis grinned as the little machine rolled into the portal and appeared across the room exactly where he'd calculated. One successful test meant he was on the right path. But lab practice wasn't enough. He needed real skills from people who tracked actual targets. Ellis shut down the console and grabbed his gear. Somewhere on Nereidum, professionals taught advanced tracking methods. He had to find them. The rock pillar looked like any other formation on this dusty planet. Ellis circled it twice before spotting the entrance hidden in a crack between two stones. He squeezed through the gap and found stairs leading down. At the bottom, a door opened into a large underground chamber. Mercenaries sat at tables cleaning weapons and reviewing mission data. This was the place. Ellis approached a scarred veteran who looked up from a holographic map. The veteran studied Ellis for a moment, then nodded toward an empty seat. For the next three hours, Ellis learned how professionals tracked targets who used fake identities, hidden routes, and escape vehicles. When the session ended, Ellis climbed back up the stairs. He had the knowledge now. Portal technology plus tracking skills would make him unstoppable. Back at the laboratory, Ellis stared at the console readings. The portal tests drained too much power too fast. He walked outside and spotted a solar panel array stretched across the facility's roof. The panels caught the light and fed energy directly into the building's grid. Ellis climbed up and checked the connections. Half the panels sat offline. He rewired three damaged sections and watched the power levels climb. The array could supply enough energy for dozens of portal jumps now. Ellis climbed back down and returned to the control panel. The tracking methods from the underground guild, combined with stable portal jumps, would let him catch anyone. He activated the console and opened a gateway across the room. It held steady this time, bright and stable. Ellis stepped through and felt the shift in space around him. He appeared on the other side without error. His dream was becoming real. But stable portals weren't enough if targets jumped to other dimensions. Ellis needed a way to follow them anywhere. He went back outside and assembled a device from spare parts near the solar panels. The tracker featured copper coils wrapped around a double terminated quartz crystal. Ellis calibrated it to detect dimensional rifts and energy signatures. He activated the device and watched readings appear on its small screen. It picked up his own portal's energy trail from minutes ago. Ellis tested it three more times, opening gateways in different locations. The tracker found each one. Now he could follow targets even when they tried to hide between dimensions. Ellis carried the device inside and set it on the workbench. He had everything he needed now—tracking skills, power supply, stable portals, and dimensional detection. His first real hunt could begin soon.