Chapter 5: CasperCasper woke with a start, the message possessing his every sense.
“Crystal Bearers, unite! Your adherents await your return on the planet Decca in the Orion Subsystem of Bhārata, where you are invited for a gathering of your company not seen since the waning days of Lemuria! Long live the Empire!”
The face was kindly and middle-aged, the hair balding with tufts sticking unkemptly from around both ears. The posture was somewhat slumped and the clothing rumpled. The skin was dusky as though he were Hindustani, like Casper. The background was a jumble of scientific equipment, tubes, flasks, and beakers, piled in haphazard profusion behind the figure.
As quickly as it'd seized his senses, the broadcast ceased, the glow from his blue cherry crystal subsiding. The lump on his
