GAW4.odt

THE PAST -  4930

Only eight days had passed since the Kermac attacked Green Hell, trying to excavate and secure an ancient Saresii space ship, buried there for over a million standard years. Events that culminated in the revelation that the president of the United Stars himself was a Kermac Spy. Roy had been at the very center of these events and some of it was still hard to understand. He was just a teenager of a backwater world after all. Green Hell did not develop into one of the most dangerous planets in the known Universe on its own, but was the result of a bio weapon program of the Old Saresii. A sentient machine left behind had developed into its own entity and acted as a protector of the planet and its diverse and dangerous biosphere. The machine represented by the projection of a woman with the name Qaroniel wanted him, just like Uncle Sam to leave Green Hell, to learn and receive an education. When Cara, his Saresii friend and mentor offered him a chance to receive his college education on Sares Prime, everyone he knew told him this was a great honor and a rare opportunity. He promised to be good and the events since his last birthday had shown him how important education and how dangerous ignorance could be, but deep down there was  a voice of rebellion; perhaps not as stubborn as it was before, but still a hallmark of human teenagers since times begun; resented the fact that there were always others telling him how he had to act and what to do. wanted him to learn. Less than ten hours ago, Cara, Partner and Roy had boarded this exotic looking Saresii space ship at the space port of Harper's Junction. Not able to sleep after that strange nightmare he had. In that dream he saw his mother and his father in a cave like place, dirty and wearing rags and being prisoners of someone or something. While the Saresii Ship was quite fast, it still had to cross almost the entire Upward Sector and then cross into the Spinward Sector from Green Hell to Sares Prime. In terms of distance almost 35,000 light years and even though the Saresii Ship traveled through Quasi Space at the incredible speed of 42,875 times the speed of light, it would take over 298 days to reach the destination if his calculation was right. Yet Cara had told him they would make it in less than 20 days. In moments like this he knew he should have paid more attention in school and not skip the Neural Upload sessions like he did so often. He wondered how this would be accomplished. He took a cold shower and got dressed in his usual camo- pattern Bio seal suit. His quarters were spacious and everything had an alien feminine character, well everything except that huge black beast, still lying in the big bed. The animal was a true enigma, all he really knew of the beast came from truly ancient and obscure legends. Some suggested that it was the product of highly advanced civilization, today only remembered as the Dark Ones. The last Dark Ones supposedly fought the Celtest and the Old Saresii over a million years ago. His mind had a hard time believing that this fur covered, four legged animal was that old, but then no normal human could really relate or understand what a time span like this really meant. According to these legends he had heard so far, Partner was called a Fury Beast or if he paid credence to an Oromal bar tender, he had met at the space port of Harper's Junction, Partner was an Imperial War Hound. That his four legged friend was way more than it appeared was certain however. There seemed little that could wound or kill his friend, except energy siphoning devices. Partner could teleport, emit incredibly strong energy blasts from his small, always slightly glowing horns, eat pretty much anything and when he really needed help summoned thousands of similar Fury Beasts. The other beasts had appeared in the nick of time defeating the landing Kermac,only to disappear once the deed was done. Roy shared a psionic link, a strong bond with Partner and while his animal was quite intelligent, it was not sentient. They communicated with mental images and emotions, many of Partners images made no sense to Roy. For example when he tried to ask Partner where the other Fury Beasts came from or where they went. All he got were confusing images of swirling colors and symbolic conditions that looked like abstract paintings of a mad man. At least that was the closest way Roy could describe what he saw when he tried to formulate his question. He had ceased trying to understand his friend. All he know was that he loved this creature as much as anyone could love an animal. Partner raised his head, always knowing when Roy was thinking about it and a warm wave of affection came over Roy, transmitted by the mind of the animal as if to say. “I love you too.” Then  Partner blinked with his deep red glowing eyes and it was clear he tried to say. "Is it time to get up?" Roy went over and rubbed the animals belly. "Don't get up. It's still too early and there isn't really anything to do anyway, but I can't sleep. I had a weird dream. I see if I can scare up some breakfast." Partner sneezed, licked over Roy's arm and squeezed his eyes shut. “I said it before, you know. I bet you are the laziest sleepy beast of them all. Whoever owned you before wanted some really tough beast and all he got was a big black cuddle monster." He gave his Pet a hug  and buried his face in the dry, warm fur. “I sure glad I have you, though.” Partner grunted deeply satisfied and then sneezed. Roy was certain now Partner was completely content. So he let it sleep an then went to the exit. The door of this bubble shaped room without any straight walls or sharp corners, was a five leaf iris and it made a turning motion and chirping sound as it opened. The corridor behind his door had the  cross section of an egg shaped oval and the walls were made of a smooth white plastic like mirror smooth and translucent material. A a soft bluish light shining without revealing a real source behind the material gave it all a clinical, antiseptic atmosphere. Cara had shown him to his quarters as they left Harper's Junction yesterday, so far he had seen little else of the ship. Not knowing which direction to go he hesitated for a moment and then simply went to the right. It didn't take long and he ran into one of the ships crew, a long legged, very female shaped Saresii wearing a white cat suit, with fine black lines down the sides. Her ample chest was clearly defined underneath that shinny white material and on top of her left boob the Union Flag, while a series of alien writing on the right side most likely identified her name. If it was a her of course, despite the fact she looked like a fashion model with a killer body, long shiny black hair and a beautiful face with large eyes and voluptuous lips; she could very well be a Saresii male. From what he learned from Cara there were no visual differences." She smiled at him "Hello Mr. Masters. I am Doctor Seniie and the CMO of this vessel. I am surprised to see you up at this hour." "Nice to meet you Doc. I had a nightmare and could not sleep so I decided to find the galley and some breakfast and then look around a little,if that is okay of course." "Of course, there are no areas of this ship that are restricted to you, this isn't a Union War ship. There are verbal accessible serve-matics in your quarters able to provide you with a wide variety of breakfast choices and there is a staffed Galley on Deck three. Easy to find if you take the next IST and tell it where you want to go." "I suspected there would be Serve Matics, but I wanted to walk a little." "Why don't you accompany me to Sick Bay. I always begin my shift with a good cup of Terran coffee and a few donuts. I can't stand this weak Saresii Tea we supposed to love." "A doughnut doesn't sound to bad. Got any Boston creme?" "I am sure the Serve Matic can print one if we don't." Roy changed direction and followed the medical officer and decided she had to be female. No man would have such a nice behind. The doctor sighed and then said. "Cara told me you did not have much exposure to other Union members on Green Hell, and that the Saresii society might be a little challenging for you to get used too, but I have to disappoint you. I am a male Saresii." Roy blushed and remembered that Saresii were all psionic gifted and almost all of them were Telepaths. "I am sorry for..." "Don't be sorry and don't worry we don't dig. That means we won't go further than the open surface thoughts almost all beings transmit, it's almost like hearing a spoken conversation to someone with ears. Going beyond that is against the law and we take our Union Psi laws very serious.” “I know, my mother is...I mean she was a Telepath and she too spoke about these laws and always respected them. I know what digging means. She didn't do it either.” The CMO gave him a sad smile. “Yes, Cara told me about that as well. From Phantas, right? I mean your mother was from that world, was she not?” “Yes, she was.” “Yes the Phantas enigma. Terran Settlers there developed strong Psionic talents over the almost 2000 years of Colony history and only recently we discovered that it was the pollen of a local plant that caused the mutation. Actually the pollen are somewhat akin to the dust pods of the Fire Nettle Bushes, producing the famous Calipherm that comes from your world.” “I didn't know that.” The doctor made a gesture down his body. “If you are curious about Saresii and our ways. I don't mind answering your questions." "How is it you have female hips then and fill out that skin tight thing..without..uhm.." "We do this for a very long time and perfected it, it is still sort of a disguise but after almost 950,000 years  it is very natural to us. Then there are Saresii Body-Shapers, these machines able to re-arrange the molecules of your bodies in many shapes." "Ah that explains why you are all tall legged super beauties." "Well that, careful dieting and there are genetic changes that occurred both natural and assisted that somewhat blur the external visual gender differences, that are more pronounced in the average Terran Human of course. We have a Body shaper in Sickbay and and if you want you can try it too." "Maybe some other time. Right now I am sort of okay with what I got and all that." "But maybe we could look into your Nightmare, only if you want, but nightmares often have psychosomatic causes and that is sort of a Saresii specialty." They reached a IST tube and stepped in. The Saresii Doctor asked the System for Sickbay and Roy said. "Sure I don't mind that, since it was such a weird dream. You do tell me before you do any Psycho Surgery right?" "I wouldn't perform it on anyone if my life depended on it. I am very much against these procedures." "I thought you Saresii invented it." "We did, a very long time ago like so many other things but it was the Terrans who took it to a whole new level and it is a very controversial issue among the Medical professionals all over our Union. I belong to a growing group of physicians all over the Union, trying to outlaw it completely. I simply abhor the fact that another person decides what personality a person should have." The IST car stopped and released them into a corridor looking exactly like the one they had left, except it was wider. They did not have to go far and reached a transparent iris door with the standard Union symbol for medical services on it, a blue star like cross with a snake in the middle. The door opened and the Doctor led him into bright office in a light blue and white color scheme and gestured towards a visitor chair. "Make yourself at home while I get the coffee going." He pointed to a blue and chrome contraption built into the wall. "This is the Serve-Matic. Check if they o have that Boston creme thing and order two. I like to try one as well." "Aren't you going to use it for the Coffee?" "Oh no, I have a an old Terran Coffee machine. With real ground coffee. There is no Serve-Matic I have found so far, that can reproduce the real aroma of Coffee. A lot of the magic of this wonderful Terran beverage gets lost when it comes out of a replicator, you'll see." Roy turned to the artistic shaped Serve-Matic. "System, do you have Boston creme Donuts?" The blue field turned red. "No such item on file, one moment please. Accessing GalNet. 233 Replication Files found." "Check if they have Dunkin Donuts." That was Ranger Solomon's favorite brand and Melissa's parents had a Dunkin Donuts dedicated Replicator in their Restaurant. "Selection accepted, Molecule pattern downloading...Processing," Behind the transparent section of the Replicator, the Molecule printing arm started spinning and begun to print the Donuts molecule layer by molecule layer. It spun so fast no human eye could possibly see it but underneath he could see the donuts grow. Roy always loved to watch Food printers. Suddenly there was a heavenly invigorating scent in the air followed by a happy gargling sound. Of course he knew coffee and how it smelled, but this was different. He instantly understood what the doctor meant, Serv-Matics did not produce any aromas while making things. He turned and saw the doctor filling two mugs from a bulbous carafe and said. "Milk, Sugar?" "Uncle Sam drinks it black. So I try it that way first." "Good choice." For a small while the didn't say anything. Eating the fresh donuts and the bitter, hot oh so delicious coffee. For the moment the world was perfect for both of them. The doctor finished his donut. "They are my favorite kind from now on." "And I will never think of Coffee the same way. This stuff is the Whamo." The Doctor got up and Roy wondered why a man with a set of such nice breasts would not try to fondle..he pushed the thoughts away and was surprised by them. He hoped he hadn't noticed them. The doctor had noticed and said with an impish smile. "I would not get done anything all day, that's why." The Doctor still grinned and took a small device from a shelf behind him. "I am going to perform a basic health scan first and then check your cerebral activities for any abnormalities first. Simply to make sure your Nightmares are not caused by any physical condition." Roy nodded."I never had any nightmares before and most certainly not of my parents sitting in a prison like cave with rags." The doctor waved the device over Roy and raised an eyebrow. "Are you able to remember your dream in details?" While three dimensional bubbles popped silently into existence floating above the doctors desk, showing images of his brain and displaying neural activities in pulsating colored patterns while others filled with data and graphs, he said. “Very much so, every detail. They were in a cave like room, with metal bars on the open side. There were nine others with them, six humans, two Pan Sarans and one Klack. All wore tattered and ripped Uniforms. The Klack had a name tag with the name H'thkjik." He looked at his scanner. "Physically you are a picture of human health, but your Pineal Gland is very active, and it appears your HPI has increased to by about 100 points from what your CITI said you had while you were tested at first School day. Perhaps a side effect of you strolling outside in the Jungles all day." The Doctor still looked at his device and Roy said. "Anything I need to worry about?" The Medic looked up, his face was unreadable as he said. "No not at all. You have Phantas DNA after all, and the colonists from there are known to develop and grow Psionic abilities. I suggest you have them checked every few years or so. If they ever go beyond 150 you might start developing telepathic abilities yourself, but I would like to do a few more tests, if that nightmare ever re-occurs. I just checked the crew manifest of that explorer and there indeed was a Klack biologist aboard named H'thkjik. " Just then Cara came in and closed her eyes while she inhaled. "They may be war loving barbarians, those Terrans, but nothing compares to their Coffee." The doctor gestured to the coffee maker and said. "Help yourself,I made a whole pot." She smiled at Roy and and filled a mug. "I think this stuff is the real reason we Saresii joined the Union." Roy agreed. "I never had any coffee like this." He too was glad as the doctor refilled his mug. She sat down and said."You are up bright and early?" He told her the same story about his nightmare and the doctor pointed at the scanner bubbles and said. "As I said, nothing to worry about but as I told Roy if it occurs again I would to run a Meissner – Norrlu test." She glanced at it and then at the doctor and Roy had the feeling they had a psionic conversation and said aloud. "That would be advisable." To Roy she said, "It was rude of us and looks deceiving, but the psionic way of conversation is simply faster and comes natural to us." She looked directly at Roy. "You can trust the diagnosis of our CMO, he is very good  ,but we have, well he has a theory about your nightmare and its cause" Roy straightened in the seat. "Should I not know about it?" She sighed. "We didn't want to cause you emotional distress, but your mother was psionic gifted and that could have been a telepathic residue projection when she died and it finally made its way to your mind. Psionics occur on a different level of space so to speak and distances sometimes mean little. The Kermac make extensive use of so called Long Range Telepaths, able to send messages across many thousand light years. We Saresii know of individuals of our kind who develop similar abilities. The Leedei use Psionic technology that bridges thousands of light years. Things like this are very rare but not unprecedented, especially among next of kin." Roy frowned. "I actually had a notion it might be something like that." The doctor leaned forward. "The Meissner-Norrlu Test is made by a device that is basically a psionic energy detector that searches for the source of psionic induced dreams, but it works only when it occurs or very shortly after. I wish we had access to a Leedei Tele-Psi.” Cara put her cup down. “A Tele Psi?” “The Leedei are a very recent Union member and even more advanced than we Saresii when it comes to Psi Tech and they have a device able to detect Psionic signatures and activities over great distances.” Roy only listened halfway as the possibility that his now dead mother had sent out psionic messages to him was quite unnerving and did affect him emotionally more than he thought it would. He quickly took a large sip of coffee to fight the knot in his throat and said. "I guess sometimes it is better if a patient doesn't know all the details. I am sorry." She put her hand on his and said. "You are among friends, even if some of us are weird Cross Dressers in your mind." Roy shook his head. "I didn't think like that. It's just not so easy to understand. I mean the Doctor looks almost as good as you and if he didn't tell me, I never guessed." The doctor crossed his arms and gave Roy a smoldering look. "Gee, thanks Roy, almost as good? I spend a good hour this morning on make up." then he laughed. "I am just kidding of course, we are all a little jealous of Cara, because she is blessed with her looks all natural." Cara actually blushed and that made her even more attractive and a little more human in Roy's eyes. She said, clearing her throat. "Your reaction is quite normal for any member of the Terran Human race as the gender roles and appearances are clearly defined. We Saresii have been the same way, but that was a long time ago." Roy said."I read up on Saresii before I went to bed." Cara got up. "Care to accompany me to the bridge. I want to introduce you to the Captain." Roy thanked the doctor for the coffee and the donuts and got up, following Cara. Outside he said. "What I wanted to ask is, how can we make the trip so fast? Would it not take over a year to get to Sares, unless we take a train?" "We going to take the HHW once we reach Blue Moon." "The HHW?" She stopped at the IST and called for a transport and then said to Roy. "You never heard of the Hyper High Way connections between Core worlds?" Cara and Roy stepped into the IST and he said with a sheepish grin. "I wasn't the most observant student in school." "You do know the difference between ISAH drives and Hyper Jumps right?" "Not exactly. I know that Hyper Jumping was a trans light technology of the Sarans before Dr. Isah discovered the Isah Drive and Quasi Space." "Hyper Jumping as it was done before the ISAH drive technology, was very dangerous, unreliable and limited to jump from gravity well to gravity well. System hopping it was called. You may want to read up on the details if you are interested, but the general idea is that regular ISAH Engines have certain limits, either distance or speed. The faster you push an ISAH engine across Quasi Space the shorter the distance can be bridged. Hyper space Jumps are technically unlimited in distance and almost instantaneous but need gravity wells and hitting them precise is absolute vital. Normal Hyper Jumps could only be made from Star System to Star System. Now our Terran Friends at SII developed so called Hyper Highways with Gates in regular intervals, making Hyper Jumping very fast and very safe and each jump bridges 2000 light years.” She sighed. “Don't ask me how it works exactly. There are books on the subject but there are aspects SII keeps secret, just as they keep the exact workings of Space Trains and GalNet to themselves.” Roy had listened and said. “Now that you mention it, I think I did hear Maria talk about these once or twice or so.” “The HHW net is relative new and only Core Worlds are connected so far. Those gates are humongous, big enough for the Devi and it takes a while to built them, so that is why we fly to Blue Moon, from there we can access the HHW and be at Sares Gate in no time.” The IST had reached its destination, the door opened and in the same moment a terrible jolt lifted them of their feet, throwing Roy against the wall. Cara fared no better colliding with her shoulder against the door frame. Red lights replaced the bluish illumination and a very male voice repeated the phrase: Red Alert, Red Alert.." --””_- Roy's uncanny sense of danger, warned him less than a heart beat of impeding danger. However it did not give him enough time to consciously react other than being able to brace himself; his sense never told him what the nature of the danger was; he only knew the ship was in danger and that he could tell even without his danger sense. The blinking red lights and the voice calling everyone to General Quarters made that very obvious. He checked on Cara. She was rattled and even looked scared for a moment, but seemed unharmed. "Are you okay?" She nodded as he helped her up. "Yes I think so, I just bruised my shoulder." "Do you need medical attention?” “Not right now.” “Do you know by your telepathic powers what is happening and what we are supposed to do?" She closed her eyes for a moment and then said. "We are under attack., Kermac and Nogoll ships approaching the Kappa Andromedae System, where we had a planned fuel stop." Her face showed distress. "We are in no imminent danger, as we just got a Wolfcraft escort but the system is home to the Bellebees. I hope there are enough assets in place to defend them." Roy remembered something about the Bellebees, if he recalled correctly they were some sort of gas bag life forms living on a Jovian planet. Because they shared some common traits with the Lightning dragons of Green Hell, they had been a life form studied and mentioned by his mother on several occasions, yet he had paid even less attention to his mother than he had at school. Cara pointed down the corridor. "We should return to our quarters. This ship has gone to General Quarters and we would only be in the way..." she stopped in mid movement, put her left index finger to her temple and then nodded to whatever conversation she was listening to and then said to Roy. "...but the Captain just told me that he wants us on the bridge." Roy grunted under his breath. "I wish you guys would use normal intercom or something. If this is any indication what awaits me on Sares...” Cara didn't respond, but simply smiled and led him to a more solid looking Iris door that opened and gave them access to the bridge. The Saresii bridge reminded Roy of a fancy hair salon, like the one Maria liked at the main concourse of Ant Hill and not the bridge of a space ship. Nine Saresii beauties looking very much alike and only individually identifiable by minute differences you had to look for very closely, sat in reclined in comfortable bubbly looking furniture. Flimsy semi transparent command consoles floated before them. In the central located recliner sat the first blonde Saresii he seen so far. Her skin color was more like Roy's and her eyes weren't as big nor purple as most Saresii seemed to have. She was the only one not wearing a pastel colored uniform but hers was solid black, except for a white triangular bib like lapel. She turned with a smile and said. "No reason for alarm. Those cursed Paper Faces caught us off guard, but our shield went up in time. The Kermac have no time for us now. Wolfcrafts tearing them to scrap.” Cara said. "The Bellebees!" The Captain sighed and said. "I wish we had something to fight with but this is a Saresii Vessel designated as a Union Explorer, we have no weapons." The Captain pointed to the main viewer. "But no worries, neither the Kermac nor the Nogoll brought enough assets to get even close to our thinker friends. We just wait, watch the fireworks and then go for our planned top up." The Captain got up and greeted Roy. "I am Captain Loran Watson, I wanted to welcome you aboard earlier but you seemed tired and I was a tad busy." Somewhat stunned about the relaxed acting Captain, despite the Red Alert lights and the attack, Roy shook the presented hand and said. "Thank you Ma'am." "Why don't you have a seat, Mr. Masters. It isn't every day you can watch a space battle from a front row seat." Roy sat down in a chair that inflated out of the floor following a gestured command of the Captain. One of the Saresii officers below the main viewer said. "The Nogoll are in range of the Station  Batteries soon and the 45th fleet just dropped out of Quasi. Not that there is much left, the Wolfcrafts launched by System defense have already destroyed many of the Intruders." Cara rubbed her arm. "We should still worry about the Kermac able to strike so deep into Union Territory." Roy watched as Union Battle Ships fired on T shaped ships and each salvo completely obliterated an enemy vessel. It wasn't a space battle, it was slaughter. The computronic enhanced images, allowing  human eyes to follow the events in deep space supported by the spoken commands and reports pouring out of field speakers showed in great detail how brutal and intense war was, even in space. A huge wedge shaped Union Battle ship with glowing ISAH pods and shimmering purple shields, appeared unfazed by the withering fire received by four T cruisers. Compared to the size of the Union ship the 800 meter Kermac ships looked small. Dome shaped objects appeared on the smooth armor and the Saresii captain leaned forward. “That is the USS Vindicator  and about to fire a broad side.” Bright purple flashes emitted from those domes and dozens of brilliant blooms of energy engulfed the Kermac ships in rapid succession. Only glowing twisted pieces of debris remained, where a heart beat earlier Kermac war ships were. While he was there when the Kermac attempted to destroy his home world and this incident being the cause for this war; there was a part in him who felt sorry for the crews of these ships that turned into brief and bright miniature suns every time trans locator bombs detonated deep inside their hulls. It was this part of him that now understood why the Kermac tried to excavate the old Saresii ship and gain the secret of Translocator cannons. This Union weapon, technically the development of a far advanced civilization, the Tech Level 11 Celtest transmitted Anti Matter Bombs at the time of explosion via a different state of space and time, only to instantly and without any time loss re materialize inside ship hulls and inside shields. No matter how strong or though an opponents shields and armor were, if an antimatter bomb exploded inside their engines or their bridge, the ship was instantly doomed and destroyed. Translocator Cannon technology ensured Union supremacy ever since Richard Stahl returned from his exile, bringing the secret of this terrible weapon along,  over 1500 years ago. He also realized how utterly important it was to guard that secret and keep it out of the hands of the hands of Union enemies as long as possible. Cara still rubbing her sore shoulder said to him. "You are a wise young man." "With you I don't mind, but I wish I could think without everyone and their uncles listening in what I am thinking." "Once we are on Sares we going to take care of that. You get a fine Saresii shield and the necessary training how to use it. I told you before we take the PSI laws very serious and we don't pry.” The Captain said. "There goes the last one. Fleet didn't even bother sending boarding units or surrender messages." There was a tone of approval and joy in the Captain's voice. "Science, scan for survivors anyway just to make sure they got every last one of those bastards." Cara whispered. "He's half Terran and his father's side is the dominant one." The Captain turned and said. “I doubt the Union would be what it is today without Terra. Our enemies respect the Union, but they fear Terrans.” Cara gave the Captain a knowing look.”It was a wise decision Sares became Union indeed.” The lights of Red Alert faded and the Bridge was lit in the indirect bluish light from the translucent white walls. The Captain sighed. "Ah that's better. Cara we are going to stay a little longer at Belle Station just to make sure our shields are fine and check for micro damage. I don't want to go on the Jump with any leakages or tech problems." "How long do you think are we going to be there?" She asked. The Captain shrugged. "Depends on what they find but I doubt it will last longer than three days." Cara turned to Roy and said. "That's not so bad. It will give you a chance to go down to Planet Humongous and visit one of the most unusual Union Member species, the Bellebees." -""- Roy had learned that the ship he was on was designated as a Saresii Research Ship and operated under charter of the Science Council. It was a Henjiitah Class cruiser and 600 meters long. It had the outer appearance of an elongated bulbous plant leaf and reminded him of the thick water filled fleshy leaves of the Glow bush. The ship was not green however but had an iridescent color of pearly pale orange. The ship was called the Gayimeera and since it was not a Union Fleet unit it did not carry the USS prefix and only the Captain was a Union Fleet officer, the rest were members of the Science Council explorer corps. The Gayimeera approached a tremendous space station, and passed through force field membranes into a hangar where Union Battle ships found room to spare. The Gayimeera appeared tiny and like an exotic bird compared to the massive Union Battle ship that was serviced in the next berth. Cara explained to him that this was a Gigamon Station and it had a diameter of 36 kilometers. Roy could not really envision anything that big man made, especially after they had debarked and he stood on a slide belt looking up a 3500 meter Uni Design Battle ship, it was bigger than the highest mountain on Green Hell. It blew his mind when Cara said that this was only one of sixteen battleships currently serviced and that the station had room for two hundred at the same time. Only Partner remained pretty much unimpressed and sat behind him on the Slide-belt, enjoying the ride. A green uniformed Klack apologized for checking their CITIs and explained that this was a procedure required due to the current war condition. Cara stopped for a moment as if to orient herself and Roy could not blame her, They had entered what was called the outer Ring Concourse and according to a sign he spotted, it went all the way around the stations equator for almost 114 kilometers. Slide-ways, People movers, Ride Bots, Taxis and Inter-station transports moved troves of beings in both directions. There were civilians, but far and few between. Union Fleet black was predominant, perhaps the crew of the battle ship getting shore leave explained the dense crowds. Cara pointed to the left. "I booked us rooms at the Sheraton. There we can get settled.  While I am here I might as well report in. In the mean time you are free to explore the station if you like. Tomorrow we go down to Humongous ,where I like to introduce you to a friend of mine, it is eager to meet you." She was technically his guardian and he promised Uncle Sam to behave and take the the great and rare opportunity to go to college on Sares. While he really liked Cara, he wasn't so sure he would enjoy Sares, if the ship was any indication of the culture he was about to experience. "Sure sounds like a plan.” He said aloud and added, "Is there some sort of Saresii outpost here?" She approached a Taxi stand and said. "No, we are full Union members there aren't any Saresii embassies or outposts. I was ordered to take you to Sares, however I am still a PSI Corps officer and there is a field office here, it is common practice for an operative to report in to a local post." She hired a larger open Taxi that also allowed room for Partner. Roy followed his big animal onto the hovering transport flyer and said. "Who ordered you to do that?" "You have an important appointment with the Wurgus on Pluribus and since I care about you, Command decided that I accompany you to Sares and pick you up from there for the Wurgus meeting. That was our original plan, even before  all these events as you recall." He realized she would not be there on Sares while he was going to College there. "Where will I stay? I don't know anyone." "My parents have eagerly offered to take you in. No worries you feel at home there in no time." -""- Cara was gone to report to whoever she had to go. Roy had taken a long shower in the hotel room and was now  with Partner outside the Hotel and wondered what he actually wanted to see or explore. The station was big and impressive and certainly had great recreation facilities but nothing really attracted him. He felt a lit forlorn and a wave of homesickness came over him. He longed to be outside in his beloved jungles. Union installations always appeared clean and orderly and there was rarely anything green. A group of teenagers perhaps his age spotted him. They were all dressed in something like Space suit combinations. One of them came over in a relaxed manner and grinned with an open friendly face. "I'm Sobyr and I noticed your side arm and simply had to get a closer look, its a TKU 9 right?" "No, it's a TKU 12 and I am Roy by the way." The boy was about his age from the looks of it perhaps ten centimeters shorter. He had a bright blue skin and coppery hair. Sobyr turned to the other four beings and said. "That Dirtsider carries a genuine T12, how whamo is that?" To Roy he said. "Don't take offense calling ya a Dirtsider. It's how we Insiders call pretty much anyone not from Belle Station." "No worries, I wasn't ." The open way the other guy acted appealed to him. The other four also came closer. There was one that looked like a lizard, it had bright green skin. It was not a Shiss  as it had neither four arms, nor those leathery wings. The lizard being had a long, agile moving tail and was taller than the others, it had muscular hind legs. Then there was a cute olive skinned beauty with black shimmering hair cut to a chin length bob and an adorable upward pointing nose. The third had an all chrome skin and looked like an android and Roy wondered if he was an X101 or a Stellaris. He didn't know how to tell the difference, but the silvery guy was clearly not an adult. The final member of the group was the most alien and had the appearance of a Burrow Digger centipede keeping about one third of its body upright. Unlike the the centipede life forms of Green Hell, the upright half lacked the many small feet the rest of the body had., instead there were two quite human proportioned arms but with hands of only two very long fingers tapering in sharp claws and a similar long thumb. The face of the alien being was split horizontally and vertically almost like a pie and each section had a bulbous red pupil less eye. The blue skinned teen said. "You and your silent huge friend look lost. We know this station like no one else. Just tell us where you want to go and we can get you there.” Roy shrugged. "Not really lost, I have just no clue what do do. The ship I came with has a three day stop over and I am supposed to keep myself busy until we go on to Sares." "Why don't you hang with us until then? Maybe I start by introducing us to you.” The blue skinned guy took a step back and pointed his flat hand at the girl and said. "That lovely sheila here is Aat Amenemhat. Her family is from Saran and her father is the Station Security Chief. Then we have Ncchsi, she is a Maggi-Suron all the way from the Spinward Sector, her mother runs the Med Center here. Alejandro Rivera is a Stellaris , just got his new skin yesterday and is probably the only Stellaris insisting to be Puerto Rican." The chrome skinned teen said. "I am not the only one, my family roots are from Puerto Rico Terra and my dad says that is very special. We Stellaris are made of human DNA after all and ours came from there." Sobyr smiled and then pointed his hand at the centipede. "Finally meet Pictfram. Perhaps he is the first Xiptin you talk to,as they have joined the Union only very recently." Finally Sobyr tapped his thumb against his own chest and said with a sigh. "Yes I am Thauran and what makes matters worse of a Noble family but don't let that scare you off. “ Roy greeted them all and said. "I am Roy Masters from Green Hell and that is Partner, he isn't really sentient but a very smart pet. He's a Fury Beast." The Xiptin crawled closer to Partner and its truly alien face split four ways as he said. "It is a magnificent animal and I heard lot of stories of Green Hell. From what I have seen it must be paradise with wonderful mud pits." Roy could not believe his ears. "There was a member of a species he had never even heard off, saying nice things about Green Hell. "There is a stretch of many square miles of bogs and mud pits not so far to the east to where I used to live." The Xiptin's voice did not seem to fit the being, it sounded almost like a singing voice of a trained opera singer and the centipede intoned what he said in a melodic way. "We only have a Mud tub in our home here and would love to dig into a real deep bob, but then I probably would not survive the competition that resides in those mud pits of your planet." Roy actually smiled from ear to ear now and said. "Green Hell is dangerous yes, but if you don't disturb the balance and go with the flow instead against it, I am sure I could find you a bog you could enjoy." The Saran girl had a fine smile and held up her PDD. "Guys they declared the System open again. Let's go out there before the professionals pick all the good stuff." Sobyr nodded and said to Roy. "Want to come along?" "Sure, it isn't anything illegal right?" Sobyr made an insulted face, "Her father is the security chief, mine is the Station Commander. We might not always be angels Roy, but this is a Union Military installation and not a Civilian world. Even the world Illegal is illegal here." The Stellaris said. "Marines are the police here." Roy apologized. "I am sorry, I just promised to stay out of trouble and this is pretty much my first time off planet. Yes I would love to tag along." Sobyr had long lost his frown and smiled again. "It's all good. Just follow us. We need to get you an EVA suit as well." -""- Roy and Partner followed the group to a large Inter Station transport access point and they all boarded the next tube car. There was plenty room for them all. The Lizard said. "I think we need to tell Roy what it is we we are going to do." Alejandro agreed with a nod and said. "There was a space battle just a few hours ago and the system was just declared save, meaning open for civilian and commercial traffic. The fleet is certain all enemies are either gone or destroyed.” Sobyr made a wide gesture with both of his arms. “We are born and raised on this station, and there is only so much to do, even on a big one like this. So we  are taking our Bison out there and see if we can scavenge some debris. Space ship metal scrap is valuable and sells good on our Xchange." Aat, the Saran girl sat down and crossed her legs while looking up from underneath her black bangs. "While there weren't any space battles in this system before, we think we can find us some debris and junk.” Alejandro the chrome skinned Stellaris added. “They say sometimes you can find even artifacts and things still good to use. Space law allows salvaging and anything floating out there is free for the taking . A few hundred Credits extra isn't so bad you know." Roy nodded. "I saw part of the battle as we came in, and I sure could use a few extra credits, but I never been outside in a space suit." Pictfram spread his thin arms. "It took me quite a bit to get used to  EVA, but you humans seem to have a natural skill for it. We going to show you the basics and you be as good as we all are by tonight." Sobyr agreed. "The suits will do most of it and the rest is like diving in a real big ocean." According to Sobyr they where almost at the bottom of the Space station now after the ride with the IST. Pictfram said. “When you saw the station from the outside you might have noticed a green glowing ball all the way on the bottom of it, right?” “Yes I did and if I recall correctly from school I think it is the Gravo Anchor that keeps the station where it is.” The centipede made his four way split face move in a quite disturbing fashion and said. “Yes and we are just 600 meter above it. This part is called the Stations basement and that is where all the private storage bays and hangars are.” Alejandro brushed a key card over a locked door and said. “This is a small docking bay we use.” What Alejandro called a small docking bay was to Roy still a very big cavernous room and in its center stood an old rugged, tough looking boxy shaped and somewhat ugly space ship. Roy estimated it to be perhaps sixty meters long and twenty high and wide. It had large flexible mechanical manipulator arms attached underneath the ships cockpit windows. The Stellaris opened the boarding ramp. "All aboard, the Calypso. We are leaving soon." Roy made wide eyes. "You guys have a space ship of your own?" Passing by Roy to climb aboard the Saran girl said. "It is only a very old surplus Long Range Bison. It was used by the engineers who built the station. It's almost 300 years old. We restored it a little." Alejandro was next climbing in. "It has ISAHs but only for in-system flights. It can't go FTL. Maybe you know that by law any Ship with a Union registration able to go TL must be piloted by someone who has passed the federal Ship master test. But no one would even  call a brand new Bison a ship, this is more like a space boat." Nosy as he was Partner stomped right on in and Sobyr made an inviting gesture. "You're next unless you changed your mind." Roy went over the short belly ramp into a small cargo hold. Sobyr right behind him said. "No it isn't a ship officially but to us it's the Devastator. Pictfram was all excited and wiggled his long fingers and his tail."Roy, your Partner beast has licked over my tail pincers, they are very poisonous. We need t get it to a Vet right away." Roy received nothing but friendly excitement and happiness from Partner ."Not to worry Pictfram, he can eat and swallow pretty much everything and poisons won't harm him. When Partner licked you he meant to express that he likes you." "What an amazing life form, indeed." Partner now felt even more happy as he was the center of attention and the Saran girl started to pet him. He raised his head so she could scratch his throat. She coed."Oh isn't he adorable and so soft." Roy grunted. "Keep that up and you need a bigger cargo hold, for him swelling with pride." Alejandro and Sobyr had climbed up a metal ladder with railings and sat behind the controls of a small command deck. Ncchsi held out a space suit and said. "This should fit you. We don't have an auto dresser but you can use our tiny hygiene cell to change." Alejandro said. "It's a good one, Roy. A genuine SII – EVA Engineer 7. Father insisted we had all our suits checked by the Suit Technician before he allowed us to use them." Roy thanked them and went to get changed. Somehow his mood has improved greatly. This unexpected little adventure and these five beings he felt were well on their way to become friends of his was of course the reason. He also looked forward to go EVA and wondered how it would be. -""- They were almost 4 light hours from the station and near the orbit of the second most distant planet of the Kappa Andromedae system. So far their external cargo bay held a few pieces of twisted metal scrap, collected with the manipulators, and now according to Sobyr they were approaching  the area of the main engagement. Out here in the small ship Roy got a real sense how big space really was and to find some scrap was actually not that easy. Especially since the little bison had only the most rudiment sensors. Roy didn't mind. He learned lot about the Xiptin, the Sarans and how it was for teenagers to grow up on a space station. In turn he had shared with them how it was to be on Green Hell and of course they asked him about the most recent events as they knew Green Hell was at the center of the reasons for the war after all. The most reliable sensor they had were actually Alejandro's eyes. His engineered eyes could see further and make out things in space no normal human eye could. He interrupted Ncchsi who was just about done explaining Roy the features of the Space suit. "Sobyr drop us to 20 km/sec and turn a little towards Galactic North and about five dots up on the Z axis. I think I saw a reflection, high albedo." It became quiet in the small craft and everyone was gripped by a sense of anticipation, even Roy. After a few minutes, Sobyr the Thauran teen said. "I don't know how you do it but I got a substantial piece of mass on the scanner now." Alejandro leaned forward and was starring out the forward view port. "It's a big section of a T cruiser, the T bar is gone but most of the forward section is still there." After about six or seven minutes of more silence, Sobyr said. "I read some very faint energies." Roy asked "Could there be still alive Kermac Warriors?" Sobyr actually turned and said. "Highly unlikely, I can see the thing now. There is a gaping hole where the bridge was and engineering complete with life support is completely gone. Besides we don't have life sensors, but if we can tow that thing to the station we might get enough credits to afford a Base Set." Roy went back to the Hygiene room and detached his PDD from the Bio seal suit he had left there and then with it climbed up to Sobyr. "This is a SII Science Scanner with PDD function. My mother gave it to me before she left. I don't think it has a terrible good range but it has the finest sensors you can fit into a hand-held, according to her at least." Alejandro took it. "And you've been jealous of our Bison . "That's a genuine Science Corps – Mark 16. Sell it and you could afford a working Surplus Bison for sure." He activated the thing and played with the controls ."Let's see the sensing distance can be increased by reducing sensitivity. To do that activate Sensor Program GS..." The rest of his sentence he mumbled as he started to adjust the programming of the device. Xiptin raised more of his body of the ground and demonstrated just how long his usual curved and coiled body really was and looked over the shoulder of Alejandro without using the ladder. "Our Stellaris is a genuine Science Nerd. He probably dreams about your gadget ten weeks after you're gone and on Sares." Alejandro protested without taking his eyes of the Scanner. "That is simply not true, nine weeks max." The chrome skin covered Stellaris voice trailed of again and then he said. "Well I can't detect any life, but there are several active energy sources, but it appears to be  nothing bigger than an emergency computronic or emergency lighting." Sobyr pulled up the soft transparent hood from his helmet collar and said. "Well let's check it out before the professional Salvagers come and take it from us. Possession is the name of this game" Then he closed the helmet and the thing became a rigid bubble. They divided the cargo hold with an energy curtain and Roy said to Partner. Sorry you got to stay behind. There isn't a spacesuit that fits you." Partner blinked, then sneezed and the emotions he got from Partner were a little confused but he sat down on his hind legs. Xiptin patted the beasts side. "No worry I keep you company as someone has to stay behind in the ship and that is me this time." Roy also folded his helmet up and he could feel his own pulse rate go up as Sobyr opened the cargo bay doors. The Thauran was the first to push himself out and Roy took a deep breath and then pushed off right after the Girl. Space seen through a view port was spectacular, but seeing it through a refraction free space suit helmet was overwhelming and no word in Roy's vocabulary could describe what he saw, it was so completely different to any experience he had before. Even sitting on the balcony bubble of the Silver Swan. His mind had lost all sense of up and down and even though a short burst of his suit thrusters had accelerated him towards the ominous dark shape only noticeable because it blocked out starlight behind it he had the distinct feeling as if he would fall, but he had no idea if he was falling up or down. His stomach felt very queasy and he had to swallow hard to keep it down, but as he neared the shape he could now see details inside the razor sharp circle of light from his chest mounted lamp, he forgot about his stomach and he no longer felt sick. He saw a twisted and torn hole in an otherwise smooth metal surface. Alejandro, only wearing a thruster pack as this was the environment his kind was designed for shot past him and so did the lizard. They had reached the hole, Roy was still about 20 meters away as he watched Sobyr use the hull breach to enter the wreck. Suddenly he felt imminent danger. His unusual awareness made his entire body tingle and he somehow knew they weren't alone. The sudden feeling made him touch the thruster controls, the wreck became bigger and way too fast. He remembered the instructions they had given him and pulled the joystick to activate the counter thrusters. Breaking speed so rapidly that he banged his forehead against the helmet plate and then he flew backwards away from the wreck. He noticed something black and ominous right next to him,keeping perfect pace with his noob attempts to fly a space suit. He also noticed the last of his new friends had disappeared inside the wreck. Finally he managed to stop his momentum into a slow drift, then tried to pull his TKU but the darn weapon would not come out of the holster. A red light he never seen before blinked at its butt. The light of his chest lamp illuminated a big black four legged beast with fangs and glowing white horns. Only now he calmed down enough to notice the waves of excited emotions,Partner was floating right there without any protection, moisture and traces of atmosphere had coated the animals coarse neck fur with ice Neither the deadly radiation of deep space nor the frigid airless conditions fazed his friend. "I should have known that you don't need a space suit." His voice rang hollow in his helmet, but he did not really need words to communicate with his friend. Still the fine hair on Roy's back were standing on end giving him goosebumps. The feeling of something or someone hostile had not subsided. His own PDD, not that it would do him any good was still with Alejandro. While he was still aboard the little ship, Aat had shown him how to activate the Helmet Comm. He repeated her words as he stared on the controls at his left underarm. “Press these two control stubs of the wrist control panel at the same time.” But which ones again, there were eight. He pressed two and loud music pounded his ear and a voice proclaimed. Thank you for tuning on to Channel 9988 Pertharian Terror Metal all day long..." He managed to turned it back off. His friends were in some kind of trouble and he could not even get the suits communication working, or pull his own gun. Yet had to find out what was going on and help them if necessary. He planed to regain a little momentum, approach the hole and take a peak inside. Without any reference point to his eyes he completely miscalculated the true distance to the wreck and again was way to fast, missed the wicked looking torn edges of the torn metal by less than a centimeter and collided hard with someone wearing an alien battle suit. The Impact had enough momentum to throw the other being hard into a bulkhead, Roy tasted blood, cursed his decision to participate without a little more training and passed out. -""- Roy saw his mother and she wore a steel collar around her neck, except for a few rags she was naked. She was covered with dirt and her beautiful hair chopped off  by someone who wanted to hurt and humiliate her. She was sitting against a rock wall eating what looked like a raw onion. There were dozens of humans all around her looking the same. The filthy individual staring into nothingness next to her was his father. She suddenly looked up and directly at him. Her mouth formed the word. "Roy!" He tried to reach her, get to her but he didn't notice his own arms, or legs and somehow he knew he was dreaming. With this realization he woke and recoiled in horror as a decapitated, mutilated body of someone floated right before his eyes, Sobyr was right next to him looking down with a concerned face and talking behind his helmet. Roy pointed to his and shook his head. Now Alejandro came into view and pressed two studs on Roy's underarm. "...tivate the helmet comm like this, before the system takes verbal commands." Roy got up and almost floated away but Ncchsi caught him and then his boots connected to, what technically was a wall, but up and down became meaningful again. He then noticed three individuals holding weapons. Two of them appeared human, but the third was taller, had four arms and a long tail in his space suit. Through the face plate he saw a face not so different from Ncchsi, perhaps even a little more lizard like. All three of them were armed and pointed their weapons at the teenagers. A fourth of them was floating in mangled state  just a few feet of the deck plates. The tall lizard being held the Saran Girl close and had his blaster pressed  against the side of her helmet, before him stood Partner with his teeth bared. The lizard snarled. “I was told you are the only one this thing obeys, this is why you are still alive. Now tell that thing to back up or I roast her!” Roy, not knowing who he was dealing with responded. “You hurt her and my beast will tear you to pieces.” “I am not repeating myself again, snot nose!” Roy called to Partner and the huge beast, floated to his side. One of the suited men said. “Yuzzik, we should take that thing along. It will bring good money in the Death arenas or with bio-form collectors.” Sobyr said. “I am sorry for getting you all in this mess. These are more than scavengers, I think they are pirates!” The lizard hissed. “That's right we are! Not above collecting some valuable scrap, and now we got us a nice set of prisoners. Union snobs are going for good money too.” Red felt his anger boiling. Pirates! If there is something he didn't like it was pirates! If it would have been a planet or inside somewhere he could have used his speed and strength and his weapon to do something. Out here he was like a fish out of water and his damn TKU was still flashing red. They had not even taken it from him. The pirates used memory tape to tie them,even Partner was immobilized with many layers of emergency repair tape designed to seal a hull breach if necessary. Now it was Roy's turn to be tied, the lizard being most likely a Shiss feeling safe as almost everyone was tied, especially the black beast. Not even a Pertharian or a Boloth had enough strength to break a single layer of this stuff, and they had used pretty much an entire roll on Partner. The leader of the pirates led the girl go, after she too was tied and turned to do the same to Roy. He had to do something fast, if he just could have pulled his damn weapon. His trusty knife was back along with the rest of his things aboard the Calypso. The pirates were armed and could fire, hurt or kill his new friends. He was fairly sure Partner could still unleash its horn blasts, but would his animal be fast enough to kill them all before one of them could use their weapons. Then he noticed a little red dot at the face plate of the Shiss and a voice came over the helmet radios. “United Stars Marine Snipers have you target designated, cease all hostile activity and stand prepared to be take into custody. This is your one and only chance.” The Shiss opted to move, his head and helmet exploded into an instantly frozen gruesome star sculpture of blood and gore. The other Pirates surrendered and a four Union Marines came into view wearing full Quasimodos. Looking both impressive and a little frightening. Right behind them was the long shape of Pictfram the Xiptin who had remained on the ship. The towering marine moved his suit with a purposeful grace and approached Roy. “Citizens  do you request medical assistant? This was the first time Roy saw a Union Marine in full suit. Of course Uncle Sam was a Marine but not like this.