XX

101001010010100

The five Arcla stood in a circle of terrans. The one that Shirka attacked couldn’t move his left arm at the time. A hybrid spoke.

“I knew there was something wrong with these things. I think it’s about time they explained their real purpose here.” He said. There were cries of agreement from the crowd. The Arcla leader stepped forward.

“We are here to eradicate the indigenous species of this planet. Our orders are to leave none left alive and to erase any sign that they even existed.” Thissa wondered how such a small group could destroy an entire race. A draconian spoke then.

“Who or what gave you these orders?” He asked, lowering his weapon.

“Anonymous. The organization believes that the species is unnatural. We were also warned that a mercenary group is in this sector. It is possible that they are trying to get to the ice cap, as there is a large deposit of platinum ore under the ice.”

“Were they the ones that attacked us?”

“Uncertain. However it is a distinct possibility. There is a planet only 3 parsecs away that is home to a race identical to yours. Is that where you came from?” There was a rush of whispering among the terrans. Perhaps the planet was the draconian homeworld. And the Arcla’s extermination meant that the terrans could establish a colony here.

“What is the planets name?” a hybrid asked.

“Accessing.” The Arcla paused “The planet is orbiting a yellow star; it is the 4th planet in the system. The planet’s name is Draconia. I could establish a connection to the planet if you wish.” Cor hovered into view.

“Then please do. If we can call for aid, there is a chance we won’t need our makeshift ship.” The Arcla extended an antenna from somewhere in his back. There was a beeping noise. Thissa came forward.

“Are you transmitting?”

“Affirmative.” Thissa took a breath.

“This is the crew of the T.R.V Novastam. We are stranded on an unknown planet inhabited by a hostile species. We need assistance immediately. Our group consists of 1 human, 24 draconians, and 52 hybrids. Please respond.” There was a pause, a brief bit of static, but nothing more.

“I repeat. This is the crew of the-“

This is the D.D.V. Cyrosio in orbit around planet Draconia. We have received your distress call. A voice said. There was a bit of static, but the connection was very clear otherwise. We have heard that a group of our colony ships had been lost a few centuries ago, and we’ve been wondering where they went. We are powering up engines, and are tracking your transmission, stand by. There was a pause.

Thuramac? You chose a very bad spot to be stranded. According to this information, that planet has been quarantined due to hostile aliens. Three groups of our warriors died on that planet. But a distress call overrides that particular kind of quarantine, so we’re on our way. We should be there in about 7 hours.

“Thank you Cyrosio. It’s good to talk to some our own kind. We await your arrival.”

Cyrosio out.

The crowd was silent. Then the entire group began to cheer. Wildlife fled from the surrounding forest because of the noise.

The terrans were saved.

Terra’s moon, Epsilon.

7 years ago…

Thissa could barely move in the bulky pressure suit he was wearing. Ty stood beside him, also in a pressure suit. They had been dropped on a random area of the moon, about 3 miles away from each other. They had to regroup, find shelter to wait out a meteor storm, and then find a base where they could radio for evac. This was part of their survival training. Over the two years they were partners, Thissa had become very close to Ty. They were like brothers, and they never left each other’s side.

They could see the base only 600 feet away, but there was a gorge they had to get across first. The other side was 40 feet away. Ty groaned.

“Why did you lead us this way again?” Ty asked.

“Me? You were the one leading, not me. Now we have to go around.” Thissa said quickly.

“There’s no time. We have to find a way to get across. You could jump it, but I can’t.” Ty said. He sat down to rest.

“I could throw you across, if you were a little lighter...”

“Hey! I’m not fat! You’re the one who weighs 300 pounds!” Ty exclaimed. Thissa suddenly grabbed Ty and threw him across the gorge as if he weighed no more than a feather. Ty screamed and landed in a cloud of dust on the other side. With great ease, Thissa jumped, from a stand-still, to the other side of the gorge.

“Can we go, this suit is itchy.” Thissa said, his wings cramped inside the suit. Ty got up, grumbling.

“You could have warned me.”

“You could have led us around the gorge.” Thissa said sharply. Ty dusted himself off, then began walking. Thissa laughed.

“Other way, o great navigator.” Ty turned around, looking confused, then saw the base.

“I knew that, just got turned around, that’s all.”

“Sure, and my fire is purple…” Thissa muttered.

“I heard that.”

XXI

Bad luck

The draconian ship hovered overhead, long and aerodynamic. This ship was made to fly in the atmosphere well, unlike the Nova. The ship was smaller than the Nova, but was bristling with weapons. The day had turned hot, and the air was shimmering.

Good to see you’ve lasted long enough for us to get here. We are coming in to land.

The ship slowly began descending. Thissa looked at the heat waves, which made the air ripple like water. The shimmer moved.

Wait a minute. Thissa turned to the Arcla beside him, grabbed its weapon and yelled:

“Get down!” everyone dropped. There was a brief hum, and then a bright flash as the weapon fired. The solid round stopped at the shimmer. There was a ripple effect. A ship appeared. The ship fired with pinpoint accuracy at the draconian ship’s engines. There was a bright flash, and then the ship disappeared completely.

Something just took out our power core, we’re going down! Mayday, mayday! Clear the area! The ship had almost reached the ground, but landed harder than it should have.

“Cyro, are you alright? You were attacked by a cloaked ship.”

We’re fine, but our energy core was destroyed. We won’t be able to get off the planet. Thissa looked up at the towering Novastam. The engines glowed with an eerie light, basking everything in the clearing in a cold glow.

“Cyrosio, the Nova’s energy core puts out nearly 500 terawatts of energy, will it suffice.” There was a pause.

I have no idea what a terawatt is but if it’s enough to power that ship, it will be more than enough for ours. I’ll be down shortly. There was silence from the Arcla’s radio.

“Is it just me, or is this planet really bad luck?” Ty whispered to Thissa.

“It’s just you.”

There was a hiss from the underside of the ship, and a hatch opened. Out of it jumped a draconian, larger than any draconian Thissa had ever seen. He stood as high as a horse when walking on all fours, like he was now. Behind him was another draconian, a female, shorter, but heavily muscled. She carried what appeared to be a beam rifle. The taller one stepped forward. He wore an earpiece with a microphone attached.

“I never thought that I would meet the survivors of the Exile. My name is Garellis. I’m in command of the Cyrosio. This is my niece and bodyguard, Thressa.” He said. His voice was low and full of soft hissing. Thressa looked at each of the terrans in turn, deciding if they were a threat.

“I am Thissa, the highest ranking terran here. Our captain died in the attack that stranded us. This is my partner and friend, Tyrammafar.” Thissa said. Garellis eyed Ty.

“This is what you call a human? Strange creatures they are. But what are these people?” He said, pointing to a hybrid. The hybrid growled menacingly.

“They are the hybrids. Like their name suggests, they are a hybrid of draconian and human-” Cor suddenly appeared overhead, startling Garellis. Thressa snarled and instinctively spread her wings. She raised her weapon and fired, but the solid round stopped short as Cor’s shield blocked it.

“That won’t do you any good,” he said. “All terrans are equipped with a personal shielding system.” He floated over to their ship, chattering about its marvelous design.

“That little annoyance is Cor,” Ty said. “Most of our technology was developed by human scientists; our shields, energy weapons, active camouflage, and gravity control are examples.” Garellis looked surprised at the mention of active camouflage.

“Active camouflage? Like that ship that attacked us? Show me.” Thissa suddenly disappeared. “Wha- That’s impossible!” Thissa appeared behind the incredulous draconian.

“Far from impossible. Enough of this, we have to get that core. Do we have any volunteers?” Thissa stood in the middle of the group. Ty walked forward.

“Guess I have no choice, since you’re my partner. I go where you go, eh?” Shiska came through the crowd, Shirka behind him.

“We sshall go as well.” Several of the small Tai’jaq appeared beside Shirka, startling the terrans.

“My horde is at your disposal.”

“Kilsa, stay out here and radio directions to us. It’s over a kilometer to the core. Stay together; we don’t want anyone getting lost in there.” Thissa said.

And so the terrans, as well as their Tai’jaq allies, climbed the pockmarked hull of the Novastam.

XXII

Watch your step

The group stood in an escape pod bay, preparing to enter the ship. The door was only open about 10 inches, just enough for them to slip through. The climb had been exhausting, and at any time one of them could have fallen to their death. Shirka sat in a corner, controlling one of his minions, exploring the inside of the ship. Shiska watched his son with unease. Shirka was still, his eyes dim, all he saw was what the Tai’jaq inside saw. The others waited impatiently. Suddenly Shirka’s eyes brightened.

“Well, that was strange.” He said to himself. Ty looked at him quizzically.

“What happened?” He said, keeping his voice low so it wouldn’t echo in the chamber.

“My scout died. What did it, I do not know, but it is certainly dead. The last thing I felt was a horrible cold, biting and piercing.” He looked at Ty. “Any ideas?”

“I think it was engine coolant. The impact must have broken the seal, letting it spill to the other parts of the ship. Just watch your step, keep your eyes open, and we should be fine. Let’s do this.”

“I always have my eyes open,” Shirka said, jumping headfirst into the hole. He was ready for the sudden drop, and grabbed onto the wall, hoping that there would be pipes or wires sticking out. The wall was completely flat, smooth as glass. He snarled with surprise, but held his claws out anyway. His sharp claws tore into the reinforced titanium as if it were paper. He slammed against the wall with a loud bang.

“Are you alright?” Shiska asked, his head popping through the hole. His eyes glowed dully red. “Ssshirka, where are you? You don’t sseem to be giving off any heat. Wait, there you are.”

“Sorry, I was keeping my body heat in. I’ve been doing that since I arrived at the camp.” There was a crackling sound, and then Kilsa’s voice filled the pod bay.

Recovery team, this is base camp. How are you progressing? Ty grabbed the radio at his belt.

“Fine, we are entering the ship now. It’s black as pitch to me, but everyone else can see fine.” Ty said. In a low voice Kilsa said:

Having any trouble with the Tai’jaq? Shirka snarled, but said nothing.

“No, all of them are under Shirka’s direct control. They wouldn’t breathe unless he wanted them to. I’ll call you if the situation changes. Recovery team out.”

Thissa jumped in the hole next, grabbing Shirka’s tail with a startled shriek.

“What the- why didn’t you tell us there was a drop?” He gasped, holding Shirka’s tail so tightly that green blood oozed out. With careful precision he cut handholds for each person in their group. Thissa stuck both his forelegs inside the holes, holding himself to the wall.

“Alright, jump inside. Watch the first step; it’s a loooong way down!”

One by one the terrans jumped through the hole. Ty, who couldn’t see anything, slammed into the wall and began falling. He yelled, trying to grab one of the holes, but missed. With a hiss, one of the Tai’jaq jumped down, ran along the wall as if it were level ground, and grabbed Ty’s jacket in its teeth. It clung to the wall with its sharp claws. Ty looked up. He had fallen 20 feet.

“You should thank me for saving your life, Ty. I could have let you fall.” Shirka said. With no prompting, the Tai’jaq carried Ty back up to the group. The rest of Shirka’s followers silently crept through the hole, clinging to the walls.

“Thanks.” Ty said.

XXIII

Separation

The terrans climbed for what seemed like hours. The Tai’jaq had cut handholds for them until they found a row of pipes that ran along the passage. The pipes were coated in non-slip paint, made to hold onto if the ship was under attack. The climb was tiring, and they stopped to rest whenever they could. Shirka, with his perfect, alien sight, lead the group. Behind him was Shiska, followed by Ty, and bringing up the rear was Thissa. The Tai’jaq crept along the walls like predators stalking their prey.

“How much further?” Ty called to Shirka. His hands were getting numb from the long climb. One of the Tai’jaq ran past him, disappearing in the darkness overhead. After a moment Shirka spoke.

“About 30 feet, give or take. Keep going.” He said in his harsh voice. A sound stopped them.

“Turn back and flee, or suffer as we…” A soft voice said. It suddenly became much colder in the passageway.

“What wass that?” Shiska asked, flicking out his tongue to taste the air.

“There is a feeling of death in the air here.” Thissa said. A cracking sound filled the air. The pipes that they were holding on to suddenly became slick with ice. Ty was helpless; while the others could just dig their claws into the paint, he had no way to grip at all. He slipped and fell, letting out a wild cry. Thissa grabbed his leg as he went past, slamming him into the wall.

A pale figure appeared in the air, floating in nothingness. It gave the terrans an angry glare.

“Our patience you try, and so you die…” The figure disappeared. The radio on Ty’s belt crackled. With marvelous dexterity, Thissa picked up the radio with his tail.

Recovery team, this is base camp. We are picking up some very strange readings from the ship. The Arcla have identified it as a kind of deep space phenomena. Proceed with extreme caution.

The pale figure appeared again, this time, an inch from Thissa’s face. It snarled, showing gleaming white teeth, covered in blood. Thissa yelled. And let go of Ty. Ty fell into darkness, an echoing cry ringing in the other’s ears. With incredible speed, Shirka leapt from the wall, back flipped, and dived headfirst towards Ty. They, and the pale figure, disappeared in the endless darkness. The Tai’jaq followed, running along the walls.

“Ty!” Thissa yelled, but it was no use. Ty was gone. Thissa and Shiska kept climbing, reaching a ledge. The radio, now in Thissa’s hand, crackled again.

This is base camp, what going on up there? Kilsa asked.

“Base, we have lost Ty and Shirka, as well as all of his followers. They fell. I repeat, we have lost Ty and Shirka.” Thissa said. The radio was silent. Shiska dropped to his knees.

“I have lost my sson yet again.”

Soon, tears followed the others into the dark abyss.

XXIV

The high road

Thissa didn’t want to continue their mission, but Shiska, a battle hardened marine, managed to convince him to carry on. Thissa wept freely, even as he climbed the side of a rear missile tube to get to the aft of the ship. The walls of the tube were filled with tiny grooves, making it easy to hold on to them.

“Keep climbing, I can ssee the ssky from here.” Shiska said. Thissa looked up, and sure enough, the stars were visible at the end of the tube.

“If only Ty were here to see this.”

The pair reached the end of the tube, weary from the half-mile climb. Thissa looked over the side of the ledge they were on. The camp looked like a speck. Shiska grabbed the radio from Thissa, who was now looking at the stars.

“Base camp, thiss iss the recovery team. We have reached the aft of the sship. From here, you all look like microbesss.”

We have a telescope pointed at you right now. Good to see you made it.

“Not all of us.” Thissa said, under his breath. “Hey, Shiska, look at those stars.”

“What of them?” Shiska said, looking up, confused. They all looked the same to him.

“If I remember my studies in astronavigation correctly; that is Aquarius, that’s Orion, that’s Andromeda-“

“Get to the point.” Shiska interrupted impatiently.

“It means that we are within 254 million kilometers of Earth!” Thissa said, as if it were obvious.

“Earth?” Shiska said incredulously.

“The planet humans originally came from, and where we came from before Terra.”

“What doess that mean?”

“It means that I know where we are, and I can get us back to Terra!”

“If we get off the planet.” Shiska said, starting to climb again.

XXV

Debts

Ty woke in complete darkness. The air was so cold that it froze his breath. He felt around him, but his hands were numb, both from the climbing and the freezing air. He heard something move to his left. Out of reflex, he drew his pistol, pointing it in the direction of the sound.

“Whoa, steady friend. You took a nasty fall.” A voice said.

“Shirka, is that you? Where are we?” Ty asked, moving towards the voice.

“We are at the bottom of the shaft, near the front of the ship,” Shirka held Ty still with one hand. “Take it easy. You fell nearly a kilometer, and somehow survived. I have no godly idea how you did it, but you survived hitting a titanium wall at terminal velocity. I would have tried carrying back to the escape pod bay, but the walls are slick with ice. Even I can’t cut this stuff. We are in the very front of the ship, near the bridge. Can you see anything?” Shirka pulled Ty to his feet.

“No. Nothing.”

“That should clear up pretty soon.” There was something in Shirka’s voice that disturbed him.

“What’s wrong?” Ty asked, suspicious of what the hybrid said. Shirka sighed.

“When I got down here, you were bleeding pretty bad. I had- had to…”

“What?” Ty asked looking around, despite his blindness. Shirka continued slowly.

“You were bleeding so badly, you would have died in a few minutes,” He said. “So I had to…infect you.”

“What? You did what?” Ty yelled.

“Don’t worry,” Shirka said quickly. “It should go away in a few days. I closed your skin using Tai’jaq flesh. There is going to be some weird side-effects, but you’ll live. Feel your chest.” Ty felt his chest, finding the skin ragged and torn.

“What are the side-effects?” Ty asked cautiously.

“Umm…heightened senses, spontaneous regeneration, and mutation, to name a few. Some of the Tai’jaq traits will be permanently written into your DNA. Probably the regeneration. Like right now, your chest is healing.” Ty felt his chest again, but this time he felt the skin flowing back together, leaving a ragged scar. Suddenly he saw a flicker of light, and then his sight returned. Everything was tinted slightly blue, but in front of him Shirka glowed green.

“What’s this? I can see in infrared?” Ty asked, waving his hand in front of him. It glowed a dim orange.

“If you’re seeing blue and green, then that’s the Tai’jaq’s hunting vision. They see everything in blue. By detecting pheromones, they can see different creatures in different colors,” Shirka explained. “As far as I know, green usually means Tai’jaq, red is draconians and hybrids, orange is human, violet is the Arcla…” Ty grabbed Shirka’s shoulder.

“How long will this last?”

“Like I said, a couple of days. A week at the most,” The mutant hybrid smiled. “Besides, being part Tai’jaq for a while could be enjoyable.”

“I owe you again. I’ll pay you back someday. Thanks for saving my life.” Ty looked around, seeing the green-glowing bodies of the Tai’jaq around him, sleeping. Ty could see the mental wave Shirka sent out to wake them. There were two passageways, one going to the left, and one going to the right. A cold breeze blew out of the right passageway.

“Where do we go now?” Ty asked.

“We can’t go up, so it has to be one of these corridors. The right one seems like the best choice, where there’s wind, there has to be an opening. But I don’t like the feel of it,” He said. “But I know the left one goes to the crew quarters, so the right one goes to the bridge.”

“Wait, if the left one goes to the crew quarters, then that would take us past the cyro bay. There were terrans frozen in there when we were attacked. It’s our duty to help them, if we can.”

“Reinforcements wouldn’t be unwelcome, but I wonder if they would enjoy seeing me.”

“Only one way to find out.” Ty said.

So the two walked down the left passage, followed by the nightmarish Tai’jaq.

XXVI

Genesis

Cor floated over the heads of the terrans and the draconians. The meeting was called to discuss Thissa’s findings.

“According to Thissa, this planet is in the same system as the remains of the planet called Earth, which is the homeworld of the human race.” Cor explained. There was whispering from the crowd. “This is the 4th planet in the Sol system; it was commonly referred to as ‘Mars’. Based on my studies, I have found that this planet goes through a 500 year cycle of life. Every 500 years the Tai’jaq emerge as single celled organisms. They evolve at a rapid rate, killing all the vegetation over a 50 year period. The other creatures here evolved during the 500 year lull in the cycle. They evolve at a much slower rate. After all other life on the planet is destroyed, the Tai’jaq die out, leaving traces of their DNA as a blueprint for the next generation to follow.” Kilsa stepped forward.

“This planet is most likely the basis for life on Earth. This explains the humans amazing ability to adapt to any change. In accordance with human belief, being a human system, I have named this planet ‘Genesis’, the beginning of all life.”

XXVII

The Freezer

Ty and Shirka had been walking for almost an hour when they finally found the door to the cyro bay. The walls in this area were blackened, and bits of metal were strewn about.

“There it is.” Ty said, pointing to the titanium door. I don’t know how we’re going to get in though.” He pressed his hand against the door’s access panel.

Access denied Said a voice. Shirka pushed past Ty and slammed his fist into the door panel.

“Access granted.” He muttered. With incredible strength, Shirka grabbed the door and ripped in clean out of the wall with a grating crunch.

“Humans first.” He said, bowing to Ty. Ty raised his eyebrow, and then dropped down into the cyro bay. At first all he saw was blue, but then he saw little flecks of orange and red dust on every surface. Pheromone dust was all there was to see, all of the tubes were open, except for three, and they weren’t glowing. Shirka dropped down beside him.

“Well, looks like everyone was awake.” He said, sniffing the air.

“No ones here; it was a waste of time, sorry.” Ty said, starting to look for a way up to the door.

“Not really. You forget that frozen people don’t have a scent. Let’s try this one first.” Shirka walked up to one of the cyro tubes. The tubes were made to rotate, in case of being caught in a gravity well, so the ones inside were not injured. Shirka pressed his hand to the panel on the side of the tube.

Unknown DNA type. Access denied. Said the computer. Shirka growled.

“Let me try.” Ty said, walking up to the panel. He pressed his hand to it.

Stand by. The computer said. Warning, seal broken. Subject is flatline.

Ty sighed and looked into the tube. Inside was a hybrid, seemingly asleep, frozen in time. He walked to the next tube, followed by Shirka. Inside was a draconian, unmoving. He pressed his hand to the panel.

Stand by. The computer said again. Warning, sensor malfunction; unable to ascertain subject status.

“Computer, thaw the subject and break seal.” Ty said, watching the draconian’s face closely. There was a pause, and then a loud hiss as the cyro-sleep gas was vented. The tube opened. The draconian didn’t move. Ty put his fingers to the draconians neck. There was a pulse!

“Shirka, this one is alive. I’ll check the last one, stay here and explain to this one what’s going on.” Ty said hurriedly. Shirka nodded. Ty ran to the next tube, pressing his hand to the panel.

Stand by the computer said again.

“Come on, come on.” Ty whispered.

Error, cyro mixture unstable. Subject is flatline. Stabilizing mixture… the computer said. Ty looked in the tube. Inside was a human woman, about 20, with short cropped hair. Ty looked at her name tag. Master Sergeant Ophelia Drakom. The computer beeped.

Cyro mixture stable, subject is responding to electric pulse. Emergency seal break in five seconds. It said. There was a hiss and the tube opened. Ophelia opened her eyes. With great agility she drew a knife and stuck it in Ty’s stomach.

“Ahh!” He yelled. The pain was incredible. The woman gasped as she realized what she had done.

“I’m sorry! It was reflex! Lie down; I’ll see if I can get it out of you.” She held Ty to the ground and ripped off his shirt. She gasped at the ugly scars on his chest. “With scars like these you should be dead.” She grabbed the handle of the knife, slowly pulling it out. As it left his stomach there was a gush of blood.

Shirka appeared from around a corner, followed by the speechless draconian. As they watched, the blood was soaked into Ty’s skin, and the ghastly wound sealed, leaving a vertical scar next to his navel.

“Wha- You healed? This is some kind of trick. How long have I been frozen?” She exclaimed. The draconian stepped forward.

“About two weeks, ma’am. This alien fellow was kind enough to explain things to me,” He said. He was quite eccentric.

“Actually, I’m a hybrid,” Shirka said. Smiling at the short draconian by his side. The draconian backed away at the sight of Shirka’s fangs.

“Where are we, doctor?” Ophelia asked the draconian. “And why is the room sideways?”

“Please, call me Fiss. But as this ali- hybrid said to me, we are on an unknown planet, near the draconian homeworld. The room is sideways because the Novastam is stuck vertically in the ground. Oh yes, and we will all die in a week,” He said, smiling.

XXVIII

Power Struggles

“So, what now?” Thissa asked, examining the huge energy core. Shiska walked over the base of the tube.

“We have to release these clampss. I will handle thesse, and you get the top.” Shiska said, pressing buttons on a control panel. Thissa looked up at the other control panel. The ladder leading to it was sideways, but it still would have been useful to reach the panel. Instead of finding another way to climb to the control panel, he just jumped. He reached the panel with just two flaps of his wings.

The panel was badly damaged, torn apart, making it hard to figure out what buttons released the clamps. Thissa saw a large red button and pressed it.

Self-destruct sequence activated. 1 minute to core collapse. A voice said.

“No, no. Wait, stop, please. Oops. Umm.” Thissa babbled.

“Sshut it off!” Shiska yelled.

“I’m trying!” He began pressing random buttons.

Coffee has been ordered. The computer said.

“Thanks. Wait, what?”

“Do something!” Shiska screamed.

“Do what?!?” Thissa yelled, throwing up his hands in dismay. The core began glowing orange.

10 seconds to core collapse. The computer said. Thissa screamed at the top of his lungs and banged his head on the control panel.

Self-destruct sequence aborted. Core temperature returning to normal. The core turned blue again.

“I fixed it!” Thissa yelled down to Shiska. Shiska shook his fist at him then proceeded with releasing the clamps. There was a grating noise as the bottom clamps opened. Thissa, not wanting to do any more harm, began cutting the panel open with his breath. The job only took a few seconds, and the wiring was exposed for his access. With much sparking, and muttering, he rerouted the panel to the one below.

“Do the same thing again, Shiska, it should release the top clamps.” Thissa called. Shiska began pressing more buttons and the top clamps released. The tube fell to the floor with a loud bang. The tube was 20 feet long and 5 feet in diameter, and it weighed more than 7 tons.

“Now what?” Thissa asked, eyeing the massive, glowing, buzzing tube.

Shiska’s smile disappeared.

Chip off the old block

Terran Training Vessel

T.T.V. MISERY

After a month of grueling combat training, Thissa was thoroughly exhausted. The ship was called “Misery” for a reason. Some of the meanest and most wretched people spent their days there, torturing young terrans with constant drills, exercises, and rants.

The “Maggot-pit”, or the trainee quarters, was Thissa’s only break in the endless pain. Ty, who slept in the bed next to him, sat on the edge of the bed.

“Why are you called ‘Thissa the 67th’?”Ty asked.

“Because I am the 67th one in my family to bear the name ‘Thissa’.” He responded, rubbing his sore legs.

“Who was Thissa the first, then?” Ty continued. Thissa sighed, but was eager to share some of his family history.

“Thissa the first was the draconian who signed the peace treaty between draconians and humans.” Thissa said. He suddenly turned away.

“What is it?” Ty asked, wondering what would upset his friend.

“He signed the treaty only after he detonated a ship’s energy core, killing billions of humans and draconians.” Ty looked down at the ground. His head popped back up as a thought occurred to him.

“If he was the first, and you are the 67th, then that means there are only 66 generations between you. That’s impossible!”

“He was 304 at the time.” Thissa said.

“What?!” Ty exclaimed, standing up.

“If you remember, draconians usually live to be 200. But he was frozen in a cyro-sleep tube for more than 100 years.” Thissa said, pushing Ty back down. “My family is responsible for a lot of the major events in history. It’s in our blood. Same as our constantly getting involved in issues too big for us.” He said, chuckling.

“Let’s just hope you’re not a chip off the old block.” Ty muttered to himself.

“What?”

“Skip it.”

XXIX

Annoyances

Ty had had enough of Fiss. The ancient draconian talked incessantly, babbling about how marvelous the Tai’jaq species was, how it was the pinnacle of evolution, and how the Tai’jaq’s traits could benefit the terran people.

“If I could find a way to splice the regeneration gene into all terrans,” He said. “Then we would be invincible! Nothing could harm us. And the pheromone sight you were talking about…” He continued talking about genetics and other thing Ty didn’t understand. They were climbing up a passageway similar to the one Ty had fallen down.

He didn’t worry about falling again, not only because he would just regenerate, but also because he had mutated. His fingers now ended in razor-sharp claws, letting him climb any surface with impunity. His eyes now glowed a dim yellow, and his senses had become sharper. Shirka assured him that it was only temporary, and that his own genes would reassert themselves, albeit with some slight modifications. The pipes in this passage were also coated in ice, but now Ty had the claws to grip the pipes.

Shirka stiffened, forcing them to stop climbing. “Something is coming.” He whispered. Fiss kept talking, forcing Ty to kick him, knocking him unconscious. He grabbed Fiss as he fell, throwing him over his shoulder like he would a sack of feathers. One of the Tai’jaq gave a coughing growl, their version of a chuckle.

Ty looked up and saw a faint purple-glowing object floating down to them.

“Is it an Arcla?” Ty asked quietly. Shirka shook his head. Ophelia reached up, grabbed Ty’s pistol, and aimed it at the object.

“Whatever it is, it won’t survive if it attacks us.” She said.

“What does it look like to you Ophelia?” Ty asked.

“Please, call me Drak, everyone does. And to answer your question, it looks like a glowing, blue ball.”

“Cor?” Ty asked Shirka silently.

“Cor.” He said with a smile.

The blue ball kept floating down to them. As it passed they could hear it talking to itself.

“So much damage. I can never get this running again. If 7388 were here, he would help me.” The probe’s voice was high and whiny, unlike Cor’s.

“Hey, you! Up here.” Shirka yelled to it. The probe turned around.

“Oh, hello. It is good to see that some survived the crash.” Its voice was pleading, as if hoping they wouldn’t vanish before his eyes. “I am LOR-7389, at your service.”

“Good. Can you tell us how to get out of the ship?’ Drak asked, handing the pistol back to Ty.

“Of course I can! I am designed to do such a thing.” He began floating upwards. “Come on, follow me! I won’t lead you astray!”

“This thing is nearly as annoying as Fiss.” Shirka muttered, climbing at a swift pace. A voice suddenly spoke.

Self-destruct sequence activated. 1 minute to core collapse. The computer said.

Ty sighed. “Thissa, not again.”

XXX

What we’re fighting for…

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This is where I stopped writing this story, on December 11, 2006. I will most likely not work on this one, it is obsolete. Please review and tell me just how far I have progressed, and you can see these original characters being used quite a bit in my fanfictions. They often make cameos, but as of now, they are just a memory. Only Ty and Thissa escaped the destruction, as well as slightly different versions of the other characters, but they are not the same ones you now know.

And so it ends, the first tale of Terra, and it will gather dust for some time now. Thank you for looking at my oldest work of fiction…

-Tyrammafar the Worldmaker