Zack walked down the hall of Babylon’s recruiting center. His brow was thick with sweat, his eyes shifty in his nervousness. He clutched his pass tightly, crumpling it as he looked around the metalic walls of the building. He glanced over the rows of flashing and streaming colors, but finding he had forgotten again, looked back at his pass and proceeded to follow the streaming line of tiny purple lights down the East Corridor.

After a few too many look-alike halls, Zack found himself arriving at a large sliding metal hatch door, he hesitated then. Quickly deciding it wouldn’t be as bad as it seemed, he pressed the green button on the touch pad engraved with a black ‘speaker’ symbol. A small click sounded and a small circle of metal on the wall slid up to reveal a crystalic orb that had green streams of data running across it. A small whirring reached his ears and it projected a fuzzy, black and white screen.

“Please state your name,” requested a robotic, female voice of a com. Zack took a deep breath before replying.

“Zackery Locke.” He said. Another click and the black and white screen morphed into a hazy blue line.

“Confirmed. Mister Zackery Locke, please remain immobile during identity scan,” It replied. Zack rolled his eyes, standing a bit straighter as the beam hazed over his body. He gave a small smile, considering the feeling tickled slightly. A moment and a few clicks and whirs later, the door slid open.

Zack was looking into a rather humble office. The furniture was polished wood and tan cushions. Books, star maps and various papers where piled onto a glass coffee table that laid between a rather nice couch and two comfy looking armchairs. A desk was centered near the back wall, where a window was also, covered in metal blinds. A middle aged man with glasses hanging off his nose was curled in one of the armchairs; a mug of Kmitch tea in his hand a rather thick, leather bound book titled, ‘The Iliad’, lay in his lap. He had scruffy gray hair that hung around his face and got in the way of his steely gray eyes.

“Your guest has arrived, master.” The woman’s voice said. The man jolted his head back in surprise, his glasses falling to hang around his neck as he blinked rapidly, trying to regain his bearings and de-engross his mind.

“Huh…? Oh! Erm- yes, thank you. Delta, you can log off now, please.” He requested, glancing down at a custom made watch on his right wrist, raising his eyebrows in disbelief at the time. Shutting the book with a sigh and taking another swig of his tea, he set both on his desk. Then turned to face Zack, who was standing in the doorway awkwardly, unsure of what to do.

The man gazed over Zack with a familiar yet critical eye. Zack was an average twelve year old boy. He was about five foot two, a bit stocky but well balanced. He had smooth features and straight auburn-brown hair that hung in the way of his crystalloid blue eyes. He was wearing jujitsu pants from the early times and a plain black T-shirt.

“He knew what was, he knew what had been and what would be.” The man finally spoke with a light chuckle. He strode over to Zack and held out a hand for him to shake. “My name is Xavior, founder of IPTS. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Locke.” He said politely. Zack shook Xavior’s hand, though grimacing at the formalities.

“Just… call me Zack.” He said sourly. Xavior nodded, replacing the position his glasses had before he knocked them down.

“And I would expect nothing less from the son of Kai,” he said heartily, heading towards the table. He licked the tip of his index fingers before piling up the papers from the coffee table into his arms. “Please, take a seat,” he offered kindly, looking up at Zack over a large stack of papers. Zack nervously took a seat on the edge of the couch cushions and Xavior dumped all the papers on his desk, and sat down across from Zack.

“What was that earlier?” Zack asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

“Hmm… I beg your pardon?” Xavior replied, questioning Zack.

“That whole, ‘He knew what was’, crud.” Zack explained, gesturing in the air for some emphasis.

“Well it is definitely not crud, for one,” Xavior replied. “It was a quote from the Iliad, book one, by Homer.” He elaborated. Zack nodded slowly, registering the information.

“And what does it mean?” Zack asked.

“I was referring to your… Your mothers ability to prophesize.” He said, slowly, unsure of what Zack’s reaction would be.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it.” Zack waved his hesitation off. “I was three when she died, I don’t remember a thing and can’t miss her ‘cause of it.” Xavior gave a sad nod in understanding. “So why exactly did I have to take a railer through three cities to come and meet you…?” Zack asked, yet again unable to hold his tongue.

“Your mother wanted you to be an ishmen when you were old enough.” Xavior explained. Zack furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

“A wha’?” He asked.

“It’s an old world jewish word, meaning a master of many trades.”

“Ooookay…” Zack drawled. “Then why am I here?” he asked again.

“You do understand what IPTS stand for, don’t you?” Xavior asked, sliding his glasses to hang off the bridge of his nose so he could peer at Zack.

“I’m not that stupid.” Zack retorted. “It stands for Inter-Planetary Travel School.”

“Well, your father thought this the best place to start.” Xavior said in a matter-of-fact sort of way. Zack quirked an eyebrow, folding his arms across his chest and leaned back.

“And what if I don’t want to?” Zack asked.

“Well, then that would be tragic.” Xavior replied simply.

“Um… why?” Zack inquired.

“Come, let me show you something, Zack.” Xavior said, standing up. Zack followed hi to the window behind the desk. “Take a look at this baby.” Xavior introduced, pressing a button on a panel beside the window. The metal shades slid up to the wall and Zack gaped at what was before him.

Zack was staring into a very large metalic blast chamber. The walls were lined with several types of shields to protect against heat, pressure and various chemicals. Several engineers and scientists were working on a large rocket shuttle, obviously designed for inter-planetary travel, that was currently divided into six sections. There was so much and it was so overwhelming, he could only ask one thing.

“What is it?” He whispered in awe. Xavior gave him a prideful smile as he started to explain.

“That, my child, is the S.S. Zanpaku-to, our space scouting soul stealer, and commanding ship of the collonizing fleet. She has fully functional life-support systems, artificial intelligence programs, an Andriod version of the Com, simulators and the best possible navigation programs. She can house up to 12 crew members and a captain; she can even drive herself with the Com plugged in,” hje bragged, looking over her.

“I’ve been designing her for ten years, and finally got the funds to train a crew, and all you have to do to command her is accept this schools training.”

“Wow. So my dad wanted me to be the captain?”

“That and learn spanish.”

“Why spanish?”

“He always had a fascination with the romance languages. He was French, you know.”

“Allright. I’ll do it.”