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Disclaimer

Disclaimer 1: This story does deals with anthro shark (alien)/human sexual interactions. There is a chapter in which a character is assaulted and implied to be raped (But there is an eventual consensual sex scene in it). There are no depicted written scenes of rape in this book. There is blood, violence, execution, and war in this story. 

Prologue

 

“The warrior is responsible for considering all options before engaging the enemy. Do not rush headlong into battle. Use your terrain, use your resources, use your expertise, and then bring the wave. As the enemy looks at the tidal surge, you strike them when their back is turned.” Shira, 2347 AD.

 

…….Humanity is at a difficult war. Itrean clans launch assaults onto human-controlled worlds. All seemed to be lost. The human military was crumbling. Defeat was inevitable…….

 

…….However, a miracle has occurred. The T’rintar clan has found Itrea, and an alliance is established with mankind. The clan vows to protect and assist the humans in their struggle to survive……

 

…….The war is far from over, though. It’s been five months since the last raid. An Itrean clan assault fleet is nearing one of the colonies. Its mission is unknown…...

Chapter 1: May 10th, 2350

There is no doubt that we can’t avoid space. Anywhere you look, we are in it. The sea of blackness and void of perpetual nothingness is the definition of its term. Instead, we look at a single planet and its moon as we zoom in on it. The world itself is covered in a haze of gray and orange. We already know what it is, and we've been here before.

We begin to fly closer to the planet. It is almost beyond any form of recognition. Humanity, except for a few, has decided it was a lost cause. We fly through into the atmosphere. The smog and thick dust threaten to smother us. Even if we don’t need air to breathe, you wonder how humanity ever made it through. The dense ash clouds form thunderstorms of black and gray. Lightning strikes are intense as they smash the ground hard, producing heat hotter than the sun itself. We zip through it, and then we are hit with something else.

You begin to see rainfall. The thunderstorms are intense, but you can definitely see the rain. Perhaps it brings some comfort as the winds hit us hard. You understand that the planet at least has activity.

Unfortunately, you realize that the rain has a horrific taste. The sight alone is sickening. If you could feel it, then it might burn your skin or prove toxic to the touch. It produces a taste and smell similar to plastic. It seems that humanity did not care about this planet. There were some who did, but many did not. It only proved to be disastrous.

The storms....the acidic plastic rain, are unbearable. Hundreds of years of garbage, volcanic ash, toxic vapor, and pollution have taken their toll on the environment. How did humans survive such a calamity? Why did they do it?

Finally, we get away from the storm. It seems, for once, there is a brief respite of getting out of the thick clouds of this planet. We come to look at the ocean. It is a somewhat clear sky, even with the overlay of gray haze above us. You look down to look upon the sea. Perhaps gazing at it will give you some relief upon getting out of that storm.

Unfortunately, it does not. What should be a pristine blue ocean of liquid water is instead a horrifying orange and red color. There is no life in it but one. A perpetual dumping ground of trash, garbage, and pollution has all reduced the oceans to this. We have to, unfortunately, get close enough to look at this once glorious ocean that was once called the Atlantic Ocean.

We fly right next to the viscous liquid. You are clear from all harm that it brings you as you have to reach your hand into it. It is an orange sludge. It almost bubbles to the surface as you see air rise to the top. The sludge is so thick that it permeates your hand. It is virtually like muck, disgusting as goo. As you try to get the orange substance out of your hand, you realize that there is something stuck to it.

Bones…..long-dead marine wildlife have perished long ago—fish, dolphins, crabs, lobsters,…..all dead. The ocean is endless. It is a graveyard of death. All of it covered in this thick orange soup mix of toxic life. A bacterium is responsible for this, but in the end, humanity might just be as accountable for it.

You know what they call it. Some called it the end of the world. Some called it Bacteria Toxin 23-9. Most of the humans called it “The Orange Muck” for its almost matching pure color. The sludge is a leftover byproduct of the bacteria. So much pollution, oil, plastic, and garbage, the bacteria have plenty to feed from. It is an almost endless food source. Despite the horrific look of the ocean, nature is merely responding to the massive changes that humanity brought to it. If it needs to start over, then so be it. The bacteria will do its job. It will clean the oceans, lose its food source, and then life will eventually start over again.

Of course, there was one problem with this. Humanity was not ready for this horrific encounter. The Orange Muck was everywhere. The air was almost too hard to breathe from the ash and poison put into it. You realize that you are in hell. The storm is in the distance as you look upon it. The toxin is everywhere, and filtering the water does little. It is in the rain. It is in the ocean. It is in the sea. It is everywhere. If you drink it, then you are drinking poison. What killed off the marine life certainly killed off half the humans that lived on this planet within the first few years of its discovery.

Why are we here? You already know the condition of this planet. It is the planet of lost cause. You know the history. Humanity left Earth to find a new home, but some stayed. Perhaps they wanted to use the underground cities and dome cities as a refuge. Fewer people live there now, so space is more freely available. You have the best equipment to help you live away from this dump heave of a planet. It is not surprising when the evacuation was called out, about a few hundred million people still decided to stay on this planet. The rest of the billions found a new home. They found the ability to fold space and found better worlds to live on.

Then again, this place is horrible. Do you wish to live outside of this? Do you want to drink the poisoned water? Do you want to breathe the toxic air? You have the equipment, but in the end, is this what life is supposed to be?

For many, they had given up. Humanity has found better worlds to live in. Earth is a reminder of our past mistakes. For many, it is best to look forward rather than backward. Little resources are allocated to this world, and many feel it is best to move away from it. Let the bacteria have it, and let nature start over again. Maybe in a few thousand years, humanity will come back……

Then, we see something from our peripheral view. As you turn your head, you notice a silver cylindrical object touchdown in the ocean water. It lands with a sickening thud in the orange and red goo. The object almost seems to be a probe of some type. It is the size of a bus and has thrusters that help control the landing so it doesn’t smash hard into the ocean. Regardless, you see some of the orange substance splashing upward, and a little bit lands on your face.

Upon wiping the sickening material off of you, you notice that the silver object is buoyant. It protrudes from the surface like a beacon of some sort. Slowly, you see, the orange material is pulled into the silver container. Like a vacuum cleaner, the object is extracting the material around it. The object emits a series of flashing lights as the orange material around it is being cleared out. It is doing an excellent job of it. For a moment, you can actually see real ocean water beneath the surface. We no longer see orange and red but something below the surface.

The probe-like object continues extracting the orange material for minutes before it gives off another flash. The area around it seems…..cleaner. Is it safe to drink the water? Obviously, the answer is no, but you do notice that the object’s thrusters activate. It shoots up into the sky. The orange muck in the area that you saw is much less. Where did the probe come from? Who launched it?

Our heads turn up to gaze upon a green cylindrical object far above us. High in the sky is a T’rintar warship. Launching these probes into the ocean is an old dreadnought converted into some sort of environmental cleaner. The dreadnought looks different than what you had seen in the database. It is long and green. The ship’s guns were ripped out and replaced with box-like launchers. Antenna arrays dot the surface as its two centripetal force rings are inoperable. The probes are being deployed from the launchers. The one we saw near us is returning to the ship above it. You watch far in the distance as another similar probe is launched into the orange ocean. You can even see the ship firing the probes at the sky itself. Its target is the heavy cloud cover of ash and pollution.

The T’rintar have returned to Itrea. Confirmed to be their sacred homeworld of origin for all of the Itrean clans, the T’rintar has much cleaning to do. A bargaining chip for humanity’s survival, the once-thought aliens are used to getting ravaged worlds that are battered and beaten. The clan wars are brutal, and the planets are continuously repaired. While some Earthlings protested this exchange, it was something that had to be done. Why bother? This world is a lost cause. It is a dump of forgotten dreams and waste, but the T’rintar are cleaning up the mess in this world to make it habitable again.

Is it a good exchange? We won’t have to look at that orange substance. We wouldn’t have to run from cover by the plastic acid rain. They don’t seem bothered that humanity still has people here. They gave you warships in exchange. Warships that you need to fight the other clans. They fight because Itrea is hope to them. Their religion and mythology have turned real. The place of their origin and yours……

Unfortunately, it seems it will take time. The orange muck is everywhere. Even the probes are collecting small amounts of the material. They need more of these salvaged dreadnoughts to do the job. At this rate, maybe in about fifteen to twenty years, the world will be pristine again.

What about the ocean, though? The wildlife is mostly dead now. The sea levels have risen as well. The Itreans are going to inherit the world that humanity walked away from. The T’rintar don’t care, though. They have learned to be patient.

It is still a good sign, though. Maybe one day, Earth will look better. Perhaps you will get to swim in its ocean and breathe its fresh air like humans did hundreds of years ago. The T’rintar seem to be fulfilling their part of the bargain. Itrea will look like a beautiful planet once again.

We leave now. Let the ships do their job. Earth…..Itrea…..it's in good hands now. Let them clean up the mess. We aren’t here to glorify the past or the future of this planet. It is just one of the many worlds that were controlled by the United World’s Alliance. Let the politicians and people argue what is right and wrong. It's in the history books now.

We zoom and fly out of the clouds of black and gray. We fly faster than anything until we look at Earth one last time. We see the edge of Africa and the European Islands. Orange and gray illuminate the landscape as we get further and further away. Our destination was not Earth. We were here last time, and it is time to move on.

Instead, we are back in the blackness of space, gazing down upon Earth. The vacuum dominates, and only the light from the distant star fills the spectrum. Space produces no sound, but we can still listen. We switch as we begin to hear the sounds of the electromagnetic waves. Space finds a way to call to us, and with the right ear, we can listen to it. You know the sounds of Jupiter and Saturn. This solar system alone is filled with different harmonic music that it produces that sings to your ear.

Earth, even with the environmental changes, still produces a similar harmonic tone of its own. It provides its own magnetic field that resonates with the sun. It almost sounds like a wind blowing. In the distance of the hum is an electronic cave wind sound that rises and falls every few seconds. Occasionally, it produces a high-frequency electronic chirping that follows along with the cave wind hum. It is beautiful to hear. The planet almost sounds like it's alive.

Of course, it isn’t the only thing producing sound. We turn our attention to the star itself. Sol is the guardian of the solar system. Without Sol, humans and Itreans wouldn’t exist. Light and energy flow for eons of years. Earth and the neighboring planets are used to it and can’t operate without it.

The sounds of the sun are unusual. It is deep and continuous. We fly faster than anyone can as we get closer to it. We are at a distance from Mercury to Sol. The musical tone that the sun generates permeates our ears. What you hear is a deep heartbeat sound. It rises and resonates up and down twice a second. It is a pulsating sound of electromagnetic fields, and the reason is quite apparent.

From Mercury, Sol is enormous. It is so close that a year on Mercury is almost every 88 days. The sun is twice the size when looking from Earth. You feel some relief seeing the sun. It was quite hard to see Sol from Earth. Instead, Mercury gets roasted by the sun, which can reach temperatures as high as 427 degrees Celsius. It is believed that the planet might have been a gas giant at one time, but the gas was burnt away as Sol got older and more prominent. Instead, Mercury is reduced to a solid, dense sphere of radiation and heat.

The musical tone of Sol continues to sing. The reverberating melody continues. The sun is an engine that continues to burn its hydrogen at a regular rate. The G-type star is not too big and not too small. The music also provides us with something that we can do as we get even closer to Sol. We can see other things. The light is intense. Heat is engulfing us as we look upon the surface of the sun. No star is perfect. The engine runs continuously, and the magnetic field is immense. Electrically charged gases are pushed around with tremendous force in different waves. The sounds you hear almost sound like you are underwater as you hear energy swimming around you. The photosphere of the surface of the sun generates areas darker than most. Sunspots are formed where the heat is less than other portions. The magnetic field will flux and……

You see it. A large rubber band of flames and heat erupts near the sunspot. It is so bright that it is brighter than the surface of the sun. You even have to avert your eyes because it is more intense than anything you have ever seen. The rubber band stretches outward as you continue to hear the sounds of a solar flare.

Finally, for what lasts about half a minute, the brightness lowers down. You look upon it as you see the rubber band stretch outward to the cosmos. The plasma is pushed outward, but it wants to return to the sun. You watch as a beautiful spectacle takes place. The rubber band has stretched as far as it could. As we continue to observe, the plasma rain of flames begins to form a half-ring that is slowly falling back to the sun. Sol is just like the other stars out there. It reaches out, trying to call to others to let itself be known that it exists. A minute goes by as you continue to watch the ring of flames return back to the sun. Like a waterfall flowing in two directions, the plasma has nowhere to go but back from where it came.

Unfortunately, there is a cost to these beautiful events. The bright flash of light is also a sign of intense radiation being flung from Sol's surface. Like a gun, the solar flare has sent a bullet of intense radiation from the solar flare. The magnetic field results in radiation that can quickly kill life on Earth without the proper shielding. Satellites, equipment, and other things not protected against the electromagnetic pulse can be destroyed and rendered inoperable. Life on Earth has been used to these flares. Some say that Sol is relatively calm in its cosmic upheavals, while others say it is just as active as the other stars in the cosmos.

Maybe the only way to answer this question is to look at the other stars around us. What is the closest star to Sol? The answer is obvious. We turn our sights as we start to leave the lonely star. We no longer need to be bathed in its holy light. Humanity has found other worlds. We gave up on Earth, and it is time to venture outward. 

We watch together as we leave Sol. It begins to get farther and farther away. Traveling faster than any individual has ever gone before, we watch as Sol, Mercury, and the other planets of the Sol system vanish from our sight. It is nothing but a grain of sand in the Milky Way Galaxy. Further and further we go, we see that even if Sol is a G-Type star, it is nothing. It produces white light, but then it is barely noticed. Instead, we see numerous stars all around us. Big, small, it doesn’t matter. The galaxy is enormous.

As we turn away from the insignificant sight of Sol, we see that we are zooming into a nearby star. In fact, it isn’t just one star; it is three. It is located over four light-years away from Sol. The nearby star system is aptly named Alpha Centauri. What looks like a single star actually has two stars that are caught in perpetual orbit from each other. The biggest is named Alpha Centauri A. It is a G-Type star, much like Sol but slightly bigger. The sister star, Alpha Centauri B, is a K-type star but is somewhat smaller than Sol.

This star system alone has already warranted human exploration. Humans wanted to investigate this system for a long time. Four light years seemed like a hopping distance, but the fact was that it was impossible to reach on conventional drives. Four light-years might as well be a death sentence to travel. The speed of light, the fastest known method of travel, took four years to reach it. Regardless, we get to the point where we see the two stars as they stand together proud, locked in an eternal dance together.

Surprisingly, though, this star cluster has another star in it, and it is this that we zoom in on. It is a small star and has a reddish glow to it. It is orbiting both the two stars like it was caught and perpetually trapped with the dancing sisters. It is an M-type star, also known as a red dwarf. These are the smaller stars of the galaxy. They are so dim that we can barely see it. The red dwarfs are much smaller than Sol, and it will be these stars that last the longest of them all. Both Alpha Centauri A and B will be reduced to white dwarfs while this red dwarf star still continues on.

The name of this small star is Proxima Centauri, and it is the closest star to Sol. It would not be discovered until at least 1915. It was so dim that the other two stars overtook it quickly. Thankfully, this is not an issue for us as we get closer to the red dwarf. It may be dim, but it has an exciting look to it. With it being so faint, the heat is less intense and produces a red glow for the light spectrum. We have to get closer and closer to the point that we are near it.

We are still listening to the sounds of the cosmos. You can hear the change in the sounds as you listen to it. Red dwarf stars often create a deep purr sound to it. There would be a slight ring that would resonate up and down while the purr continues. Unfortunately, the heat given off is much less than Sol. Red dwarfs are so cool that tungsten can possibly withstand its temperatures. There are advantages and disadvantages to these tiny little stars that make up the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy.

As we turn our view away from the star, we see a planet orbiting it. In fact, a couple of planets orbit this very star. The second planet alone was discovered in 2020. Red dwarfs live for so long that planets have plenty of time to enjoy the dull gaze of these tiny stars. Life has plenty of opportunities to develop in these worlds. The star isn’t going anywhere, and planets will simply remain in orbit of the star forever until something much larger rips it away.

There is one problem with this form of thinking. Humankind had high hopes of finding a habitable world on Proxima Centauri B, its closest orbiting planet. The heat generated from the red dwarf was low, but the exoplanet was also very close to the star. The range alone allowed it to gather the same amount of heat as Earth was to Sol. The planet was tidally locked as well. Much like Luna was to Earth, the planet had one side perpetually stuck aiming itself at the star. There are no days on these planets, only years. Eleven days was the time it took for this planet to orbit its star. It receives proper temperatures……but when we look at it, we see little on the surface. It is seemingly barren and rocky. One side is a desert, while the other side is ice and darkness.

There is a significant problem when it comes to settling on red dwarf planets that humanity is all too aware of. Batrice and Gillan are prime examples of this very issue. Our gaze focuses on Proxima Centauri. We begin to see something happen in the photosphere of the star. An event is about to transpire that we are all too aware of……but it is far more potent than anything seen before.

We watch as the star’s surface layer starts to get brighter and brighter. The luminosity is intense. It is more glorious than anything you have ever seen before. The side of the photosphere of Proxima Centauri begins to glow absolute white in pure light. You have to look away from it, the brightness is so intense. Once your eyes finally adjust, you can see what is happening. A massive ring of superheated plasma is being ejected from the red dwarf star. It is absolutely gigantic. Even if Proxima Centauri is 33 times smaller than Sol, it has managed to outperform the G-Type star in this particular task.

Witnessed as far back as 2016, you see a superflare from Proxima Centauri. It is a thousand times more substantial than a solar flare. It is not going to stop anytime soon. Sol’s most powerful flares are measured in the tens long ago. These red dwarf stars are measured in the hundreds of thousands. The star has become a weapon of mass destruction. The planet that was enjoying its nice golden glow of heat and life is about to get slammed by the intense radiation that Proxima Centauri is about to deliver to it.

The planet has to be much closer to the star to enjoy the same temperatures as the former people of Earth. This, combined with the superflare, has proven to be a violent and deadly combination. The planet's surface will rise for several degrees as the superflare is focused on it. Radiation levels go up to twenty times the normal limit. Like a laser cannon, Proxima Centauri is giving its planet a bloodbath of intense radiation and heat.

This event is why Proxima Centauri B has little to offer to humanity. If this was Earth and Proxima Centauri was blasting it, within a few years of repeated flares, the atmosphere would be ripped away, and all life would be extinguished. It is why most of these red dwarf stars have also been named “Flarestars.”

Perhaps it isn’t truly Proxima’s fault for doing all this and ending humanity’s hope of finding life in the nearby star system. The red dwarf star is young. Some argue that other stars messing with its magnetic field like the other two sisters are to blame. Some say that fast-spinning red dwarf stars cause these massive superflares. Some argue that older red dwarfs are far less volatile. Regardless, over two-thirds of the red dwarfs found are flarestars as well.

The brightness is too much to bear. You are tired of having to close your eyes. We can see the faint outline of the stretched-out rubber band ring as we start to get away. Do you wish to go somewhere else? If humanity isn’t living here, then where did they go?

Maybe one day, humanity will place a mining colony on Proxima Centauri B, but not today. This is not where we are supposed to be. It seems we keep finding ourselves in one hell to be replaced with another. We start to zoom away from it. The further and further away we get from the star, the more your eyes can finally adjust to the massive solar flare. We fly away from it. We must find our destination. You feel yourself being thrown for light-years of travel. Humanity has been given a gift that it has used well, the most significant discovery to usher the name Gabatrix. It's a name to be proud of…..for we now have the ability to fold space…….

From Sol, we have made a jump of over 29 light-years. Stars of other solar systems zip past us as we start to get closer and closer to our final destination. It was initially called Gliese 849. You watch as another red dwarf star comes into view. Much like Proxima Centauri, the looks are similar.

Ugh…..another red dwarf star. You already saw one of them. Now you see another? We already know the story of these things, but it is the prior knowledge that we learned that we now know a miracle had taken place. Life always finds a way to survive, and that miracle is Aphadus.

Gliese 849, much like the other red dwarf stars, was pretty much written off by the United World’s Alliance. Humanity had found Cebravis and other colony worlds to live in. A red dwarf habitable exoplanet? You might as well be laughed out of every room. In reality, that is where the argument comes to an end.

We start to zoom in. Other planets are observed, but they are scattered in vast distance ranges. One planet in the system takes almost ten years to orbit its parent star. One world though, is close to the star. There should be no life on it, but there is. Your eyes befall that of an eyeball planet. In its distant hold is a tiny moon. This planet is tidally locked. One side is a desert, and the other side is a frozen dark spot.

What is often called “The Cebravis of red dwarf exoplanets,” the planet Aphadus has defied the logic of what can be defined as a habitable planet. The music of the cosmos starts to fade as we no longer listen to the electromagnetic waves. Instead, we get closer and closer to this exoplanet. Much like any planet of a red dwarf star, this world is very close to its star. Around the distance of around nine million kilometers from its parent star, Aphadus makes the distance between Mercury and Sol of 66 million kilometers look like a joke. The red dwarf is a spec when compared to Sol.

There are advantages to this star system, though. The most significant benefit is that the star is much older than it appeared to be when it was explored. Gliese 849 turned out to be one of the calmest red dwarf stars out there. It was a lonely star in the cosmos, and its superflares were almost nonexistent. It was a quiet star and one that had planets that were too far away from it or very close to it. Aphadus simply enjoyed the consistent rays of the star while turning it into a light red color. The planet is larger than Earth, and it has life on it. Where there is a will, there is a way for life to evolve on these planets. The planet is tidally locked to one side, but even tidal locking does not mean the planet still wobbles in orbit. Much like Luna and Earth, tidally locked planets still struggle and shake in the grip of their stars. This small wobble allows the air and atmosphere to circulate around the globe, creating a basic weather pattern.

We get closer and closer to Aphadus. We can see one lit side with nothing but a substantial orange desert. Cooked from one side of the planet, it was rough for life to exist there. It makes the former deserts of Earth look like a sandbox in a children’s playground. The other side of the planet is dark and cold. Nothing is located there because humanity does not wish to live there. So, where do the people of Aphadus live?

Eyeball planets, the name for tidally locked worlds, often have a unique advantage. If one side is too hot and one side is too cold, where does anybody live? The answer is rather obvious. Between hot and cold is the area where the sunlight still reaches but is partially dim. This is what is known as “The temperate zone” or “The Goldilocks zone,” a place where the temperatures level out. It is here that life flourishes for a planet of this type.

We get close enough to the planet that we can see the basic weather patterns in place. Clouds of carbon dioxide and oxygen circulate. We zoom in to a place that might be called the North Pole of Aphadus. We can see what looks like a forest that begins to define the zone where the heat is too much for life to develop and places where the desert begins to fade away. Ice from the other side of the planet is too warm to freeze, creating large lakes at the edge of the sunlight. Some of the plant and floral life is green by the desert, but as we get to the edge, we can see that the plants are black. With little light reaching the planet, the floral life had to evolve to embrace whatever sunlight it could receive. Black leaves are the only way even to allow photosynthesis to take place. With plant life, oxygen is made, and there is a basic ecostructure for small plants and even tiny animals to exist. This means that the extended circular boundaries that define the north and south poles are one giant ring of wildlife, giving off the notable eyeball appearance.

Instead, we start to zoom further and further into the orbit of this miracle planet. We are so close that we can see two Magellan Class Battleships, a Nelson Class Battleship, other human warships, and leased over T’rintar Battleships orbiting near a giant ring array. The array station tethered to the world looks like a giant ankh stabbed into the ground.  The top of the station is the massive gate ring array that is connected to a large bar. The bar has commercial space vessels parked on it, and in between it and the array was a centripetal habitation ring spinning to generate gravity for the numerous staff onboard. The tether circulates goods in and out of the station to the planet below it. We zip past the warships as we get so close to the station that we see a name written in both English and Chinese. The name “Fort Golconda” is written on it. The lonely planet is a colony for millions of people to live on. Most of the world is still uninhabited and located by the great tether. In the distance, the tiny moon of Chhota Yaatree orbits its planet. We turn our sights directly down towards the world. We feel the gravity pull us down to the great blackness of purple-colored lakes and towering black trees. It is seemingly dark here, but there is still enough light from the star to see the lit-up buildings below.

Faster and faster we go, we near the city of New San Antonio, the capital of Aphadus. Owned by the United World’s Alliance, this small populated world enjoys the lifestyles and freedoms that Martians had little. When the ability to fold space was discovered, humanity had choices on what planets to live on. For many of the former people of North America and India on Earth, Aphadus was their choice. We finally break through the ozone layer as we near a wide variety of dome-like structures. The tether goes straight to the center of the most massive dome structure. Like looking at a bubbling surface of the water, the dome-like structures dot the entire scene. Forests take up some of the areas between the domes, but we also see gray passageways connecting them. The lights inside the domes almost look like glowing light bulbs that jut from the surface.

We reach near the end of this great journey through the cosmos, where our story ultimately begins. Near the edge of the great city of New San Antonio is a blue dome structure. We reach the ground and look at the vast dome building. It is the United Human Naval Forces headquarters of the planet Aphadus. In the distance, we get to see Aphadus’s star glowing red over the surface. It is around the same size as Sol is to Earth, but we will never see this star wholly set. Instead, we turn our sights toward other dome-like structures that are connected to the UHN headquarters. The domes seem to look like tiny houses. Windows perforate its sides as there is a door in the front and back.

As we fly into the small dome-like building, we get a chance to see the inside of this small 24th-century home that humanity has to offer. A man is busy working behind his desk. Dressed in officer’s clothes, he has a gold bar that sticks on the top collar of his UHN red and blue uniform. He holds a tablet in his hand as he appears to be browsing over things.

The home has everything that he needs. Circular-based homes still have a toilet, a washroom, a bedroom, furniture, and kitchen appliances. The rooms are sparse but enough for the man to operate and live happily.

The unknown figure stands up from his desk as he heads to the couch. He seems to be waking up as he gives out a long yawn. With a tablet in hand, he sits by a large green sofa. There is a pause as he thinks quietly to himself.

This individual has the name tag “Javier” on his uniform. He appears to be of mixed ancestry with facial features similar to both South and North American of former Earth. He seems to be in his early twenties and has brown hair, beard, and mustache. His brown eyes scan the large tablet as he remains in contemplation.

“Ugh…..have to make sure this history report is correct,” Ensign Javier said to himself. “The meeting is going to be in another few more hours. Did I get the report on the Itrean recent history correct?”

He put his finger on the display as he swiped it, quickly reviewing everything as the data displayed for his eyes to scan. He continued for a little while, noting any possible mistakes.

“Nah, I did miss something,” he said again. “I keep mislabeling the Yutilians as descended from the Deinonychus species. They are clearly Velociraptors. I need to stop watching that movie and make those final corrections…..I did get the Aksren correct, though……”

He used his finger to highlight the mislabeled text. He then typed it down to erase the mislabeled text and record the correct information.

“Too bad, we still don’t have enough to label the exact species of where the Shal’rein come from. I hate just labeling them as descended from sharks. Earth had plenty of shark species…..just which one did they come from?” he paused for a little bit. “Eh….it doesn’t matter. It’s not like anyone looks at their damn history books anyway…..err, science books, I guess in this case.”

Javier stood up and looked at the clock. He tapped the pad of his tablet, which caused the window shudders to open. The outside became a welcoming sight.

“Crazy that others have days,” Javier commented as he saw the dim red glow come into his home. “Imagine it becoming night and day…..what nonsense…..”

As he looked at the clock, he saw it labeled 0702. If the world spun, it would be morning. The man felt a sense of urgency as he closed down his tablet. He stood up and walked over to the refrigerator. When he opened it, he saw that it was virtually empty.

“Damn, Javier…..,” he said to himself. “I need to make sure that I stop by the commissary. Even an officer needs to eat. Looks like I am going to the galley to eat. I wonder if Cason is there? I wouldn’t mind getting a chance to sit down and eat with him....prepare my history report for the chain of command by talking to him.”

He closed the refrigerator door as he looked at himself one last time. “Well….I guess I look prim and proper for work, as always." He checked his black boots to see if they were shined up enough. His blue pants had a slight piece of lint on them as he pulled it off and let it fall to the floor. He checked the rest of his uniform and gave a quick nod.

“Better looking than those UHN jumpsuits. Yeah….good enough to impress the staff…..errr…..at least if they get impressed at all.”

He went and placed his computer tablet in his pocket. Without hesitation, he wiped his short brown hair and walked to a door. He pressed the button as it slid open to reveal the outside environment.

“Beautiful as always,” he said to himself before leaving home.

The door closed behind him as he looked at the dome cities in front of him. He had seen the place before many times, but it was the other direction where he wanted to look at the most. As he turned, he began to overlook the environment.

Javier had a nice set of scenery on a planet of this type. Located near his home was Lake Lonar, a massive lake with the only beach connected to New San Antonio. The light red glow of the star was perfect for his eyes to see. Even with less illumination, it was still easy to see the landscape, and it was less intense than the outside rays on other planets. It made the lake look purple in color. He walked around on the dirt as he put his hands in his pockets. He gave a large scan of the landscape. For some reason, looking at this made him feel better.

The man looked at the small plants. The black leaves were significant as he tapped one of the leaves.

“Well…..I need to get to work,” he said to himself. “I need to get some food.”

With that, the officer turned back to his home. It was connected to the UHN headquarters building. He could simply ride the transport tunnels to the place where he needed to eat and report to work. The door opened up as he walked back inside the home, knowing where to head next.....

 

 

Chapter 2: It Was a Typical Day….

 

“Cason, there you are!” Javier said as he carried his food tray towards his friend's table.

It was a Tuesday morning in a colony world with a never-ending day. Javier carried a tray with a banana, coffee, and an egg sandwich on it. The galley and mess hall were enormous. UHN headquarters was a massive domed building with multiple rooms, offices, and administration for the military on Aphadus. If anything, it was the only military base for the seemingly lonely planet in the solar system. 

The food hall was massive and consisted of numerous tables of various sizes for the crowds that ate there. Areas were sectioned off for enlisted, civilian, and officers alike. Only recently had the place been modified to allow a new set of visitors……the Itreans. 

Javier was used to eating at the food hall. He had been all but used to those that would come and go. The establishment was busier than ever. The table that Cason sat at was small and in an area where foot traffic was low. Javier noted that Cason sat on a chair and was highly focused on the digital display that depicted the news. His tray of cereal was already half-eaten. 

“Cason?” Javier called out as he stood next to him.

Cason was a typical officer of the Aphadus UHN team. He was a lieutenant and dressed similarly to Javier. His red and blue fancy uniform stood out. His pale complexion was reminiscent of the pale red environment. The big difference was that he had a mustache and black hair.

“Wha?......” Cason said in a deep voice. “Oh…..Javier. Dude, I am sorry I didn’t see you, man.”

“Everything alright?” Javier asked him as he placed his food tray down on the other side of the table. He sat down and got a chance to see the news display screen. 

Cason lifted his arm as he activated a display screen. His left arm glowed yellow as it displayed a digital holographic display menu for him to look at. He used his right hand and pressed a button, putting the table's digital screen on mute.

“You know, you can simply press the button on the table instead of using that augmented arm of yours,” Javier told him.

“Ugh…..sorry about that,” Cason replied to him. “Had a lot of stuff on my mind. I was trying to watch the news to distract myself.”

“Looks like it partially worked,” Javier said as he picked up the banana and began peeling it. 

“Partly,” Cason said as he took his spoon, scooped up some of the almond milk and cereal, and put it into his mouth. “Karen asked me to marry her.”

Javier choked on his banana for a split second. “Seriously? Isn’t that supposed to be the other way around?”

“Well…..yeah. We were talking about it off and on. She took me by surprise when she asked me.”

“Well? Did you accept?”

“Fuck yeah, I did. I knew her for four years, duh…..it’s just……”

“What is it?”

“I was kinda torn back and forth, really,” Cason said. “I think she saw me hesitate for a moment, and she was discouraged. She almost walked out on me, but I had to stop her. That was…..last night.”

“But you guys are getting married, right?”

“Yeah…..I think. That is why I am a little distracted right now. My thoughts are on her.”

Javier smiled at him. “Hey, me amigo. Just let me know when the wedding day is on, and I will be there. I want to be the best man.”

“You will definitely have that honor, I promise,” Cason said with a nod.

Javier and Cason took a bite of their food before they resumed talking.

“You know, I admit that Karen…..she doesn’t normally ask for a marriage,” Cason told him.

“You mean she regularly asks men to marry her?” Javier joked.

“No…..I mean…..I don’t think she would have asked if it weren’t for…..well….them.”

Cason gestured with his head and eyes behind Javier. Javier, in turn, looked behind his peripheral vision to see two Yutilian women walking by with food trays in their hands. By now, Javier was used to seeing these alien women. The T’rintar clan was everywhere in the UWA space. While their ships were concentrated on Earth, the partnership treaty allowed them to operate in a limited fashion in human-controlled space. 

The Yutilians were typical of a four-foot-tall anthro reptilian. Each Yutilian of the clan had some distinct looks and shapes to them. It seemed that no one truly looked alike when you focused on them. The ones that Javier saw were obviously visitors working jointly for the UHN in the base. They wore their green and black uniforms that covered their frames and bodies. One of the Yutilians had green and red scales to them, while the other one was shorter and had bluish scales. Both had long tails that swung by their digitigrade legs. The blue-colored one was actually chubby, while the other one was lankier. Much like human beings, the complexity of an alien race consisted of the trillions. The bluish one had feathers, while the other did not.

“Yeah….” Javier said as he turned his head and looked back at Cason. “I see what you mean. Having an entire race of people that are nothing but women can cause the men here to draw an eye to them.”

“Even I admit that they are rather…..attractive,” Cason said with a hushed-up breath. “Karen caught me looking at the…..ummm…..nah…..I am not going to say it.”

Javier almost laughed. “Ah, you were watching the propaganda porn, weren’t you?”

“No…,” Cason said as he put his spoon down. He folded up his arms. “Well…..yes. I admit I was curious to see if it was true or not. She just caught me looking at it.”

“I admit, it's strange to see we have met an alien race and that we can…..well, have sex with them. It's natural to be curious.”

“I just find it weird what the purpose of it is. The T’rintar clan goes out of its way to encourage humans and their own people to…..go and get together and do it.”

Javier shrugged. “Why not? The goal is to show the other clans that we can have children together. It's their goal to convince the other clans to lay down their arms and not go after us.”

“Yeah, but…..still. I mean…..I ended up hearing a friend of mine go and marry one of them a while back. I end up hearing another family member go to New Olympia and find three wives. Don’t you feel like the men are in high demand these days?”

“If you're going to ask if I am going to move to New Olympia sometime soon, my answer would be no. I keep getting this feeling that something ain’t right there. As for the Itrean women….umm…I don’t know. I think they're attractive, but I don’t know if I would be interested in jumping in bed with one of them.”

“I think that Karen asked me because she was afraid one of those T’rintar clan women was going to take me. I think human women are in for some major competition now.”

Javier finished taking a bite of his egg sandwich as he quickly chewed it up and swallowed it. “You know, not all of them are truly female.”

“What? What do you mean?” Cason asked him. “I thought all of them were women. They had a disease that wiped out the men of their race.”

Javier nodded. “That is absolutely true, but they had to rely on other ways to procreate. I think they call them the ‘ivon.’ Some of those women may have more than just a vagina.”

Cason almost had a disgusted look to him when he heard that. “Oh…..well, I guess that makes sense.”

“Ah, I wouldn’t worry about it. Those two women you saw. I bet one of them is an ivon, but that wouldn’t mean you couldn’t still go and have fun with them.”

“You saw the propaganda adult films, too, haven’t you?”

Javier shrugged. “I was curious. I won’t lie. After hearing the ambassador knocking up the T’rintar ambassador, I had to see if it was true. The T’rintar have been doing nothing but sending out emails and spam to all of us humans.”

“That’s what I mean,” Cason said with some relief. “It’s just been weird. I mean, we meet an alien race, we thought we were going to die, and now we are…..fucking them.”

“Well, in this case, one clan. The other two clans still want to kill us. I will say, though, that we are in better shape now than we ever were. The T’rintar are giving us warships, they help protect us, and this propaganda porn seems to be deterring the other clans from attacking us.”

“The porn or the resources?”

“Both, I think.”

Cason sighed as he scooped up more of his cereal and ate it. He seemed to recompose himself a little bit. “Well, no matter. I love Karen, and I'll go and marry her. No T’rintar woman will be coming to me. What about you?”

“I still haven’t found that woman for me yet,” Javier said as he shrugged.

“I still think you are a little picky when it comes to women. I tried to introduce that one woman to you, but you refused outright.”

“Tabatha? No thanks,” Javier waved his hand at him. “The first thing she told me when I worked with the logistical and history department for the UHN was that she hated history outright. She even waved me off and demanded that I leave the military.”

“Seriously? She told you that?”

Javier nodded his head.

“Well, fuck that. I know you have been looking for a woman that had a strong desire for history. Maybe, in the end, you have to take some military woman or at least…..one of them.”

Javier turned his head to glance at the Yutilian women sitting at a remote table and eating. He quickly turned his head back to Cason. “Yeah….I still need to think about that. Maybe if one of them had the same interests as I do.”

“Eh…..enough about women. Let’s talk about something else,” Cason said as he put his drink down on the table. “What are you doing today?”

“Today, I have to present a historical account of the recent years of the Itrean Empire and clans to the chain of command.”

“That actually sounds interesting. Do you think you are ready for it?”

“Ugh….I feel like I am. I'm a little nervous that they're thinking of bringing one of the T’rintar representatives to the meeting. Have that woman tell me that I made a bunch of errors or something because they didn’t agree with it.”

Cason shook his head. “You think it will be a disaster?”

“No….if anything, it will probably be a snooze fiesta. It will be nothing but captains and commanders who will act like they are interested in my work but will all be daydreaming. You know how it is with briefings on things a bunch of people hate. History is naturally a hard subject for most people to get through.”

“It certainly is. I don’t remember shit from my class.”

“It’s because they don’t teach it right. Even in the last several hundred years, they still can’t teach it correctly. Before you know it, everyone forgets their own past. Hell, I had to recently come up with a historical briefing that I passed on to Ambassador Kane not that long ago.”

“Oh yeah,” Cason said as he snapped his fingers. “I remember you telling me about all that. Didn’t you get credit for all that?”

“Yes, I did,” Javier said with a smile. “It’s him and that other T’rintar ambassador that is having a kid right now. Kane told me that what I made helped out. He helped put out a recommendation to the chain of command for my actions. There's some discussion about them…..bumping up my paygrade soon.”

“They're thinking of promoting you?”

“Yes…..although…..I still haven’t heard anything yet in the last several months for my actions. I'm hoping that it hasn’t fallen on the wayside.”

Cason pointed his spoon at Javier. “Make sure you give little reminders during the chain of command meeting today. Somebody will listen. It doesn’t have to be anything big, but give them that tiny little reminder, and somebody will make sure that you get promoted for your actions. Eventually, you'll have the two silver bars that I have.”

“Thanks,” Javier nodded. “How many times do you remind me that you outrank me?”

“Every time. I just want to make sure my friend is getting the same paycheck as I do. You need a woman, and you need to be treated well.”

“Thank you, Cason,” Javier said with a nod. He went and took his banana as he finished eating it up.

“Are those bananas any good?”

Javier nodded. “Yeah. Still prefer the bananas they grow on Cebravis instead of the Martian variety.”

“I admit I still miss Mars,” Cason said as he looked away for a moment.

“Still having a hard time adjusting to Aphadus? How long have you been here now?”

“Seven months, and yes, I'm still having a rough time adjusting to this lifestyle.”

“This place is ten times better than Mars. You can go outside and breathe the air.”

Cason shook his head. “No, well…..yes. I can leave and walk outside for ten minutes and breathe the fresh air, but I can’t run either. There isn’t enough oxygen in the air, and if I run, I pass out. I still can’t get used to the continuous day cycle either. It’s nothing but solid daylight every single day. Even Mars, we still had some nice sunsets.”

“Eh….I can’t argue about Mars since I was never born there, but you can still get used to this environment. Something about being on another planet and having a time when the planet goes dark just scares me for some reason. On Aphadus, you never have to worry about nighttime. I can even sleep with the windows open. I just operate on the morning schedule. A little bit of Martian/Earth timescale, and this colony can operate quite well. A week on the UWA timescale is about the time it takes for a year to pass on this planet. As for the breathing outside…..well, I can’t argue about that. It just takes some getting used to.”

“Says the person that has an augmented pair of lungs.”

Javier shrugged. “All is fair, right? You have an augmented arm, and I get augmented lungs. You guys can flash your arms all you want. I get to breathe all the fun stuff and survive. It was a worthy investment. Not many people get augmented lungs.”

“Because it isn’t really needed.”

“Says the person who has a hard time breathing outside in Aphadus’s environment. Besides, who needs an augmented arm when I can just use a tablet? Hell, the T’rintar got those tilon things of theirs that are pretty cool. I was thinking of getting one when they reverse engineer them for UHN use.”

Cason gave a smirk to Javier. He nodded as he started finishing up his cereal. Cason was almost finished with his breakfast as he looked at the display that was on the table. 

“You know, I keep ignoring the news recently,” Cason said. “I wonder what’s on the news.”

He lifted his left arm as he activated his digital menu display. He tapped into the table’s display screen as it flicked it off mute. Javier had been ignoring the news, but as he looked at the screen, he could see a woman who was being depicted on the Martian news. He recognized it as the Chinese anchorwoman by the name of Chenguang of the Martian News Network. Every day, it seemed like she would alter her looks and appearance. Even her hair was dyed blue now instead of the famous Martian red colors. She was wearing a formal red and blue dress, though. Her hair was long and waved downward as she sat behind her desk and told the news of the prompter she was looking at. The background depicted a couple standing together.

“Ah….speaking of my old friend. There's my ambassador pal,” Javier remarked as he saw the image of his friend.

The news depicted an image of Kane standing in a formal civilian uniform of red and blue. His hair was a little bit longer, and he had a Yutilian woman standing beside him. It was something that reached the headlines just recently. The ambassador of the T’rintar clan to the UWA was pregnant. Javier knew that Kane was the father. It was the first of many interspecies couples to have children together since several months ago.

“On more recent news,” Chenguang reported with a smile on her face. “The Euteran people have erected a monument to the fallen people since the attack on the colony over a year ago.”

The screen switched over to depict a black obelisk that was erected in the center of the town square of the revitalized Euteran colony. It was a beautiful day in that colony. Blue sky and mountains in the distance marked the location in the background footage. The obelisk was about five feet in height and consisted of names of over twenty individuals. The photo showed humans and some of the T’rintar clan members as they stood together overlooking the monument. A person stood in front of the memorial as he stepped away from it.

“The monument, according to the elected leader Morgan, is a dedication to the successful return of the Euteran people by the T’rintar clan. It marks the names of both the victims of the attack to capture the colony and to honor the family members of the crew of the T’rintar vessel Syn. Both incidents mark the attacks before the signing of the peace treaty between humanity and the T’rintar. According to the Euterans, they were treated to some experimentation by the T’rintar but reported that they were treated well under imprisonment. The monument was funded by the clan to help bring remembrance and help pave the way forward for future relations. Three of the Euterans who report to be…..married with children to the T’rintar showed up to the unveiling of the monument to pay their respects. The unveiling ceremony was also marked with another set of visitors as well.”

The camera switched over to show something that was unusual to Javier. He saw a couple together, but this was no ordinary couple. One was a human male with a beard and short red hair. He had a pale complexion and wore a suit and tie. Standing next to him was what appeared to be a…..companion bot of some sort. This bot stood on digitigrade legs and had a cat-like face to her. Her eyes looked upon the camera as she was holding a baby close to her chest. Javier looked at the footage for a few seconds before Chenguang continued. 

“Doctor Ericson, the artificial intelligence named Minerva, and their daughter Eve also showed up for the unveiling ceremony to pay their respects for the fallen as well.”

“Ah…,” Javier commented. “That's who she is.”

“You mean that AI that tried to take over Mars?” Cason asked.

“Yeah….I remember watching the news when it happened. It was history in the making. I was happy that everything turned out alright for everyone.”

They continued to watch the screen as it switched back to the anchorwoman. It was a short snippet that the two men caught as the news turned topics. The background switched over to show a flag of another colony. Javier knew it only too well. 

It was the flag of Batrice, another colony that was in a red dwarf system. The flag was red on one side and dark blue on the other. A white line separated the two colors as there was a large silhouette of a green temple in the center. Gillan had a flag just like it, but the red color on one side was light blue instead. Both colonies were in the same system. Javier had been keeping a note of the events going on in Batrice, and the reports seemed…..troubling.

“In other news today, Chairwoman of the UWA Jia Xe Lee has made another announcement that she will return to the colony of Batrice to speak with Prime Minister Heng Chanvatey in an attempt to encourage future relations between the UWA and Batrice. Batrice has made numerous comments and protests with the recent alliance between the UWA and the T’rintar clan. Prime Minister Chanvatey and Fleet Admiral Baxton of the Batrice Defense Forces have both issued full declarations against the alliance. Baxton had this to say in a recent recording.”

The camera feed switched over to show a UHN officer. He was one of the top-ranking admirals of the UHN forces that served under Batrice. He wore a blue and red formal dress uniform and had Batrice's flag standing behind him and his desk. A picture of the recently finished super fortress named Fort Batrice was also behind him. Javier knew that the station took over forty years to complete. 

Baxton was a typical Australian man in his looks. He had short gray hair and a scowl on his face. Batrice was typical of the population of the former people of Earth. Consisting of people from Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, and several other nations of the area on Earth, the people of Batrice knew hardship. Aphadus had a good life when it came to red dwarf exoplanets. Batrice and Gillan, on the other hand, had a much harder time establishing its infrastructure, but once they started, it kept going. Now, they had one of the best mining corporations and shipyard centers that challenged the Martian shipyards.  Baxton was an older man in his sixties. He had a pale complexion and was prim and proper. His voice even had a hint of an Australian accent.

“Hello, people of the UWA. My name is Fleet Admiral Baxton. As you know, the prime minister and myself have issued formal protests against the recent alliance between the UWA and the T’rintar Clan. In our attempts to try to save ourselves, we have instead given over a planet to these so-called dinosaurs. While I do not stand against giving the planet of Earth to the aliens, we have instead invited the Itreans to the Martian doorstep. Alien ships now stand in the Sol System, and we now have T’rintar personnel that comes and goes throughout the colonies. People of the UWA and UHN, the people of Batrice and Gillan are capable of meeting the production demands of future warships. We do not need their help. We do not need to have the Itreans in this system. Fort Batrice is fully capable of defending itself against an all-out assault. I implore the UHN to reconsider their choices in this recent series of events these last six months. It's in our opinion that the T’rintar clans do not need the extra rare metals to construct warships that could instead be used to attack us. I stand with the prime minister in his beliefs on this matter.”

The recorded feed ended as it switched back over to the anchorwoman. She looked at the camera as she continued her news report.

“According to Prime Minister Chanvatey, Batrice and Gillan are still going to provide shipments to the T’rintar clan, but he is considering ending it to protest the actions set forth between the Human and T’rintar Partnership Treaty of 2349. Other people of Batrice have also begun to condemn the treaty. Chairwoman Lee and other ambassadors are set to engage with meetings this month to help calm the people of the colony and hope to reach a settlement agreement with the people of Batrice and Gillan on the matters of the treaty.”

The image of Batrice's flag was dropped. The anchorwoman changed her tone. "We will be back on Martian Central News after a word with our sponsors…..”

Javier put the digital display on the table on mute as he looked at his friend. He sighed.

“Well,…..,” Cason said. “Looks like more bad news.”

“Ehh…..things will get better,” Javier said. “Things are better than the last several months. You know all of it already…..”

“Yeah…” Cason said with a sigh. “As soon as I transferred here, I remember watching as our defense fleet started taking off. They said it was to defend Mars and Cebravis. We were sitting ducks. I guess you're right. Now we have a defense fleet again, and now the T’rintar have lent some of their old warships for us to use.”

“See? It’s better now than ever. History will remember these times.”

“And you'll be the one that'll write it. I don’t think even Gabatrix himself would disagree with that.”

Javier held his coffee cup in the air as Cason held his up in turn. They mockingly made a cheering motion before drinking their cups. 

Cason seemed to relax a little bit on his chair as he put down his cup. He looked at Javier for a little while.

“So,” Javier asked him. “What do you have planned for the day?”

“I have some new crew coming to my division. They already moved into the enlisted barracks here, and I will be taking care of their paperwork.”

“Sounds fun….” Javier joked.

“Ehh…..nah. They're green. Both of them seem nervous being assigned to this planet.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Something about this system makes me uncomfortable. It feels so…..alone in the galaxy. Like we have just our star, this planet, a tiny little moon, and two other worlds. The other planets are so far away that even the UWA has little interest in checking them out. I don’t even recall a science vessel even studying them.”

“It's true that this habitable world was alone in the solar system.”

“I think it is also the fact that even with the extra ships, this planet is still not fully habited. Mars, Cebravis, and Batrice are more important than Aphadus. You should know this too…..I mean, you grew up on this planet.”

“Partly,” Javier corrected. “My mother was Paloran, but my father was from Aphadus.”

Javier looked at his tablet to check the time. It was getting late.

“Ah…,” Javier said. “I need to report to work. I was hoping to rehearse what I was going to say at the meeting today with you.”

Cason waved him off. “You'll be fine. I never heard a bad presentation from you before.”

“Yeah, you're right.”

Jackson went and ate the rest of his banana before downing his coffee cup. He stood up and gestured to his friend goodbye as he walked away.

 

*******

 

Javier stood a little bit nervous in the meeting room. The displays and quantum computers were all set with his presentation as he awaited the senior staff to enter the room. He breathed in and out to calm his nerves a bit.

“Come on, Javier….” He said quietly to himself. “Don’t let the jitters get to you. You've done countless presentations before. The only difference is that this time, it's with the upper chain of command.”

The meeting room was for officers only. It was a nicely established room with a red carpet covering the floor. He stood at a podium that depicted the flag of the UHN behind him. Consisting of a silhouette of a planet in the center, the red-colored banner was rarely seen. It depicted a battleship making an overlapping flyby of the planet. The ship almost looked like a ring around the world.  Recently, the flag was overhauled to depict stars around the planet's silhouette, including the colonies of the UWA. The flag that Javier looked at was the older version.

The room also consisted of a furnished wooden table in the center. The rotatable chairs were decorated with the most beautiful cloth that the UWA could manufacture. The room was designed so press conferences could be held there. It could be broadcast live to the world in case of emergencies. Thankfully, even with the Aksren and Shal’rein clan threat, the room was barely used at all. All in all, though, the place was relatively simple in design. 

The only thing that Javier noted was the digital clocks in the room near the ceiling. UWA times were necessary. While all of Aphadus operated under the same exact hour in UWA time scales, other planets still had time zones that connected under the UWA Military Zulu time scale. This meant that all ships had 24 hours under their belt. Planets with longer or shorter days than other colonies had to comply with this time scale to ensure that everything in the UWA operated efficiently and effectively. Even if the planet spun slower or faster than Mars or not at all, there had to be some form of standardization implied to prevent confusion. It was easier said than done, but not impossible. What was 1000 in the morning of Aphadus was 1300 on the eastern side of Valles Marineris canyon on Mars. Each clock showed the time in the different time zones of each planet. 

Javier looked at his tablet one last time when the clock struck 0959. Like perfect clockwork, the door slid open as the first set of the chain of command began to walk in. Commanders, captains, chief petty officers, and other officers started walking into the room. Altogether, there were at least twenty seats available. Each one of the individuals was either talking to each other or didn’t pay much attention to the podium. Javier began to feel a little tense as the room was getting filled up rather quickly.

Two captains came in and sat down, but none of them were the CO of the base on Aphadus. He would come in last. 

Javier waited patiently, keeping himself composed. Eventually, all but two of the chairs were filled up. This meant that the CO and the XO would enter next after everyone was comfortably seated.

One of the officers stood near the door in anticipation of the CO and XO coming in. After waiting a minute, she called out to everyone in the room.

“Stand by!” Yelled the officer as everyone stood up from their seats. Everyone, including Javier, stood firmly at attention. Their eyes were hard-focused and ready for the admiral to step inside.

“At ease! At ease!” yelled the CO as he walked inside the room. Everyone quickly sat down on their seats as they saw the CO and XO come into the room.

Javier already knew these two essential officials. They were not only the CO and XO of the base but also the overall commanding officials of the Aphadus military forces. While the UHN was run from Mars, Aphadus still had a separate chain of command that adhered to the UHN. The officials were prime stock from the population itself.

The CO was Fleet Admiral Grey. Gray might have been near the top of the rank in the UHN, but he was very nonchalant in how he operated the base. Like most fleet admirals, he had little to worry about. Officers could practically get away with almost anything and be left alone. Javier’s mind often didn’t care too much about Gray. Even if he was his CO, this man was very relaxed in everything. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing at first. Javier didn’t mind the more lax events going on as it prevented less stress in the days, but he knew there was a cost to this form of laziness. 

Gray was a typical older man. His family descended from North America, and his name was perfectly symbolic. He had a pale complexion coupled with a gray beard and mustache. His hair was short, and he had a raspy-like voice. He had served as the CO on Aphadus for at least nine years.

The XO that stepped in was one that Javier knew less of but actually had more of a different appreciation. Her name was Admiral Anaya, and her family was descended from India. She was at least a few years younger than Gray. She seemed quieter but more concerned with issues and events than Gray, or at least as far as Javier had seen it. She had a more brown completion to her face and had long black hair. There was even a short time that she had a god’s eye near between her eyes to help represent the ancient culture of India back on Earth. She went and had a seat next to Gray by the table.

There was still one seat open before Javier was to get started. He waited as the next person entered the room, taking him by surprise.

The person that entered was an Itrean woman from the T’rintar clan. Being a Yutilian, she stood around four feet in height. She wore a green and black uniform that covered most of her frame. Javier was not entirely used to having the alien women around in meetings. She had long blue feathers that protruded from her head and arms. She appeared to be possibly older due to her walking pattern and cane. Her tail had a series of white feathers from the base tip. She also walked slower than most Yutilians that he had seen. The metal cane seemed to serve another purpose.

“Everyone, I want to invite a special guest for this meeting,” Gray broke the silence. “This is Greater Adjunct Lij’Lara. She is visiting Aphadus and wanted to partake in this meeting.

There were nods in the room as Javier made a short sigh under his breath. Having to tell Itrean history and having a high-ranking Itrean official present was only inviting trouble and criticism. He had to bite his tongue and simply continue on. His heart pumped a little harder than it should as he kept himself calm. 

“Hello, everyone, my name is Ensign Javier,” he properly greeted. “I run part of the logistics department and coordinate the historical archives for Aphadus. This meeting is to ensure that all of you are well versed in the recent history of the former Itrean Empire and clans.”

“Excuse me….” Lij’Lara called out to him bluntly. “I expect you to be non-biased with history and tell it accurately.” 

Her English was surprisingly pleasant to Javier. She still had that French and Japanese accent blend that many Itreans had, but it wasn’t that heavy. Apparently, the Itreans, in general, really found English and the human language easy to learn. It only took a month or two of learning before they could speak rather fluently. Regardless, her voice and tone were intense and demanding. It was partially intimidating even for a woman of her short stature. He had no idea who she indeed was and what her role consisted of.

“I can assure you, Greater Adjunct, that I will do my best,” Javier replied to her. “I made sure to do my part in the future relations between our people.”

“And what exactly did you do? Have you actually done something to benefit our people?”

That was a preview of Gabatrix: The Violet Wave. To read the rest purchase the book.

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