Opet and the Tales of Heroes

Disclaimer 4: This story is met for adults (age 18 and above) since it deals with war, sex, swearing, and violence.

Jordy, Frank Nordhaus, Quintin Martin, Nightsound, and Anthony Kestle for their generous donations and of course, the other patron supporters for allowing me to write and supporting the universe that I write. :)

Copyright 2021

What if we live in a galaxy where myths were real?

What if we live in a galaxy knowing that the folklores were true?

What if we live in a galaxy in that the fairy tales were real?

What if we live in a galaxy where history and myth intersect?

What do you believe?…..

For Raavi, he took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. The light oxygen content was something he was used to by now. If you ran, you risked passing out. His thoughts went to the fact that he knew where he was going. It was a place of wonder and suspicion. Stories circulated about the colony world of New Olympia. It was another red dwarf system of the United Worlds’ Alliance.

“I can do this…..” Raavi said to himself as he put his hand to his light beard. His slightly dark skin complexion was typical for the people of Aphadus. His family descended from India long ago of former Earth.

Raavi was dressed in his white and gray shirt. He wore a set of comfortable brown pants along with his favorite white sneakers. He wanted to dress comfortably, but he wondered if he needed to dress more formally.

“She told me to just come in this….” He reassured himself as he walked closer to the airport.

Raavi scanned his home planet one last time. The red dim sky was beautiful as always as it always produced a hue to the surrounding area. Not far was the great dome military base for the United Human Navy. It must have been one of the most massive domes to the colony itself as it was separated from the other domes of the city of New San Antonio. It was littered with weapon emplacements and doors that lined the entire structure. Not far from the gigantic dome was the great lake of purple colored water. The red skylight would turn the blue colored water to purple. It was a sight that made former Earth or the great colony of Cebravis look like nothing.

To some, it was an acquired taste. Many always considered Cebravis to be more beautiful. Aphadus had lakes rather than oceans. One side was still facing the star, while the other was in perpetual darkness and ice. The exoplanet was moderate in size. The gravity was less than Cebravis, while the oxygen content was seemingly less. For some, people wanted to have augmented lungs if you wanted to do regular exercise outside. Raavi, on the other hand, had been used to it. For many, the runners of Aphadus were better than most runners in the entire United Worlds Alliance.

For Raavi, he looked at the great mountains of Aphadus. It lined the distant landscape. The location of the great cities of Aphadus lined a specific place on the planet. With temperatures too hot on one side and too cold on the other, the only ideal location for a settlement was the area where the climate met in the middle. This was where the ice would melt and produce a series of lakes. Some called it “The Black Ring.” It was a place where native plants evolved and grew on the planet. These plants starved for sunlight, and they adapted themselves to developing black leaves to gather as much available light as possible. On the other side of New San Antonio was one of these great black forests.

It was a peaceful world. Sure it had its typical media and events like any planet, but it was a place that was seemingly isolated. For the ones that enjoyed this world, it was quieter than many places. The domes were a necessity, though. Aphadus was standing next to a powder keg that could go off at any minute. While the star to Aphadus was calmer than most M-Type stars, there was always the fear that the star could send off a massive superflare. These flares were so intense that it could pummel the atmosphere, raise the surface temperature by a few degrees, and slam high amounts of radiation everywhere. If not careful, these superflares may produce radiation surges so high that it could even strip the planet’s atmosphere. In order to receive adequate temperatures to support life, the world had to be very close to its star. Building codes were strict. All cities had to be constructed to ensure that the population inside could handle the radiation surge inside if a big one came. Aphadus might as well have been known as the dome world alongside the colonies of Batrice and Gillan.

The world was ready for such events, though. The star was seemingly stable, and its atmosphere ongoing for millions of years. The people of Aphadus were enjoying a good life. It was not surprising to see the population of the planet vibrant and healthy.

It was something that Raavi was all too aware of. A part of him told himself what he was going to expect. It might be the last time he was going to be on Aphadus. He was ready to make such a choice. The hardest part would be his parents. He turned to look at the airport ahead of him. It was nine AM, but it was seemingly pointless on Aphadus. The star never moved much on the distant horizon, and days never ended. Only the regulated time schedule of the UWA made any sense to Raavi and the people of the planet.

After stepping out of the waiting lobby, did Raavi get a chance to see the spaceship. He already knew what it was. It was a Luna QX-829 Class Gate Jumper Transport. These were the typical short-range civilian spacecraft that ferried individuals from one planet to another. Their roles were simple; provide accommodations for the passengers as they are brought to a new system. These ships lacked the ability to create their own gates and instead relied on the massive orbital gate arrays to get them from one location to another. They measured out to be around 160 meters in length and could typically carry about 200 passengers or thousands if pressed to an emergency.

This wasn’t the atypical QX-829 model that Raavi noted. Most companies tended to color-code their Gate Jumpers to reflect the company logos. Manufactured from the Luna Base of former Earth, the base enjoys its long history of building civilian spacecraft for the entirety of the United Worlds’ Alliance. These gate jumpers would be spat out of the moon’s launch doors relatively fast in short building periods. They could carry passengers or cargo from one destination to another.

What made this transport different was its hull color. It was painted solely white. A small color-coded flag with a paw print was placed on the flight bridge's side near the stern. This gate jumper must have been either bought from Luna by the New Olympians or built-in license from the colony world itself.

“New Olympians must paint their ships white,” Raavi remarked. He considered it as he looked at the transport. “Odd….I always wondered why they choose such odd symbols to identify themselves?”

The New Olympians. His thoughts dwelled on the matter. It seemed to be the one colony people had trepidation or excitement over. Each colony world was seemingly beautiful or had its quirks, but New Olympia was an enigma. Out of all the colony worlds, their history was seemingly silent. Even if they were friends and spoke regularly to the UWA as valued representatives, it was as if they were strangers. Each colony had its own rights, but with New Olympia, no one knew what they did. Some people went there but few ever left.

Now he was going to this place next. He had made up his mind, but a part of him still wondered if this was a bright idea. Even with the three ramps extended down for passengers to get on, there was seemingly little to get on. It was almost as if it was an enormous chariot that came solely for his benefit.

“Boarding for Flight 66613 is still open,” an overhead speaker called out that echoed through the waiting room and landing pad. “Flight will depart in about ten minutes.”

Raavi began his trip as he walked towards the enormous transport. Finally, he could see a few people getting on, but it was much less than the flights that Raavi had seen before. New Olympia still had a tourist economy that others had seen, but it was much less than Oshun, Cebravis, or even what Aphadus ever had. The tourists that came back had nothing but high praise for it regardless.

He continued his trek towards the transport. He could make out the vast wingspan of the spaceship. Like an enormous space shuttle of former Earth’s past, the ship was a flying delta wing of engines. It had a large nose where the bridge sat and vectoring thrusters that perforated its hull. The overhead lights made the white hull beam to Raavi’s eyes.

He saw at least five passengers step onboard as he continued to walk forward. It seemed so little for such a big ship.

“Maybe more people are expected to arrive…..” Raavi commented out loud.

The individuals were nothing remarkable. He noted one blond woman getting on board as there were two men together who were stepping on the ship. Another woman he saw was getting on board, but he didn’t get a good look at her.

He ended up seeing a shorter man that was getting onboard. He was dressed up as a pilot. He appeared to have what could be described as Japanese features on his face, but nothing else was remarkable about him. He shrugged his shoulders as he kept walking towards his intended flight.

Raavi was nearing the seemingly enormous ship now. These gate jumpers were seemingly small in the distance, but as he was getting close to the port side ramp, he could see the sheer size of it. Most of it was due to the array of engines that were installed. He could only imagine why it had to be so large inside as he stopped to look at it again.

“Excuse me….” a soft voice came from behind him. Raavi turned around to see a woman that was pushing what looked like a large stroller of some kind.

“Oh, sorry,” Raavi replied to the woman.

Raavi had a glimpse of this stranger of a woman. She was dressed up in formal attire, and she was also seemingly short in height. Her features were also Japanese in facial features by appearance. Her hair was dyed blue and white, though. His eyes caught a quick glimpse of the stroller. It was a baby stroller of some kind connected to a hover block.

“It is alright. Can you step aside, so I can get these babies brought on board?” she asked politely.

“Yes, I can. I was checking the flight before getting on board,” he remarked as he stepped aside.

“Thank you. If you are heading to New Olympia, I can provide some insight for you. You seem to be a newcomer. Let us get on board, of course.”

Raavi had one last look at the craft. He didn’t need to be reminded twice. It was still curious for him to look at. Seeing the flag of New Olympia plastered to the side and seeing the black paw print was something that was oddly weird about it. He saw the woman with the stroller push it up to the ramp. He had a chance to see inside it. The hover capsule had a clear plastic screen that allowed the viewer to see inside. He could see three babies that were in it, all sleeping together. He wasn’t going to inquire about it at the moment. The floating capsule adjusted to the ramp as the woman pushed it up and into the spacecraft.

He looked at the ramp as he stepped aboard. Following behind the woman, he knew he was the last person to get on board the vessel. The ramp gave a vibrant glow to it as his feet moved on it. It had an array of colors that radiated like a faint rainbow of some sort. He walked up and turned to look back. There was no one else that he could see. An entire flight and departure to New Olympia and it would consist of only a few individuals.

Raavi didn’t think twice about it. He turned his attention to the interior of the spacecraft. He could see the other ramps that had extended to the ground. His eyes focused on the inside of the ship. It was typical of a QX-829 spacecraft. Civilian accommodations were terrific. The interior of the vessel had an array of space to it. Past the extended forward ramp were two passageways that led to the bridge section of the ship. Gray silk carpet lined the floors. The interior walls had a pearly white dim glow to it. As his feet moved, he felt like he was walking on a solid cushion.

He didn’t think more about it as he decided to go and find his seat. The rows of seats were spaced apart. Each chair was cushioned and had an extendable table to it. It was like having a mini room for each seat. It wasn’t to say that the craft didn’t correctly utilize its space. Even Raavi knew that the gate jumpers were designed to affiliate comfort while being prepared for emergencies. If a planet-wide disaster were to occur, the spacious seats could be easily and quickly switched out to allow as many seats as possible. The vessel could be turned into an evacuation vessel that could house thousands upon thousands of individuals. It had to be true. Even with the ability to fold space, people rarely left their home planet or colonies. The need for transportation was always critical. That was obvious, but these flights must have been doing well never to use its extra space even then. The result was having plenty of room for passengers and extended comfort.

Raavi could see the few passengers strewn about. Why bother with arranged seating? He could sit anywhere he wanted. These seats might as well been couches with seatbelts. He could lounge and wait to be brought to New Olympia for all he cared.

For some reason, he thought about the woman with the stroller. He was drawn to the scene he had wondered about. It was a rumor, but it was something that he had to confirm. A particular curiosity had driven him to find the formally dressed woman in the spacecraft.

He continued his trek down the large dual isle. He could see the two men that were together as he walked past him. They both looked similar to one another. Perhaps they were brothers. Both of them had an excited look on their faces. He could see the blond woman next as he walked past her. She was busy looking at a projected three-dimensional screen of data that originated on her augmented left arm. Her right hand was busy moving files like she was checking something out.

“Nah…..I don’t want to sit on my assigned seat,” Raavi commented. “No need to do so. Plenty of other seats to choose from, and no one cares anyway.”

He could see her. She was busy securing the hover capsule stroller to a special compartment by her seat. It was altered in its angle to correctly handle the G-forces that were going to be pressed onto everybody. She herself had a middle seat by the dual isles. He decided to find the window seat that was adjacent to her.

Row after row of empty seats. For Raavi, he couldn’t argue with the scene.

“Hello everyone,” the intercom called out. It was a male voice with a slight Japanese accent to it. “This is your pilot Kai Yuki speaking. I ask everyone to be seated and fasten yourselves in. We will be departing for New Olympia in about five minutes.”

Raavi reached the row that he wanted to sit. Not far was a set of restrooms connected to a passageway that led to the aft engine room. Compartments for galleys, food preparation, and other accommodations were all available beyond him.

“Hello, Miss……” Raavi called out to her. “Mind if I have a seat near you?”

She had a polite smile on her face. “Of course. Go and have a seat. You must be curious about everything.”

“Yeah….” Raavi reluctantly replied.

He found a nice seat. Not far was a closed, clear window. He could see briefly outside as he sat down on the seat that was closest to the isle. He could see the landing pad outline as he took the two seat belts and connected them, fastening himself down.

The seat itself was comfortable. He took a deep breath as he began to look around.

“Hmmm,” the woman commented to him. “You don’t have the look of a tourist.”

“How would you know?” Raavi asked her.

“The way you are looking at everything. I have been on enough of these flights to see the different personalities. Most of the tourists have a look of boredom or excitement at going to New Olympia. You, on the other hand, you are looking at this spaceship a lot. Most people wouldn’t look twice at it.”

“That is true.”

“You also seem nervous, as well. First time on the flight?” the woman asked as she checked her fastened seatbelts again.

“Yes, but it is more than that.”

There was a pause as the woman pointed to herself. “My name is Dolly Yuki. What is your name?”

That name. Raavi momentarily paused as he thought about the name she just spoke. It was the same last name as the pilot. He kept note of that.

“Raavi…..Raavi Aarnikash. Nice to meet you Dolly.”

“First time going to New Olympia?”

“Yes, it is, and no, I am not a tourist.”

“Ah. Resident?”

“No. There is someone that I am going to meet.”

Dolly smiled as she nodded her head. “I see. You are a UWAN dater.”

Raavi nodded his head and smiled. “Yeah. I have a woman that I am going to meet. I will finally get a chance to meet her face to face.”

Raavi and all UWA citizens knew that the United World Alliance Network was the evolution of the World Wide Web of former Earth. With the advent of folding space, the internet expanded outward. Using folding space technology, individuals from separate planets could communicate with one another. The UWAN was as sophisticated and remarkable as the ability to traverse to other systems.

“Attention, everyone,” the male voice came over the intercom. “This is your pilot speaking. All preliminary checks have been complete. I have received the all-clear for launch. For first time riders, prepare for heavy g-forces as we launch from the platform. Do not unfasten your seatbelts. Our estimated arrival to the New Olympia system should be about forty minutes. We have a predestined stop with the UHN Opet prior to New Olympia itself. Thank you for traveling the New Olympian Transportation Flight.”

The com went out as Raavi took a deep breath. He could hear the distant sounds of launch alarms being given off from the launch pad.

“Don’t worry. It isn’t that bad,” Dolly told him. “I have done these flights hundreds of times.”

Outside the pad, there was a massive elevator pad that connected to the gate jumper spacecraft. A series of red lights came on as it would turn off and back on in tandem with the next series of lights. It created a trail of flashing red lights that led down to the forward section of the craft. It served as an indication of all craft in the air that the gate jumper was about to take off. The ramps of the spacecraft closed in. A small arm lifted out of the pad and magnetized to the ship. It held it in place correctly as the entire pad began to lift to one side. It began to lift the whole vessel up, forming a launch ramp for the spaceship. Raavi could feel his body being pushed back to his seat more and more as the entire Flight 66613’s nose was lifted up by at least 45 degrees. The red lights continued to flicker as the rear engines began to power up.

In the rear of the ship, the spacecraft’s two large engine thrusters began to glow red. The sound of running engines began to emit from the entire port. It was low at first, but it slowly got louder and louder. There was no one else on the pad as the automated systems were being monitored from separate locations.

The ramp stopped forming the incline needed for the launch of the spacecraft. The entire spaceship was in perfect position. The small underside magnetized grappler continued to hold the ship in place as the thrusters began to glow brighter and brighter. A little red flame began to push from the rear as the landing struts of the craft retracted. The thrust pressed against the platform as the arm started to move forward. The engine exhaust turned from red to blue in less than a second as a smoke trail and exhaust bled out. Like a catapult, the entire craft moved upward more and more as the arm helped carry the ship to faster and faster speeds.

Raavi could feel the g-forces be pressed to his body as the entire spacecraft was propelled more and more. It was entirely under its own power now as the magnetic arm disengaged, releasing the vessel. The spacecraft's combined thrust, combined with its momentum, propelled it through the air, leaving two smoke trails from the large thrusters. Free from having to carry a vessel, the ramp lowered down back into place. The red lights began to shut down as the ship was moving to faster and faster speeds. Any resident could look up to see the distant blue flames of the transport as it flew higher and higher into the sky.

In reality, the g-forces seemed intense at first for Raavi, but it was declining more and more. The spacecraft needed to make sure that it could fly, that was for sure, but it was necessary to not reduce the individuals inside to red paint stains in the process from the sudden acceleration.

Slowly, the vessel began to turn up more and more. The ship’s fusion drives guaranteed that the engines received more than enough power to help escape Aphadus’s gravity.

There was very little turbulence inside the craft. There was little heavy wind outside, and the craft was so large that it could barely be jostled around. The ship’s wings and vectoring thrusters allowed it to be entirely in line with its speed and direction.

“Attention, everyone,” the captain called out politely. “We will be in space in about two minutes.”

Inside, the craft was relatively quiet. While turbulence pushed on the individuals sitting down, it was a relatively relaxed experience.

“Are you alright?” Dolly asked Raavi.

“Yes, I am,” he replied. “How about you?”

“More than fine.”

A full minute had passed as the craft begun to hit the upper atmosphere. Finally, after all the moving, the ship had penetrated the atmosphere. It had entered into the vacuum of space. The engine glow had gone from blue to a calm red as the vessel began to slow down.

Raavi turned his head to look at the window. He could feel it as the weightlessness was obvious. Without gravity, only acceleration was pressing the passengers and staff to where the ship was going. He looked at his hand as he could see that his hand wasn’t falling to the ground.

“First time being in space?” Dolly asked.

“Yeah,” Raavi asked as he looked out the window. “I always heard of it, but I never felt it before.”

“It never gets old. I always enjoy it too.”

Raavi could see the darkness of space from his window. He could see the faint outline of the lit side of Aphadus as he could see the distant red star.

“Amazing…..,” he remarked.

“Surprised to see that you never left your planet.”

“I had the opportunities, but I liked Aphadus. I never felt the need to leave.”

“Attention everybody,” the pilot called out on the intercom. “We are currently en route to Fort Golconda. We will rendezvous with them in about five minutes. No delays are expected. They are currently powering up the gate for our jump to New Olympia. Everyone is expected to remain in their seats, fastened, to avoid getting injured when we alter course.”

Outside in space, Flight 66613 was currently heading toward its destination. The white delta wing spaceship was heading straight towards a large tethered space station in orbit of Aphadus. Fort Golconda was the gate array of the colony world. Other ships were near it. The ample space station had a massive flexible elevator tether connected to it to allow individuals to get in and out of it regularly. The station itself was shaped like a giant ankh. It had a large ring on top that was connected to a large spinning centripetal ring where the crew and staff operated. Between the ring and living habitat was the large docking bar where spaceships could park to unload cargo or do necessary repairs. There were arrays of gun batteries in place around the docking area to help provide basic protection for the space station.

Inside Flight 66613, Raavi kept his attention towards Dolly. It would be the first time that he could really start to ask her questions.

“I apologize,” Raavi said. “Yeah. It is the first time being out in space. I didn’t mean to ignore you a lot.”

“It is alright,” Dolly replied, waving her hand at him. “Enjoy this opportunity.”

“I was curious. I noticed your name Yuki was the same as the pilot’s last name. Is he related?”

Dolly seemed to look away as she considered it. “Yes…..he is…..mostly. How much do you know about the history of New Olympia?”

“From what I know, not much. I admit that I never tried to ask my girlfriend about it. From what I know, it just seems to be a common name every time I hear the reference to New Olympia.”

“Hmmm…..it is true. I admit I don’t know much about the pilot, though. The name is referred to our great family that helped play a small role in humanity's move to Mars long, long ago.”

“Wait….” Raavi commented as his brow lifted. “You mean thee Yuki family? I think I remember hearing something in my history books about it. I apologize. My history has never been good.”

“That is alright. Yes, I do come from that family. We…..the people that I am related to, we lived on Luna for sometime before we vacated to the new system New Olympia.”

“Ah, ok. I guess the name Yuki is to New Olympia as Lee, Smith, or Khatri is to everywhere else.”

“Pretty much. Not all of us use last names, though,” Dolly remarked.

“That surprises me honestly. I mean, how many people live on New Olympia?”

“About 30 million live on New Olympia.”

“And how many have the last name Yuki?”

“About 75%.”

“Wow,” Raavi said as he shook his head.

Dolly shrugged. “It is what it is.”

Raavi turned to look at the stroller capsule that was neatly secured. He had to ask her as it was bugging him.

“Are your children going to be alright from all this bumping around?”

Dolly looked at the capsule as she gave a gentle pat to it. “Don’t worry about them. These are not my babies,” she replied with a smile. “These are the adopted children that are to be transferred to New Olympia.”

“Is it true then?” he asked her. “I heard the stories about New Olympia and the fact that they have a high adoption rate.”

She nodded her head. “Yes. New Olympia goes out of its way to adopt as much as possible for the UWA. If there is an orphanage in some colony world, then we are not doing our job. New Olympia has made it its goal to ensure that no child is parentless.”

“The rumors were true then…..I always heard crazy stories about New Olympia and what they did with adopting.”

She tilted her head. “What stories?”

“There were these stories that New Olympia was adopting children and preventing agencies from investigating on the living environments of where the babies were brought. One media outlet outright believes that New Olympia was short of kidnapping babies.”

Dolly shook her head. She was even in surprise to it. “I admit that it happened to me once when it came to the accusations. It isn’t true. None of it is true. Our goal is to ensure that children under the age of sixteen that lose their immediate family to have a home. We never kidnap. We never coerce people into giving up children. To us, it is our way to return a debt to the UWA. We care. We truly do. I have made countless trips to various colonies. It is my job to ensure that these three babies here are brought to New Olympia. There are already three families that are ready to take them in.”

Raavi seemed to nod his head. It seemed to make sense as she seemed sincere in her words. The media was known for its outrageous claims at times.

“I can promise you,” Dolly continued. “We have always made the appropriate steps in allowing adoption agencies the room to investigate any outrageous claims as to the well being of the adopted children we gather. I myself helped such an agency. Nothing was found out of the ordinary.”

Raavi nodded his head. For some reason, the last sentence seemed slightly off to him. When she said it, Dolly seemed a little shaken up.

“I am sorry,” he told her. “I didn’t mean to……I am not accusing you as some kidnapper. I know that the media group I got the information from likes doing that sort of crap. They make outrageous claims and broadcast it to make ratings.”

She nodded her head. “It is alright. I know you don’t mean it. Every trip, I make it my goal to remember their names. I must have thousands memorized.” She turned her head to look at the capsule. “Samuel, Vihaan, and Fatima here all have a home waiting for them. New Olympia cares about those that don’t have anything.”

It was all that Raavi needed to hear as he gave a brief smile. He turned his head to look at the window. He felt a small shift as the transport made a short turn towards the gate array. He peered to gather as much as he could see. It was a sight to behold. He could see the gate array perched on top as its ring was glowing. A small vortex was swirling in the center. The extraordinary ability to fold space was the miracle technology. The ability to make a trip from one solar system to another was the saving grace for humankind. He could see an old JX-15 freighter who was busy moving cargo containers to the space station's docking bar. Its centripetal rotating bars were spinning in place. Its shuttles would grab the boxes and slowly disconnect it from the stern section to move it.

Among one of the other things he saw was one of the great United Human Naval warships. The UHN Polo was a battleship utilized by the UWA to safeguard the solar system. It was parked a distance from the ring and protecting the station. Like a guard standing at the gate, the ship stood in place. It was a long cylindrical hull with a spinning centripetal ring near the rear engines. The centripetal ring would help ensure that the crew inside had some sort of artificial means to generate gravity inside. Raavi could see the large railguns mounted on the middle top and bottom of the hull.

“First time seeing those warships up close,” Raavi commented to Dolly. “Pretty…..”

“Have much interest in space?” Dolly asked.

“Actually…..yeah, I do. I just never had a chance to leave my planet. At least until now.”

Raavi could feel more jolting in the gate jumper. The ship was making its adjustments. Slowly, the vessel was positioning itself to the gate ring.

The spinning vortex of blue particles had formed a hole in space. With a simple flyby, the ship would be sent from one location to another instantly. Even Raavi knew that he was going several light-years in one single jump.

“Attention, everyone,” the intercom called out. “We have made our adjustments and are in perfect alignment with the gate array. We will be making our jump into New Olympia shortly.”

The intercom closed as Raavi turned to look at Dolly. “How are these jumps?”

“Oh,” she waved her hand. “It is nothing to worry about. It is instant—one place to another. You feel more from the thrusters pushing you back as we fly into it than anything else. Perfectly harmless. I have done hundreds of these jumps without a hitch.”

It seemed to calm him down a little bit. He felt a little bit anxious as he could see a little bit more of the vortex. It was getting beyond the visual range of the window. He could see the edge of the gate ring as the gate jumper was at a full stop. He gripped the soft vinyl of the seat with his hands. He closed his eyes. He knew it was going to be quick.

Outside, the spaceship was idle. Its engines were barely glowing. The vortex gate was as large as it could be in the center of the gate array. The center of the swirling particles had a large hole that looked like an event horizon. It was a tunnel in which the vessel could fly through. The gate jumper had a series of blue lights that flickered to let the other ships know of its impending jump.

The rear thrusters activated as the spacecraft pushed forward. It got closer and closer to the vortex until it finally flew through it. Watching it from the side, the folded space gate was almost flat. The vessel entered it as it seemed like it flying into a landscape painting.

Raavi only felt the nudge of the spacecraft as it flew into the vortex. Much as Dolly had mentioned before, there wasn’t much to it. As it flew in, he felt an odd feeling to himself. He looked around and felt like everything momentarily slowed down before it sped up. He also had this feeling of being in two places at once.

In reality, the ship itself flew through a tunnel in less than a second. More time was taken, creating the gate than ever passing through it. As quickly as it happened for Raavi, he never went anywhere in his seat, but he had traveled farther than he ever had before.

For Raavi, he didn’t feel much at all. He almost questioned if he ever leaped, to begin with. He turned to look his head out the window.

Outside the spacecraft was a new location and environment. Space was the same. The void of nothingness was broken up by the strands of things that were lit up. The gate jumper had exited a swirling mass of particles and energy. The vortex was powered by a gate array of almost pure white. The enormous ring had two large spheres attached to either side of the ring. In the great distance was the shining red dwarf that lit the surrounding area.

“I have to remind myself that New Olympia is in a red dwarf system,” Raavi remarked to Dolly as he was looking out the window. It looks so much like Aphadus.”

“You have seen nothing yet,” Dolly replied.

“Attention, passengers of Flight 66613,” the intercom announced. “We have arrived at the New Olympian system. Our next stop will be the UHN Opet to drop off a passenger before we continue our main flight to New Olympia itself.”

It didn’t take long for Raavi to see it. As he continued to peer out the window, he could see the enormous gate array of New Olympia shut down. The swirling mass of particles ceased as the gate closed up. The energy poured into folding space had ended as the gate array's glowing white light dimmed down almost instantly.

The ship itself was still traveling forward as the emptiness of space was all around the spacecraft. Raavi could see the distant planet of New Olympia. The seemingly barren world was nothing unusual to look at. It was one of three planets in the solar system. The red dwarf star had its worlds so close that one was getting scorched even by the dimmer light and radiation of an M-Type star. Much like Aphadus, the world of New Olympia was incredibly close to its star. The planets were tidally locked. One side was forever facing the star, while the other side was in perpetual darkness. Unlike Aphadus, New Olympia was seemingly lifeless. Most of it was orange and yellow rock and sand on one side of the planet. The other side was seemingly dark and cold. The superflares of its star produced radiation surges so high that it would rip an atmosphere off the world with mere ease.

“I still can’t figure out why you choose this world to be your home,” Raavi told Dolly. “You chose a world that can’t support life.”

“That isn’t true. There was a perfect reason why we chose it.”

“Hmmm……” he said with a frown.

“You are a UWAN dater. You have someone you plan on meeting, right?” Dolly asked as she looked at Raavi. There was a slight jolt as the ship turned towards the planet and activated its engines to push itself forward.

He turned to look at her. “Yes.”

“She must be pretty special.”

“Oh….” Raavi replied with a smile. “She is amazing to talk to. I just…..I can’t describe it. The more I talk to her, the more I want to be with her.”

Dolly had a smile on her face that was beaming. “The tourists are going to learn so much about New Olympia.”

“I always hear the stories of those that stay here. Is it true?...... Is it true that there are like two wives for every husband?”

Dolly nodded her head. “Mostly. It isn’t completely true. A man may have a husband or wife like another world. We allow polygamy.”

“I always wondered how you don’t run out of women by doing such things.”

Dolly looked away for a short bit as she nodded her head before looking back at him. “I guess you only know so much about us. It is true that we only have so many males on our planet. I would be lying that of the adopted children; the boys are more important.” She waved her hands, and her volume picked up. “Not saying that Fatima here is worthless. It is just…..”

“There are just more women than men…..” Raavi filled in the blanks.

“Yeah. I promise Fatima will have a good life here in New Olympia. It is just in my position. I can confirm that I am married to a man. I ended up marrying him, becoming his second wife.”

“Man, that must be pretty crazy. How do you handle not being jealous?”

She shrugged. “We have to accept some things the way it is. It isn’t to say that every man is going to have two wives, though. Some men may have three wives, more, or just one. It also depends on the individual and what they prefer. Perhaps this…..Ummm, may I ask who this girlfriend of yours is?”

“Her name is Oniya. She is on the UHN Opet.”

“Oh, that is why we are going to dock with the Opet. We are dropping you off there….”

“Yep,” Raavi replied with a nod. “I am not going to New Olympia directly. I am going to a ship.”

“Ah…” Dolly said with a wave. “Yeah, she is going to give you more information about us on what I haven’t said yet. You are going to one of our ships then.”

“A part of me doesn’t feel too excited about it.”

“Why not?”

“Not sure how ship life is going to be like for me. I have heard of various stories from people on the UHN service, and I am not sure how they are going to let a civilian like me onboard and all that.”

“Hmmm….as far as I know, we do allow the ma….boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, or wives of those on board our ships. I don’t know much more than that.”

“Yeah, I already got a part of that,” Raavi confirmed. “I am just amazed that they do that.”

“Maybe it is the fact that you are in no real danger. Maybe for us, it is best to have those that we love always be close to us.”

Those words seemed to stick in Raavi’s mind for a while. Dolly seemed to have a point. Why would civilians be allowed on New Olympian ships that were registered in the UHN?

“Maybe……I think even Oniya hinted that it was really more of a transport than a true warship. I think with transports under UHN service, civilians are still allowed in. Of course, special rules and orders can allow civilians to be onboard military craft regardless. My sister serves on the UHN Repose as a civilian doctor. The Repose is a hospital ship, by the way.”

“Oh, ok. Didn’t have the same interests as your sister?”

Raavi shook his head. “Nah. I preferred accounting rather than anything else.”

“I have two sisters that work in the same adoption agency like mine. It is why I asked.”

“Ah. I can see why. All of you must really like kids.”

“Heh,” Dolly seemed to giggle a little bit. “Yes. We love kids. I can’t get enough of them. I am trying to convince my husband to have one more kid.”

“Oh, I could have figured that you’re a mother.”

“Well…I did have kids awhile back. I just want to have more.”

It was an odd comment by her that seemed to take Raavi a little bit back. She appeared young by appearance. She looked like she was twenty years old, at least by age alone. Did she have kids at a much younger age? It didn’t seem to make much sense to him. He decided not to bring up any further questions on it.

“So everyone else is going to New Olympia,” Raavi said, changing the conversation. “I wonder why there is so little on this ship.”

“I have seen more on these transports. It really depends on the time of the day these transports come and go.”

“Yeah, the way it looks, I would feel that your tourism is pretty bad.”

“No, we have it. I have been on flights where fifty to seventy people would be on the trip. Some would be like you that are going to meet up with their boyfriends or girlfriends that they chatted online or just plain tourists in general. Same with the children I bring back. Some trips it would be a single child, or it might be seven. My largest trip, I brought back ten children of various ages from Oshun…..boy was that a handful.”

“I bet.”

Dolly seemed to smile for a little bit. “Do you feel ready?”

“What do you mean?”

“To see everything that New Olympia offers?”

Raavi shrugged. “I am as ready as ever. Oniya seems like a nice woman. I can’t wait to meet her face to face.”

He turned to look out the window once again. The sight was incredible. He could also see the planet's trail edge as it reflected its near barren surface from the star. It was much closer now as the ship continued to fly closer and closer to it. What he began to see astounded him. Twelve large white cylindrical vessels were in orbit of the planet. The spaceships were enormous the closer and closer the gate jumper got. In fact, the ships were beyond Raavi’s expectations. Their size dwarfed anything in size.

“What?......” Raavi remarked as he looked at the ships.

“That is the New Olympian fleet,” Dolly explained. “They are the defense of our home.”

“They are so huge…..the gun alone is the size of the battleship in orbit of Aphadus.”

Raavi continued to look at the enormity of the New Olympian fleet. The warships were long white cylindrical vessels. Almost shaped like cigars, the ships had several thrusters in the rear. Four thrusters were mounted forward like prongs. The aft midsection had a large sphere in the hull. In the middle sides were two large bays of some sort. Near the front was a series of arrays, but in the stern was the most notable sight. A massive dual cannon perforated the forward section. Mounted on a gigantic gimble like mount, the gun could seemingly swivel with ease. The weapon alone was more significant than the UHN Polo back on Aphadus.

“How is that possible?” Raavi asked. “I never studied much on the military, but the resources to make those must be insane. Even the business company I worked in could never afford this.”

“We just did,” Dolly replied. “Anything is possible.”

“That…..doesn’t explain it though…..it is just……”

“I admit it isn’t where I work with. I work with adoption. Maybe…..Oniya will explain more on it.”

“Yeah…..she had mentioned some of it before, but to see it up close……”

“You still haven’t seen the rest of it.”

It was here that another ship had come into view from the window viewpoint that made Raavi’s jaw almost drop. It wasn’t just another dreadnought, but it was seemingly larger. The vessel was also white and cylindrical, but it didn’t have a giant gun on it like the others. This one, however, had two substantial rotating cylindrical drums that spun on the hull. Apparently, it was generating centripetal force. The spinning drum alone was also the size of the battleships back at Aphadus. The midsection had the same array system as the dreadnoughts. It also had a sphere-like protrusion in the hull. The forward section was like a giant box for holding shuttles. The rear area had a long pink tail like array to it.

“The UHN Osiris,” Dolly remarked as he tried to make sense of it. “It was originally the Lunaran Ark that brought us here.”

“Just…..amazing…..” were Raavi’s only comment.

“Attention passengers,” the overhead intercom called out. “We are nearing the UHN Opet. We will be docking with them shortly. All passengers disembarking from Flight 66613, please remain seated until we give the go-ahead to move from your seats.”

“I got to admit, there will be a lot of things that I will need to talk to Oniya about when I see her,” Raavi said.

“I am happy for you,” Dolly said with a grin on her face. “I know you will enjoy being with us.”

“Thank you.”

“If you ever get a chance, make sure you see the inside of New Olympia itself. You are only seeing the outside of it. It does no favors for you.”

The words seemed to echo in his mind. He could finally see the edge of another ship that was coming into view. The spaceship was so close to it that it was tough to see it from the viewport alone.

Outside the ship, the gate jumper was nearing its destination. It was pulling up alongside a vessel that was much larger than it. Amongst the fleet of gigantic warships was a seemingly smaller ship. It was almost twice the size of the gate jumper. It was white and cylindrical in appearance as it had two large thrusters at the rear and four forward-mounted thrusters. In the front center of the ship was a sizeable box-like hangar. Past that was a series of vectoring thrusters and what appeared to be two large rectangular portholes. The front midsection was a large white rotating drum that was spinning. The midsection was a docking port that was getting ready to extend outward to the incoming transport. Near the rear of the vessel was a sphere-like section, much like the other New Olympian ships.

It was too difficult to make out the UHN Opet from Raavi’s window. The ship was simply too close, but he could still make out some areas here and there. It wasn’t just white but a pearly gray that dominated his vision. Only the faint red light of the distant starlight altered the reflection from the surface. He briefly saw the same flag as before. The New Olympian symbol was different, having a shade of a tree branch and a bear paw print on the hull. The words UHN Opet was on the side written in both English and Chinese.

Raavi could feel the thrusters of the gate jumper slowing it down. It would jolt him just a little bit as he kept his hands gripped to the seat. He could look to the window and tell that it had come to a full stop next to the Opet.

He knew that the spacecraft was in perfect alignment with the other ship. Neither side was moving closer to one another. There was a slight sound that was coming from upfront. It was the sound coming from a porthole extending near the forward section of the craft.

“Looks like this is my stop,” Raavi told Dolly.

She looked down at his feet. “You don’t look like you are wearing any type of magnetic shoes or boots. How are you going to get out?”

“Well…..it is funny that you say that,” he told her.

He lifted one of his shoes to give her an answer as her eyes showed some slight dismay at what she saw. Showing the bottom of his right foot to her was his barefoot. There were no soles to his shoes at all.

“What?” Dolly asked as soon as she saw it. “You are actually barefoot.”

“Partly true. The shoes that I wear are designed to mask the fact that I have augmented feet. It allows me to walk around on solid surfaces without the need for magnetic boots or shoes.”

“Wow! I have heard of people that get many different types of augmentations for their bodies, but I never heard of that.”

“Yep. I use it for rock climbing. It helps me a lot when I climb the rocky hillsides of Aphadus. I never need socks. I know people sometimes get weird at seeing people with bare feet. That is where the shoes come in.”

“Attention all passengers of Flight 66613,” the intercom called out. “We have arrived at our destination. We are currently docked with the UHN Opet. You may unfasten your seatbelts and disembark.”

Raavi began to unfasten his seatbelts. He looked at Dolly as he began to feel the weightlessness hit him. It was quick as he took his feet and pressed them to the ground. There was a very slight thump sound as the soles and heels of his feet activated. It served as an anchor for his legs as they pressed down firmly to the carpeted ground.

“Heh….I wasn’t sure that they would work so well on the carpet or not,” he told her as he stood up.

It was working. If he weren’t holding onto something or had something to keep him to the ground, he would have indeed started floating in place. It was that or ensuring that he could grab the seats and moving across the ship that way. It was apparent that these gate jumpers were designed for short ranges. They were designed to get passengers and cargo from point A to point B. It lacked the means to generate centripetal force, and holding still was not a means to use constant acceleration to create some form of gravity. The end result was that everyone was weightless.

“You take care of yourself, Dolly,” Raavi told her.

“As do you, Raavi,” she replied. “I know you made the right choice. I think you will really enjoy it here.”

He smiled. “I know I will. Good luck with the adoption agency and the babies.”

She nodded. “It will be great. It always will.”

With that, Raavi began to walk forward. Each step was unusual. The augmented feet would clamp down to the carpet as it tried to touch the floor. It was barely enough, but he was able to feel an applied pressure to the bottom of his legs. It anchored him as they would adjust to his movements. Each step was enough to move him down the alley. There was a faint light emitted from the very bottom of his feet. It was working. He was not going to be floating around in the spaceship. He instead walked with ease to his intended destination.

He left Dolly and her adopted babies behind as he proceeded down the passageway. He passed the other woman that was still busy typing on her arm display screen. She didn’t even look over to him.

It was a little bit of a slower walk from him. He would continue to look at the windows as he could see more of the ship they were docked with. He could see the docking tube that was extended from the Opet to the spacecraft. It would be an easy transition to get to.

He passed by the two men that were seated next to each other.

“Man, I can’t wait to go to New Olympia,” one of the men said. “You know what we are going to find? Nothing but hot babes.”

“I know,” the other replied with glee. “Man, if the rumors are true…..two women for each man. We are going to have like four or six women. We got it made!”

Raavi kept it professional as he proceeded past them. He could definitely tell that these guys were ready to go to New Olympia. A part of him did smile, though. Even he felt a slight thought of it. It was contagious thinking at best.

He reached past the men as he got closer and closer to the door.

“Odd….” He quietly said to himself. “I feel like a part of me is going to see something so new. I have to tell myself it is just another ship.”

Raavi stood at the extended passageway that led to the Opet. Oniya was waiting in there for him. The girlfriend of his dreams was in there. He had to go and see her, and nothing was going to stop him from accomplishing his task.

He walked down the long passageway. Like a massive space bridge, the tunnel was simple in design. It prevented the need for shuttles that the gate jumper lacked. Two ships could meet up and transfer the people needed to be moved. Of course, it wasn’t without its dangers, but space was an extensive and open environment.

His feet and shoes were now touching solid ground. He had left Flight 66613 as he could no longer feel the carpeted floor but hard surface. This made it much easier to traverse now.

The pressurized tunnel was vast in size the further and further he moved. The gate jumper’s hatch was tiny compared to the Opet’s main hatchway. Raavi wondered if it was to allow large goods to be transferred from one ship to another. The vessel he was going on was a big transport ship, after all.

He looked back momentarily as he stood between both ships. The passageway was not well lit when compared to both vessels. It was odd to him. The Opet herself was like stepping into a massive gateway of light. He could see the brief outline of a white and gray passageway inside the ship from his spot, but the light itself made it look like he was stepping into the gates of heaven. Looking back at the gate jumper, the smaller hatchway formed an optical illusion of being very far away, even if it wasn’t.

He could hear his feet now more than ever. It was still tranquil as it produced the light thump sound of magnetic pads touching and gripping the surface. It wasn’t loud, but the still quietness of the environment made anything slightly noticeable.

“Well,…..it is a good choice,” Raavi said to himself. “It is the right decision to finally meet her.”

He reached the doorway that led to the Opet herself. The brightness of the opening had faded as his eyes quickly readjusted. His feet had reached the main entrance that led into the ship. He was ready as he stepped inside.

“Wha!?” were Raavi’s only words as he suddenly felt a tug on him. It drove him to the ground hard as he lost his footing. Upon stepping into the UHN Opet, he felt it. It was weight, and it took him by sheer surprise. His feet disengaged as he crashed to the ground. He tumbled and landed on his left arm. Pain riddled his body, but it wasn’t too serious.

“What the hell?” Raavi tried to say. “How?”

He was still trying to make sense of what happened. He was feeling weight being pulled down on him. It was….

“Gravity…..How is that possible?” He asked as he tried to pull himself back up from the solid surface.

It was indeed gravity that was pulling him down. How was it possible for a spaceship to generate its own artificial gravity? His mind was filled with questions.

“I am not in the rotating centripetal ring, and this ship isn’t accelerating,” he remarked out loud. “There is no means to generate gravity like this. There is no way that I am on the planet.”

He had stood up and looked around. He felt some bruising on his left arm, but it was nothing terrible. It felt different going from zero gravity to sudden gravity in less than a second. It was the very moment that he stepped inside the ship. It was as if the UHN Opet had its own means of generating gravity.

He turned to look at the gate jumper. The doors of the Opet closed up suddenly and quickly, almost startling him. Flight 66613 had completed its task and was now in the process of detaching from the Opet. The Opet’s docking tube was retracting back into itself.

“Well…..I guess I will find out more about this later,” he told himself. He turned around and began to look at the environment that he was now in.

It was like nothing that he had ever seen before. He was reorienting himself to gravity. It felt slightly less than Aphadus’s gravity but nothing out of the ordinary. He was standing by the large airlock as a passageway had lain before him. It consisted of pearly white and gray all around him. It was incredibly spacious on the inside. The ceiling that must have led to the decks above him reached as high as thirteen to fifteen feet in height alone. You could have driven vehicles down the hallway alone.

He turned to look at one way, which led to the aft section of the vessel. It was a straight passageway that had a series of large sliding doors that led to various rooms. He could see the lighting, which illuminated everything incredibly well. There was some pulsing light that circulated on the sidewalls that went down the long halls. Like one giant array of lights, the colors would slowly shift to different colors of the spectrum.

It was seemingly pretty inside. To feel gravity underneath his feet alone felt like luxury.

He turned his head in another direction, and it was here that he saw a person approaching him. It was a single person.

He recognized her immediately, but her looks were seemingly off. She was still a little bit of a distance away, but he could hear her footsteps.

“Oniya?” Raavi asked her name.

“Raavi!?” the woman called out to him. It had to be her.

Raavi could notice her appearance. It didn’t seem right. She was as the description told her as she was. What she was wearing, though, was different from that even Raavi noticed.

Oniya was, by Raavi’s observations, a woman whose family was descended from Egypt of former Earth. She had almost a bronze skin tone to her. Her hair was black and braided, hanging down to one side. She was slightly chubby, but that wasn’t the issue. She was wearing what looked like an officer’s uniform. The typical UHN officer uniform was a perfect blend of red and blue. Red represented the familiarity to Mars, human civilization's capital, and blue represented Earth, the planet of the lost cause. The red topper would flow down the center with blue and gold like buttons. Her blue pants and red dress shoes also seemed to highlight her looks. She also seemed to be wearing some sort of multicolored bandana or headband on her head.

It was not what Raavi was expecting, but he had little to say on it. She waved her hand as she closed in on him.

“I am so glad to see you!” Oniya called out to him.

Her smile was contagious as Raavi even smiled upon looking at her. She was somewhat odd-looking but beautiful regardless.

“I get to finally see you up close and personal,” Raavi commented to her as they walked up and hugged each other. “I hope I am not displaying something out of military code by hugging you.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Oniya replied as she patted his shoulder. They released each other from their hug as they stepped back and looked at each other.

“I…..I can’t believe it,” Raavi said as he lifted his hand to look at her body and frame. “You……you’re an officer?”

She nodded her head and then looked down. Her smile came to an end as if she felt ashamed. “Yes…..I am. I am sorry that I misled you on that. I had told you that I served on the UHN Opet, but I didn’t want to scare you if I told you that I was one.”

“I can’t believe it. You already know I have a sister that serves in the UHN. Officers don’t scare me. Besides, I am a civilian.”

“Hmmm…..true,” Oniya remarked. “With me though, it is more than that……far more than that. Come……let me give you a tour of the UHN Opet.”

She turned around as he followed close next to her. His eyes naturally scanned her again. It was the first time getting a chance to see her face to face finally. While she was naturally a little bit chubby, the weight went to the best places on her body. Her chest was slightly big, but the uniform covered it up. The same went with her stomach, which again was covered up by the uniform. Her butt, though, was slightly large, and that was something that the uniform could only cover up so much.

“I see you checking me out,” Oniya said with a grin.

“I am sorry,” he told her. “To see you up close, finally. You being an officer just took me off guard.”

“It is alright,” she said, waving her hand at him. “It is my fault for not telling you that before we finally get to meet each other.”

“It seems like a pattern with UWAN dating. Somebody always doesn’t tell the whole truth before seeing each other up close. At least this is a happy surprise.”

That seemed to make Oniya happy to hear. She nodded her head as she pointed to the long passageway. “This is the UHN Opet. This is a transport ship that is registered and serves the United Human Navy. It is part of the New Olympian fleet.”

“It is pretty,” Raavi remarked as they continued walking. “I can’t believe that you guys have gravity. How is that possible?”

“Hmmm…..,” she seemed hesitant. “Normally, we don’t allow people from outside colonies on our ship. It is too early for me to answer that question for you. For now, enjoy it.”

He couldn’t argue with that. It was better than having the awkwardness of relying on magnetic shoes, boots, or augmented feet to move you around.

“It is just funny,” he told her. “I ended up falling to the ground when I stepped aboard. I wasn’t expecting it.”

Her head turned to him. There was a look of concern on her face. “Are you hurt?”

He gently grabbed his left arm and moved it around a little bit. “I am fine. I have some bruises, but it will heal.”

“Well, we do have a medical bay here on the ship,” she replied. “I have a wonderful doctor that can fix that right up.”

As they would walk, Raavi could see little porthole windows on his left. Outside the portholes he could see space itself. They would continuously walk past doors on their right as they proceeded forward of the ship.

Eventually, there were no windows in the extended vast area.

“Why don’t you have any windows in this area?” Raavi asked.

“That is because we have the rotating ring that is blocking the view.”

“Oh yeah, I saw it as we were docking with the ship. You have the same centripetal rings as the other ships.”

“Yes.”

“I just find it odd that you have that, and yet you have gravity.”

“As I said,” she told him. “It will be best to explain all of it later. For now, it is best that I give you the tour.”

Raavi nodded. He could hear the massive spinning apparatus. Like a giant drum, the device itself must have taken at least a third of the ship alone. It was somewhat harmonic. It almost made it sound like the spaceship was alive. The radiating colors of the rainbow made it only prettier.

“Are all the New Olympian ships like these?” he asked her.

“More or less,” she replied. “We normally don’t let others from the other worlds on this ship except for the very few…..like boyfriends or husbands.”

“I thank you for letting me on board.”

“There was no way I was ever going to prevent you from coming on board. You are…..” she seemed a little bit flushed. She went and reached her hand to grab his. He looked down as she could see her holding his hand. “I couldn’t say no to having you onboard.”

It was a welcoming sight for Raavi. The warmth and delicateness of her hand were inviting. Apparently, there was nothing wrong with displaying some affection on a military ship.

She used her other hand to point to each of the rooms. “Most of these rooms are really just storage rooms or crew quarters, actually. We haven’t been missing on anything important.”

“What rank are you anyway? I do apologize. I am not much of a military person.”

“I am……the captain,” she hesitantly replied.

This caused Raavi to stop in his tracks. Oniya stopped as well as she looked over to him. He looked at her and was dismayed.

“You command this entire ship?” he asked her.

“Yes. I……I……I didn’t want to tell you until you were here,” she replied.

Raavi frowned a little bit. “I wish you told me all this stuff beforehand.”

“I know…..,” she said as her head looked down. She still gripped onto his hand as she put her other hand to it. “I just…..there is so much about me that you don’t know, Raavi.” She looked back at him. “If I had on my profile account that I was some Captain of a ship that was looking for a husband, I would have had way more responses than what it was going to be. I wanted to make sure that I found the right man for me….., you know?”

He felt like she was sincere, and the fact was that he wasn’t mad at her. “Actually…..it is interesting to hear that you lead this ship. I can’t be mad at you.”

This caused Oniya to relax in her composure. She grinned and released her other hand from his. They instead resumed their walk down the passageway.

“How many crew members do you have on this ship?” he asked her.

“Eight.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah, I don’t need any more than that.”

“This ship is huge! How do you?.....”

“I will answer that question later,” she said while trying to calm him down.

The more and more he heard things, the more and more things didn’t add up. How does a ship have gravity like this? How does it have so little crew on it? He was no military man, but even he knew that his sister’s ship required at least forty to operate it, and the Opet seemed like it was the same size.

“I apologize…..,” he commented. “It is so much to hear about everything. It is a bit of shock to me.”

“It is alright. I understand your feelings. It is best for you to experience all these things right now and get a taste of what was happening. I promise you that there is more that you don’t know about.”

“Do you have everything here for me?” he asked her. “I did what you asked and brought nothing with me.”

“Raavi, we have everything for you and more. Ask, and you will receive, my love.”

The words seemed to assure him. It was comforting for him to hear that.

“Heh…..,” he remarked.

“What?”

“To hear, you say that.”

“Would you prefer it any other way?”

Raavi could see the edge of the passageway ahead of him. It was leading to a dead end with a large sliding door at the end right. He could see the windows and space again on his left as they walked past the ship's rotating drum.

“This is the forward hangar bay,” Oniya said as she pointed to the large door. Inside is where cargo and stuff are moved around when we need to. We also have a shuttle inside to help move things when needed.”

“Ah….that is that large box-like structure you have in the front of the ship,” Raavi commented.

“Yes. We used the UHN Osiris as a sort of blueprint for making these ships. It is smaller and does the same job without having to build something so large in the process.”

“What you have in that fleet here. Those ships are enormous. They must have cost a fortune to build them.”

Oniya shrugged a little bit. “Hmmm…..not entirely.”

“Not entirely? How did……”

His question was cut off the moment the doors to the hangar opened up. It slid open to reveal a tall man that walked out. He, unlike Oniya, was wearing a different uniform. He had some sort of blue and red coveralls over his black boots. He didn’t appear to be an officer but just a regular worker on the ship. His attention was focused on the man.

The man himself appeared to have a slight bronze complexion to him. He had a very light black mustache but nothing else. At first, Raavi had thought that the man might have come from Aphadus, but his facial features didn’t completely match. He had black hair, almost as if he was……

“Hello?” the man addressed to Oniya and Raavi in a broad North American accent. “Captain…..is this the hu…..I mean, the person from Aphadus?”

“Yes,” she said with sincerity in her voice. “Raavi, this is Nanook. Nanook, this is Raavi. Nanook is the person who takes care of security and transporting things on the ship.”

“Nanook…..an interesting name….” Raavi remarked.

“Yes,” Nanook replied with some annoyance. “My name comes from the Inuit of former Earth. It is a name I am most proud of.”

“Interesting,” Raavi said as he held out his hand to him. Nanook hesitated but extended his hand and shook it in response.

There was not much smiling that came from Nanook that Raavi could see, but it seemed that he was not a hostile or aggressive person. Nanook instead focused his attention on Oniya.

Captain, everything is good with the hangar. I fixed the problem with the door.”

“Oh, thank you, Nanook,” Oniya replied.

There was not much else said with the tall man as he began to walk away. Raavi simply watched as he gave a brief glimpse at Raavi before he left both of them. He turned to look back at Oniya.

“Not exactly the most charming of individuals,” Raavi remarked.

“I would give it time,” Oniya replied. “Nanook has his reasons for being the way he is. Here is the hangar bay. ”

Oniya walked up to the door as it opened up automatically. The sliding doors were quick and responsive as both Oniya and Raavi stepped in.

Inside the hangar bay, Raavi had a chance to see the internal layout of the room. It was quite huge. The bay itself was seemingly a sizeable gray room. There were two doors, with one being from which he entered. The other was on the other side. The bay itself was the size of a football field, with most of it seemingly empty.

There was something oddly peculiar with the room that Raavi began to notice. The bay had a single shuttle inside it. Raavi was familiar with the shuttle as they were the standard spaceship shuttle based vehicles. This one was an unarmed civilian type of vehicle used to move cargo from ship to ship. These shuttles were usually quite large to help ensure that there was plenty of space for survival gear, moving, and evacuation personnel from an area. The bay’s uniqueness stemmed down to it being huge in size and the colors that were depicted.