Gabatrix: The Shira Maneuver

We stand at the precipice of the black void that is called space. In the distant starlight, we see a single yellow dwarf star glowing that provides a great radiance to a single small habitable planet in the solar system. On it is a shade of green, blue, white, and yellow. It is a sign that there is life in this world. A single moon orbits it as you can only see the very faint signs of distant worlds that orbit around the star itself. We hear nothing and only feel the cold emptiness that space is. Instead, we simply gaze upon the planet. Only the distant stars provide any signs of illumination besides the star closest to here.

It is often said that Earth is a lonely planet in the cosmos. A fascinating concept is that this world was a latecomer in the development of life. While the……supposed name of “The Milky Way Galaxy” is about 13 billion years old, the star that is called “Sol” is one that is actually only about four and a half billion years in age. This may sound like it is a lot. A million years is a flickering span of time. It is actually believed that the planets Venus and Mars were actually some of the first planets to harbor life as Earth was still struggling to develop. If this were true, then the Sol system was a place where three habitable worlds all coincided with one another. Two billion years ago, we would look at Venus to see a planet that slowly spins in reverse from Earth with a beautiful shade of blue, white, orange, and possibly green. Mars would have been a small planet with more landmass but still carrying sizeable oceans of water.

So what happened? In today’s sense, Venus is a runaway greenhouse effect. To go there is to be crushed by the immense pressures on the ground. Mars has had its water and atmosphere almost stripped away to leave a red and orange barren rock with only dust storms to show any outside activity. It is apparent that these worlds have the ingredients to have life. A common popular aspect is that Venus might have had early life develop on it but would be slowly cooked by Sol as it expanded in size when it reached mid-age. Earth is expected to eventually turn into Venus sometime in the far future, but that is not in our lifetimes.

Mars might have been another case where life could have developed, but something happened to prevent it. The magnetosphere on Mars is very weak, which means even Sol can slowly rip the atmosphere off of it in time. Technically, Mars’ only moons are too small to render much assistance if a moon is needed for life to develop. All is not lost for the tiny planet, however. It is still there, and even to the time period of the 22nd century, it would become the capital of the human race. If a means can be done to stop the runaway greenhouse effect on Venus, even that planet can be fully colonized in time.

Of course, the problem is, however, we are not in the 24th century, and I am not “The Cicerone” that has been giving you the exploration of the cosmos like the past beginning of every story so far…..

……The question is…….who am I? What is that deep, slow methodic female voice that echoes to your ear as you stand floating in the cosmos above the orbit of Earth? You do not know, but it is the only source of comfort that you have as you continue to learn more about the universe around you. It is unknown who the Cicerone is and what their purpose and goal is to accomplish. Instead, you have me to give you the word of the cosmos. It is I that will bring you that information that you haven’t had before. Perhaps the guide will one day return to bring his or her’s information that will help unravel the universe more and more. For now, you have me to help you along your way.

Instead, we look upon the world that we once called Itrea. It is the world that the humans called “The Land of Dinosaurs” millions of years ago. It was a turbulent time period. Over two hundred million years would pass, and seemingly little happened to occur for developing life. It is the tragic tale for many habitable worlds in the galaxy. Life can develop, but anything with our form of intelligence to randomly evolve is seemingly tiny. So many worlds with potential life…..so few intelligent species that we know of…..so few civilizations.

For a very long time, Earth has been a center point for life to develop, regardless. Even my personal beliefs had been transformed for some time once the human race was discovered. The history of the Itreans has been one that has been considered a great mystery and based on theories. There is much good reason for this. As we stand looking at the world that was once called Itrea, it is much different than that of Earth of today.

That world of what we know as the Mesozoic Era is much different in appearance than Earth is now. The continents known as South America and Africa are nearly touching each other before continental drift would pull them away. North America is split in twain due to flooding waters. Australia and Antarctica are practically together. Europe is nothing but islands that stand between Asia and North America. This was the world that my ancestors supposedly came from. Our people came from all of the continents, and it was a world where you ate the other to survive. The fight for dominance was ordinary and seemingly commonplace.

With that being said, it is obvious why the humans felt that nothing intelligent could have developed during that time period. The skeletons and bones all told the same tale. Bones would show that creatures slashed and cut into one another. Skulls would have tiny sockets for brains when compared to the humans of the 24th century. What made matters worse was that something happened to mark the end of the Mesozoic Era, which would occur with an asteroid that was expected to be almost 80 kilometers long. Itrea had been hit by many asteroids before. The curse of being almost alone was that nobody was going to help you. The benefit is that few giant rocks would come careening into your world either. Unfortunately for the inhabitants, this was when their luck would finally run out.

The humans call this enormous crater the Chicxulub Crater. It is the second-largest asteroid impact to ever strike the planet and would only be surpassed by the Verdefort impact of over two billion years ago. It is the location where Armageddon had come to Itrea. So much death…..the asteroid would leave a crater that spanned over 150 kilometers long. It would be responsible for causing massive disruptions to the climate. In the end, 75% of all life would become extinct. It would mark the end of the era of the age of “Dinosaurs.”

We watch as the planet unfolds after such a tragedy. Itrea undergoes its transformation. The asteroid impact shatters the internal crust of the planet. Volcanic eruptions are common, while ocean water is sent all over the globe. A new atmospheric layer of dirt, sulfur, and ash is jettisoned into the air. This massive amount of gases and dirt would block out the thermal radiation of the world so severely that massive cooling on the surface would begin.

To the humans, it would be known as the Paleocene Era. With 75% of wildlife extinct, much of the plants that survived would grow with little hindrance. The continents begin their long trek to what would become more known of what it is today. Surprisingly, we see that Itrea recovered very fast after the asteroid impact. For a time, the temperatures were actually higher than now, with almost double the amount of carbon dioxide. With little wildlife to hinder the plants, flora, and trees, the world began to regrow at an alarming rate. Mammals that were struggling to survive suddenly had a world of their own.

Were the dinosaurs truly gone? Not entirely. Even if three-quarters of the life were wiped out, many of the species that survived on Earth prior to the Orange Muck had qualities similar to dinosaurs. Among the greatest contenders were those of the birds. Sharks, amphibians, insects, and other reptiles survived to continue evolving. The asteroid had been devastating, but it was not the end of Itrea. If anything, it was merely an opportunity for something else to begin.

The real question is, could it had been possible that some of the few non-avian dinosaurs to survive? Evolution is a fickle concept at times. Velociraptors, Oviraptors, Allosaurus…..the humans had long claimed that they all ceased to exist the moment that the asteroid came barreling down upon Itrea. Most likely, all but a few made it in the end, and those who struggled to survive on a planet were undergoing rapid changes.

The only proper way of answering that question is to look for signs of civilization. Were there any signs of past civilizations before humanity? Unfortunately, that is a difficult question to solve. If the human race were to depart from Earth, like most of them have, then within thousands of years, the great buildings would erode and return to nature. Within hundreds of thousands of years, those structures would be gone entirely. Was it possible for the dinosaurs, the sharks, and other life to begin forming an intelligence and civilization?

Unfortunately, seemingly little is there. The past achievements of my people are all but guesswork by the Itreans and Humans of today. We continue to watch Earth as it goes through the Paleocene Era. The continents are moving farther and farther apart from one another. It is fascinating that at one time, almost all of the continents were supposedly together.

What is believed is that sometime after the asteroid impact was that my people either worked with the other surviving growing intelligent sharks and dinosaurs. We had small towns where we harvested the food, developed our own religions, and even had what you called a civilization. Supposedly, it took almost six million years for the human race to become what it is today. The Itreans had plenty of time for 66 million years to finally progress to what it is now before the arrival of humankind. Where those bones of my people are at is a mystery, but perhaps it lies in the great ocean depths waiting to be uncovered.

This leads to the inevitable conclusion of an intelligent growing civilization of any world. What happened to that civilization? It is a theory that I best surmise of my people that the peak of our society was during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. This was a time where Itrea was the hottest at being around an average temperature of 30 degrees Celsius. The asteroid impact still left lingering consequences upon our people. Carbon Dioxide emissions were higher than expected, causing the temperatures to be on par with the era of dinosaurs. Life was starting to adapt to this increased amount of heat and supposedly flourished. However, all good things eventually come to an end. The humans, unfortunately, have no fundamental belief in what caused the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum to come to an end or what started it. All that my people must have known was that everything was getting colder.

It must have been gradual, but the effects were substantial. It is my firm belief that the Itreans evolved much slower than humans. Even if we did have brains to think like them or beliefs that coincided with them, we operated differently in the end. We were at one with the environment, and we lived as simple people would. We survived until we started to see that our world was getting colder and colder. Desperation leads to innovation. All the civilizations got together and finally lifted up their hands to try to find out why the world was changing. It was here that we created the first rockets that eventually began to traverse orbit. Our technology was still primitive, but we had enough that we were learning about the Sol system.

There is an ancient religion that no longer exists in the Itrean clans. This is known as “Itrea’Nolala’Ko” or “The Slow Armageddon of Itrea” in the human tongue. This belief would span into other religions, but the common belief must have been where the Itreans had learned of the same possible fates of Venus and Mars. These were worlds that once supposedly held life on them, at least to the Itrean beliefs at the time. Itrea was slowly changing, and the Itrean people experienced a traumatic event of an asteroid collision that would decimate trillions in the deep ancient past. To them, the Itreans must have felt that the world of Itrea was doomed to be destroyed or made uninhabitable. More resources were being devoted to the developing civilization to encourage outer space travel and find new places to live before Itrea would experience true Armageddon.

While most of this is still guesswork, there is another aspect in the ancient Itrean history that suggests something interesting. The humans never invented space folding gate travel. They instead reverse engineered it from alien wreckage on Mars in the 23rd century. Was the technology ours? Unfortunately, we don’t have that answer. So little information is available…..in the end, we have to go by legends and myths.

It is my belief that the ancient Itreans never really reached Mars or even Luna, for that matter. Their technology was even more basic than the humans. Something fell into our laps, and all of it rests on a single legend……the Kiline.

The Kiline are often looked at as the “The First Ones.” This name resides in the Itrean language because they are believed to be the first sentient alien race that we ever encountered. To some of us, they are gods. To some, they are travelers with incredible power. We generally look at them as the guides to the universe. Perhaps even the Cicerone that has been guiding you in the first several stories might actually be one of these Kiline, to begin with. In the end, I have no answer to provide.

Whatever are their true names, the Kiline must have had pity for the Itrean people. They provided something to us that would revolutionize our civilization. It was so important that it would even help the human race as well. The technology was that of gate folding technology. With it, we could open up wormholes and jump to new solar systems. Even if it was the only piece of equipment, the gift of the travelers was one that we would remember in legend, even if others claimed we simply discovered it ourselves.

Whether it is true or not doesn’t matter. With the ability to fold space, the Itreans and their ancient belief that their world would come to an end drove the people to space exploration. With gate folding technology, they eventually found new worlds to settle on. The ancient religion of Itrea’Nolala’Ko would help push the many developing clans to abandon the planet. It must have been rough. Unlike the 22nd century “Earth to Mars Exodus,” for the Itreans, everyone began to pack up their belongings as they got on the ships. New awaited worlds were available that were far better than Itrea was ever imagined. The Promised Land awaited, and Itrea was to be forgotten. For the ones that possibly stayed on the planet, it is apparent that they never made it.

Instead, we say goodbye to this world. We begin to leave this planet as it would eventually have a new name…..Earth. A new civilization and intelligent race known as humanity would be brought forth as the world would undergo a Great Ice Age to further challenge life on it. To give credit, the humans managed to do well if they were able to survive such low hostile temperatures and still become what it is today. Perhaps they managed to do something that even the Itreans were too fearful of challenging.

Earth shrinks in the background. We get to faster and faster speeds. We move faster than the speed of the light as Sol begins to shrink down to a tiny speck in the galactic background. Just like everything else, the small yellow dwarf star is just a glowing dot in the vast amounts of other bright dots in the blackness of space. If only everyone could experience this form of travel, it would be more desirable than gate folding technology. We would begin to see the sheer size of the galaxy alone. We move at faster and faster speeds as the dots start to move. It is like driving through a three-dimensional light shower. We see the heated gases of star clusters in the center to even see Sol is just part of a massive moving series of star filaments orbiting the galactic center of the Milky Way galaxy.

  Our destination is one that brings us through the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy. We pass through a massive yellow and orange light that the distant specks of light began to fade. The surrounding environment is so bright that we can barely see anything……with the exception of those that absorb light. It is here that we see clusters of black holes. Most of them are small but are in synchronized orbit with one another. Eventually, these black holes and pulsars would fly into one another to grow in size. We pass by one that is utterly enormous. Perhaps this is Sagittarius A that is part of the heart of the galactic engine that drives the millions of stars around it.

It is an unusual feeling. To see such bright light replaced with black stars rivals what we see of everything else. If sentient life could develop here, then it must feel that the outside is empty nothingness, devoid of life, and devoid of light.

But our destination is not here as we continue to traverse through the heart of the galaxy. Giant stars began to fly past us that are utterly enormous and make Sol seem like a speck of dirt when placed next to it. Beautiful and bright, these stars burn brighter and hotter, but they will fall like so many things….often with a rather large explosion.

Where did the Itrean civilizations travel and develop? Our answer finally comes closer and closer to us. We watch as our eyes adjust to the new light that comes before us. We leave that vast assortment of light and gases that illuminate the cosmos. We continue to watch stars zip past us at an alarming rate. In the end, we have traversed tens of thousands of light-years. We are essentially on the other side of the Milky Way Galaxy. For the Itreans, the Itrea’Nolala’Ko drove us to get as far away from the planet as possible. It made sense that the opposite of the galaxy was the prime choice.

The time period is now. It is the 24th century, as we have left the past behind us. The stars began to slow down as we are nearing our destination. Technically, we have no surviving names of the first worlds other than Itrea, the first homeworld in history. However, we keep the coordinates recorded, and with it, we know where we are heading to. Space has become the black void once again as we see the numerous glowing dots all around us. A single binary star comes into view. One is a yellow dwarf star, and the other an orange dwarf that is in synchronized harmony with one another.

We have a number of planets that orbit them, everything from gas giants to tiny moons. We focus on the area known as the habitable zone. This is an area where the temperatures are very similar to that of Earth’s orbital range of Sol. It is a standard method for the search for life that even the Itreans are guilty of doing. It must have worked in the end because they found a world of paradise.

That is……of course……until we begin to zoom in on the planet. We finish our travel as you stare upon a world that has been ravaged. It isn’t even spherical, but it is easy to tell that it once was. The world has been shattered into three pieces that still try to be in orbit as much as possible. We see floating hulks of ancient destroyed warships also in orbit. Even the two moons have been bashed repeatedly. The world’s cracked surface holds numerous nuclear impact sights. Massive craters even show powerful weapon bombardment with enough firepower to smash mountains, the crust, and the mantle like it was nothing. There was once life here, but not anymore.

The Itreans call these sectors “Kota’Itrea’Nolala’Ko” as a fitting testament of the birthplace of the first colonized worlds of the Itrean clans. To the humans, we also call this “Dead Space,” as it is nothing but a graveyard of death. Nobody comes to here, and the fear of the deceased, ghosts, or spirits looms that we don’t wish to be here. The question is, what happened? All seemingly went well for the Itreans, and to have the gift of interstellar travel is one that should be celebrated. Yet, that wasn’t the case.

Humanity matured……or at least I hope it has enough. With the gift of interstellar travel is that of the hauntings of the past. For the Itreans, the past remained in everyone’s hearts. Ambition and greed yearned, and we came from a place where we had to kill and eat the other to survive. While there was a respect for nature, there was also the desire to bring harm to the others. Racism and discrimination were all but expected. Itrea’Nolala’Ko had transformed from a religion of found paradise to keeping the paradise. Species began to form clans, and the competition for resources combined with religious feuds, autonomy, and politics. This would finally drive the Itreans to commit genocide on a scale that humanity has never seen before. It was believed that powerful cannons were so enormous they could crack planets and were used against the other. It would become known as the Era of Death.

There is not even an Itrean word to define it. Such a waste of resources as habitable worlds was obliterated just because a war would come forth. Countless lives and experiences were discarded. Civilians and military were both alike as powerful anti-matter bombs and shells were used to destroy and kill everything just to prevent the enemy from getting a hold of it. Even the humans would call this “Scorched Earth Policy gone horribly wrong.” It didn’t happen all at once since the destruction of worlds was gradual. Regardless, the Itrean clans would unleash these weapons just to prove a point and to wipe the others out. As new colonies were founded, the surviving Itrean clans ventured away over hundreds of thousands of years of surviving recorded Itrean history. The search of living a peaceful life would be shattered as the warmongers bring about a new conflict to destroy planets again and again. The cycle continued for what some believed for millions upon millions of years.

It was once believed that there were numerous clans when it came to the Itreans as a whole. Some believed that there were once eleven different species all from a single planet. These clans remained hell-bent on eliminating the other. Speculation resides of who these other clans were due to the loss of history and destruction. From what is known was that there were the Yip’Turin Clan or the “Long Neck Walkers” that died out almost 900,000 cycles ago. There were the Gesh’Ot Clan or the “Tiny Dancers” that were smaller than the Yutilians. The Noo’dort Clan that were supposedly similar to the Yutilians, were all but gone within 200,000 cycles. For more recent history, it only consisted of five clans. The Palieran clan were next as they all but vanished. Finally, the Alara’jal clan would be the final victims leaving just the T’rintar, the Aksren, and the Shal’rein. Our fates are now left on each other.

This is one of the prime reasons why the Itreans barely expanded in technology. The cycle of finding peace to outright destruction was like a pendulum swing. We never learned and ever rarely ventured outward. I do not believe that the Itreans are psychotic but misguided over a maturity that never arrived. There must have been close calls for a final peace that came for some time. The desire for non-violence is a strong movement that has saved the lives of countless billions to even trillions. Regardless, the outcome was one that would punish us time after time. If only the humans can prove better than us……..

Something did, however, occur that brought an end to Itrea’Nolala’Ko. Naturally, it was time itself that ate it away, but it was also the fact of clarity towards the religion itself. For the many descendants, wisdom was winning, and the people were beginning to see that the destruction of worlds was not necessary. The first example of this was within hundreds of thousands of years ago, a warlord Shal’rein clan leader decided to forgo unleashing a powerful volley that would obliterate a planet just because the opposition wanted autonomy. At the time, some questioned him why he did it as he said, “A conquered world will reward you even if it does not happen overnight.” He instead conquered the planet with well-placed weapons-fire, and ground troops after years of brutal fighting. The people supposedly gave prized fish voluntarily to the warlord in thanks for not destroying their world in the conflict.

It is the first example of a colony world that would be spared from destruction that survives to this day. The people place a statue of the Shal’rein in honor of the man that spared them countless years later. It would highlight the region in the Milky Way Galaxy of conflict enlightenment that we know as “Old Space.” While many of the worlds would be later abandoned in time due to the exhaustion of resources, some still have populations that find ways to restore and keep their planetary environments working correctly.

The search for the Promised Land had only brought death to us. Trying to keep the Promised Land had failed, and Itrea’Nolala’Ko would eventually be buried. Ironically, new ancient religions formed that even promised of finding the first homeworld that had become lost in time due to war and conflict. There was a supposed planet where all the Itreans came from. Upon finding it, a new era would begin of peace, happiness, and prosperity for all forms of life. Regardless of whom you were or what you were, Itrea would be a new home of unity. Even violence would be no more. What was a planet that the Itreans left millions of years ago lurked in our minds that perhaps one day, Itrea would be found again.

For a time, even before finding Earth, wars still persist as we tried to find new ways to kill each other. Biowarfare and bioengineering was a prime example. New diseases would be used over and over again as we found ways to improve our bodily defenses against them. While conflict enlightenment was apparent, the desire to wipe out other clans was still desirable that persists to this day. Violence is still in the hearts of all Itreans, myself included. This is a tale that you must learn if you are to continue with my story and learn what it is to be Shal’rein or any Itrean.

In order to learn about who I am, you must first realize the truth of the universe. You watch as the destroyed planet, the stars, and the floating debris all begin to turn dark. The light is fading more and more. One by one, each star begins to fizzle out. You are being enveloped in a shroud of darkness.

The fact is that eventually, one day, the stars will begin to burn out. Known as entropy, the concept is that regardless of what will happen, the universe will eventually become nothing but solid black in the next several trillions of years to come. Light will become exceedingly rare as only pulsars, and red dwarfs will remain until even they eventually become black husks of matter to float in an ever-expanding universe. Black holes will be dominant, and there will be no illumination. While it is true that we will never have to worry about the end of “The Era of Light” in our lifetimes, this fact remains something that brings the mildest form of anxiety to any known Itrean or human being.

You watch as everything goes dark till you only see nothing but black all around you. It is a first fact of my accepted reality of the universe. Entropy will happen no matter what. No light is here, and none of it will ever again. Our eyes that expected to see something has permanently failed, and there is no hope of ever getting it back. We have essentially gone blind. Fundamentally, this is what reality is and what it will become. To fear it is a waste of energy and resources. After accepting this reality, you have now committed to the second step.

This is what I foresaw long ago the moment the bomb detonated near me, and the disease struck one of my eyes and face. The darkness was all around me. I remember the fear that entered me as I knew that I could be permanently blind. The light was gone as the eye patch covered the only working one. The engineered disease was spreading, but the ad hoc cure introduced had stopped it. The destruction that it left on my right eye was something that could never be redeemed, and the doctors worked around the clock to save my remaining eye. For weeks I walked around and could see nothing. I begged for anything and everything that I could finally see. It was the first step that my father had taught me just after Zilik’s Disease had taken his life. I took deep breaths and listened to audiobooks to help me continue to learn of the Itrean race, military strategy, and military history.

Through here, I learned more and more about what my father believed in, and that was emotional control threshold. It was the fact of embracing what could happen. I accepted that I would be blind for the rest of my life. My hearing had gotten better and better in the hospital. I even used my tilon to give off sonar pings so that I could track the environment around me. Entropy had entered me, and I realized that it became my religion. I learned to control most of my emotions and to keep myself under control regardless of whatever happens. In the end, I had nothing to fear. The darkness had become my companion while the others naturally feared it. I would sit in that hospital as I had found an inner power that most would never discover. In the end, my enemies could never truly stop me in battle.

I learned about something else that my father had also pushed onto me, and that was to use all your senses prior to battle. Among one of the things that resided with me at the hospital was the fact that I began to ponder the universe more and more. While sound was an ally to help me track things, there is an obvious fact of how the universe operates. This brings forth the third important factor of the universe, and that is the lack of audio sound. While in space, I myself cannot see and cannot hear those who wish to bring harm to me. This alone brings numerous problems in combat that I spent some time thinking of before the solution came to me that I listened to in an audiobook. It was an actual event that occurred over ninety thousand years ago.

On a distant colony world of Old Space lived a Shal’rein music composer and nuclear physicist named “Ton’Kor.” This composer was famous for many melodies and songs that were dominant on his planet. Ton’Kor was well known by many. He was privileged with the ability to come up with beautiful themes that were on par with Beethoven of Earth and even had a similar life as to him as well. He lived a life of luxury while he helped promote minor improvements to the Direct Fusion Drives used on our ships. Sadly, much of his scientific achievements had become lost in time, but his music survived and was carefully recorded and still played to this day.

Sadly, Ton’Kor is one that always seems to get a pass by many of the Shal’rein. In a clan where trillions of lives exist, even famous individuals can naturally become muted in time among seas of people. In his world, he was well known, but to other places, he was just another Shal’rein. He didn’t desire fame, but the ninety-six pieces of songs would be sung both on land and at sea. Among one of the famous composers, even had one song that could be sung both in the water and on the beach, allowing the Shal’rein lungs and vocal cords to reside in perfect tones. The music is rather interesting and beautiful to hear that words alone are not enough to describe it. Ironically, Ton’Kor wanted to be more remembered for his achievements with science rather than his music.

Unfortunately, wishing for such a thing would happen in the most unique way. The Yutilian clan had detonated a powerful bio bomb on the town that he lived in. While the disease was quickly contained, Ton’Kor was not so fortunate. Designed to cause blindness, failure of the respiratory system, and death, the Shal’rein had few options. Much as to my predicament that happened to me, this famous composer was told the news. While the disease had been temporarily halted, it was slowly eating away his vision. He would be completely blind in an Earth year, and in another few months afterward, he would be dead. Nothing could be done about it, and even regenerative abilities could not restore it.

It is said that upon being told of such news, Ton’Kor simply took a deep breath and walked into his laboratory alone. In a couple of Earth days, he went to the public and turned to his fans worldwide. He politely asked that he wanted access to the largest nuclear lab ever made. He told them of his predicament and claimed that he had one last song that he wished to make. He promised that it would be the best-composed music that ever existed. Interestingly, they gave him what he requested. He had access to a space station laboratory where they conducted tests on small mini nuclear bombs that could be safely produced and detonated.

What happened would become one of the more interesting aspects for a composer to ever exist. Ton’Kor utilized his skills as a nuclear physicist to the best of his abilities. Witnesses watched as he would use a shuttle and create micro blasts in space. Visually, the sight was impressive, and there was much debate that he was going to use up the entire arsenal of nuclear warheads at the time. His skills were incredible, and he himself was creating a form of art that none ever realized. He even managed to make miniature versions of the Direct Fusion Drive core, where they would operate in space for months at a time before they would burn out. Meanwhile, he would continue to create micro pulses utilizing anything that resided with radiation.

The world watched the Shal’rein continue with his work. Some asked to have it stopped, while others were curious as to what was going on with this character. Was he going crazy with his light show? Was he already insane? Was he trying to prove something? All that the witnesses could foretell was that he would progress doing the same thing over and over again for months. Space was littered with multiple micro explosions. Ton’Kor even supposedly introduced the uranium and depleted uranium atom assembler. This would revolutionize the way that nuclear fuel rods and warheads could be manufactured, making things easier than having to find the fuel and mine it on some planet. When asked, Ton’Kor said that it was for his music composition.

Even with these inventions, the Shal’rein was still looked at with much regard and skepticism. What was the goal of his year-long escapade in the magnificent light show that he made? There was no sound in space. People could only see the light emissions from the tiny bursts and explosions. Each day, more and more of these were happening. The shuttle would get radiated over and over again. Even the Shal’rein regenerative abilities could not withstand the massive amounts of radiation he was pouring onto himself. In the end, it didn’t matter as his disease was slowly eating away his body. He continued to promise that he was creating a masterpiece. Refinements were made over and over again in how he did it. His obsession was pushing the foundations of known Itrean technology to its limits. The mystery of Ton’Kor was on everyone’s minds. Other planets were getting to know him more and more and wanted to see what he was creating.

Regardless, Ton’Kor was suffering. His vision was getting worse and worse as each day went by. Within half an Earth year, his vision was down to 60%. Within another two months, it was down to 40%. He had assistants that would help him walk around and give him any form of help that he could have. He purposely kept them away from the shuttle as they watched him at work.

The year-long light show in space was carefully recorded, and it survives to this day in the libraries of the Shal’rein and T’rintar clan libraries. It was getting to the point that Ton’Kor was coughing and hacking more and more as his lungs were giving out. By the eleventh month, his vision was down to 15%.

Finally, the final day had arrived. Ton’Kor had made the announcement that his composition was complete. Fans had believed that he made the great silent audio masterpiece of the celebration of the universe. He notified them all that he had one more thing to accomplish before his eyesight was gone entirely. With his assistants, he was brought to the grand theater of his world. With a chair and a button, he told everyone that his masterpiece was fully finished and ready for all to enjoy. By now, he could barely see the audience as his eyesight was down to 5%. He lifted up his hands and pressed the button as he sat down on his chair.

The theater watched as the Shal’rein’s eyes had gone dark. The projection screen showed the recording of the pulses of light that he was doing since day one. While the explosions, pulses, and blasts were never that large, they produced a wonderful array of blue and orange light from his shuttle. In the distance was one of his floating fusion drive cores. A slow audio sound began to fill the auditorium. For the Shal’rein, it was something they had never heard of before.

“It was beautiful……” Ton’Kor remarked as he had but his ears to listen. He could not see the faces of the audience as the symphony had begun. He had nothing but black eyesight by now. Instead, the melody consisted of a low hum that would play. Each pulse or explosion would produce a pleasant buzz or melodic beeping sound to them. Meanwhile, the camera of his shuttle would focus on the fusion core to create a harmonious reverberating tone. Not only was the audience watching one of the most extended composed pieces of music, but it was indeed the greatest ever made.

Using a filter in his shuttle, Ton’Kor had converted electromagnetic radiation into a sound that was being played to everyone. The light show was only the disguise of what he was truly making. It was the sounds that he was harvesting from those blasts. He smiled from his chair as the audience stood up and raised their hands to honor the blind composer. 

The song would officially be called “The Fading Light,” and it is officially the longest piece of composition, being an entire year-long nonstop. It opened up the thoughts of the Shal’rein people about their universe and its purpose. Astronomers and explorers would be inspired for generations by his work. Ton’Kor would later pass away a month later. His song was still being played during his funeral. It is said that the Shal’rein that worshipped him did not finish the funeral until the melody came to an end almost eleven months later.

What is the Cosmic Melody? It is the music of the universe. By the time my eyepatch on my working eye was removed, I knew the answer to that question. I was able to see again with the story of Ton’Kor in my thoughts. It is the guide of the darkness. We pick up electromagnetic radiation all the time in space. Once it is converted to sound, the melody can be beautiful. It was what was guiding the great composer as well. The pleasant white noise remains in my thoughts. I can look at the stars and listen to their songs. I can look at the black holes and know what they are telling me. I might have had only one eye, but I could now see more than any Shal’rein could. I was able to foretell what was going to happen next. I had terrain and environmental advantage because of this single realization. As the universe eventually goes black, we have nothing to fear as we open our ears and listen……

With that said, there is only so much that I can tell about my story or my people. A war is ongoing, and I know what my plan is going to be. I know my position in the universe and where to guide the others. We must return to reality. The Itreans are at war with one another. The humans have allied with the T’rintar clan, and with this, we have a chance against a more dangerous creature than anything we ever imagine. We bring ourselves away from the opposite side of the galaxy. Once again, the lights return. We must hurry along now as the stars zip past us at phenomenal speeds. We fly past the center of the galaxy as the beach of floating dots runs past us.  Everything goes from bright orange and yellow to black as we get past the galactic center. Everything starts to get darker and darker as we begin to see what the humans call “The Aquarius Constellation.”

Through here, we zoom in on a single tiny star known as Gliese 849. The single glowing ball of red is an M-Type star. As we get closer and closer, we see two far orbiting gas giants that are far from their parent star. A single planet comes into view as our journey through the cosmos comes to an end. From what I know, you already know of the planet Aphadus. The single world has life on it. It is tidally locked, causing one side to forever point towards its star. This hasn’t stopped the planet from having life on it. The humans have made quite a home here…..even though I already attacked it once. In their wisdom, they forgave me and let me serve as an enlisted member of the UHN. I am one of the few Shal’rein that help amongst the humans besides the T’rintar clan allies.

We fly into the atmosphere as we go towards the pole region of Aphadus. This is where the temperatures are just right, with it not being too hot or too cold for them. Here the purple lakes are a common favorable sight. It almost reminds me of my home that I had long given up. Eventually, you see a large dome structure and the capital city that resides next to it. From here, our journey begins……

Staring at the restroom mirror was none other than an anthro shark-like woman. Her slick grayscale skin reflected off the overhead light. Shira was busy checking her hair and her hollowed-out right eye. She fitted the eyepatch over it as the elastic band fit snug on her head and purple hair. She didn’t have to look upon the damage that the disease had done to her. Even with her hair blocking it, there were subtle hints that black vein protrusions were going outward from the right eye socket. The combination of the dark purple hair and the eyepatch was more than enough to discourage the wayward individual that would question her ailment.

Shira seemed more than satisfied with the way her hair was set up as she moved it over the eyepatch. The hair would flow downward and over the right side jaw and cheek. In the end, her only working yellow shark-like eye was what she could see from. She monitored any signs of the halted disease on her right side. Her pointed shark-like jaws and snout looked alright to her.

She remarked at her appearance one last time. Her blue and red UHN jumpsuit uniform was more significant than the average human. With her seven-foot-tall frame, the Shal’rein were titans of the Itrean subspecies. Regardless, her eye carefully noted any crevice or crinkle that may show on the uniform itself. Carefully crafted, her attire even had a cut-out portion for her large shark-like tail to swing around without hindrance. Even the boots were painted blue to fit over her digitigrade legs and feet. She looked much like any human being in most aspects. Being from a subspecies of long evolved sharks, Shira knew that she was rather impressive when compared to the human beings of Aphadus.

Of course, there was one inevitable problem that Shira was all too aware of. Even her uniform hinted at the faint outline of a protruding object in her back pocket. She gave no recollection to it and instead simply kept a calm composure to the events that were going to transpire for the day.

“Good enough……” Shira said to herself. With almost no accent in her voice, she swung her tail to see the large fins. She gave a brief nod as her eye spotted a tiny speck of dust on her right shoulder. She used her four-digit fingers to carefully pluck it before tossing it off of her.

The restroom was nothing impressive to it. It was just past lunchtime, and she knew that she had to return to work. She slowly stepped away from the mirror, leaving only her gazing single eye to show her serious side. Impressions were always important, and it was best to always appear as the prim and proper officer even if she was only enlisted. Only a couple people were supposed to know who she truly was, and despite significant efforts to stop it, rumors had spread throughout the military base on Aphadus.

With that, the sliding door of the restroom opened up, and the Shal’rein stepped out into the central passageway. The great dome consisted of numerous hallways and rooms for every military personnel. Shira herself was pretty used to the constant commotion of everyday work. Humans that passed by would always look up at her. She was not dressed up like the Shal’rein that served in the T’rintar clan. If there were any of them, they would be in green, black, and purple armor. She preferred to see her as indomitable. If they feared her, then they feared her. If they were impressed, then they were impressed. She did not care about what they felt about her. It was something that she was always used to.

She began her long trek down the passageway. In reality, Aphadus’s military base had a large, almost circular type of hallway. The center portion consisted of areas advocated towards the hangar facility and the top chain of command. Aphadus was not precisely the top-notch base as it should be. It was something that Shira was all too aware of. The damage that she helped incur to it had been long repaired by now.

As she walked, she could see a couple of men that looked up at her as she proceeded past them. Her protruding fin ears were tuned to their direction. She could overhear them as they whispered their questions to one another. Who was she? Why was she wearing a UHN uniform? It was commonplace, but it was something that she knew was part of a long process for humankind itself. She could even recount seeing a Yutilian that was dressed in a UHN uniform as well. The longer the alliance stood, the more likely the humans would start to see Itreans in their day-to-day lives.

For Shira, she did not care either way. She only had one destination as she made a right turn in the hallway. She could overhear the announcements of the day, but it was superficial background chatter. Everything was set in accordance with the day, and she had everything carefully established with the scene of events that were going to transpire. The long walk was something that she was all too used to, and she kept a relaxed composure as she moved. Her tail would never sway, unlike the other Shal’rein. She was meticulous in ensuring that it didn’t bother anyone. She knew that her strength was more substantial than anyone that was present, and she was well aware of it.

More people walked by her. One gave her a mean look. It was a human woman. Shira’s eye caught her looking at her. She was well aware of the suffering that she brought to the people at the base. Of course, she still didn’t care too much. That time, she was their enemy. Any enemy of the Shal’rein clan had to be dealt with appropriately. At this time, the humans were now allies to her instead. Shira always kept this in mind. It was up to the humans to forget about any past grudges.

Shira walked past the woman and didn’t give any further thought to the woman. It was like background noise to her as the human whispered her curses to the towering alien.

Instead, the Shal’rein continued her walk as she made a left turn down the passageway. Something did catch her eye. It was both a human woman and an Aksren. This alone was a more curious sight for even Shira not to ignore. She knew immediately that this was an Aksren that was raised in the T’rintar clan. This was hinted at by her red and green spandex-like uniform. Unlike the Aksren clan, the Aksren of the T’rintar were friendly and passionate to everyone. They looked like anthro oviraptors. The other woman who had a dark complexion was in a red and blue marine camouflage uniform. The two were walking together, almost as if they were close in some way. Interestingly, the Aksren woman did not even notice Shira until her close proximity naturally caused her to move a little bit away.

“I am telling you we should go outside and get drunk!” the human woman told her companion in a faint accent. The two walked by Shira as she could see that the Aksren woman was smiling from her small pointed beak. The Shal’rein’s face turned lightly towards the two that was enough for her shark-like eye to note their appearances and attributes.

“Hmmm….most interesting…..” Shira commented almost quietly to herself. “An Oshunian and an Aksren……most noted indeed.”

She remained quiet as she continued her long walk. She could see other UHN staff members. Most of them reacted the same way as they looked up at her. Her fin-like ears could hear their words. As she began to move closer and closer towards the hangar section, she could overhear something that was coming behind her.

“Ah…….” Shira calmly reacted. She whispered the words to ensure that no one could hear them. “I believe I am being followed…….”

She knew exactly where to go, and she passed by an open door. The foot folly was growing slightly louder. This was not like the other people that were passing by. She was tracking the specific type of boots and shoes that were tapping the ground. She could tell that it was first one individual, and now it had grown to three. She knew that these were not regular staff members trying to get to point A to point B in their day-to-day work. She very briefly smiled as she made another turn to the right. Upon turning, she could tell that the three were in a hurry. She could confirm now that these humans were after her.

Shira briefly smiled as she walked down the long passageway. Unlike the other ones, she could tell this one lead directly to the hangar bay. There was only one sliding door that was between the entrance of the bay and the crossway that she was leaving behind. This area was devoid of personnel except for the people that were closing in behind her. The footsteps were getting closer and closer. She could see a wall panel as she slowed down in her pace upon nearing it.

“There she is……,” a male voice came from behind Shira.

“That is as far as you go,” another female voice added.

Shira came to a stop. There was no scent of fear on her face as she slowly turned around to face the people that were following her.

She was looking down at the three individuals. Two of them were men, and one of them was a woman. All of them had somewhat bronze complexions that were commonplace for the people of Aphadus. Many of the people in the world had descended from former nations such as India and Pakistan of former Earth. Each person was dressed in the UHN red and blue jumpsuits. It was evident that the man that spoke to her was in the center. In his hand was an M70 pistol that was aimed directly at Shira. The other man was carrying a stun baton in his hand while the woman had a holstered pistol ready to brandish it at a moment’s notice.

“Is there a problem?” Shira calmly asked them in her deep voice.

“No accent at all……,” the lead man said in an Indian accent.

“Quite interesting to be wearing a UHN uniform, aren’t we Shal’rein?” the woman added. “Hey! I think we found her!”

The woman had raised her voice as another person came walking behind Shira from the sliding door. It had opened up as a relatively strong man came out brandishing a sub-machine gun. He had a pale complexion to him and was in a marine camouflage uniform. He was at the ready and had perfect aim at Shira’s back and tail.

All four individuals were at a pretty fair distance. They were cautious and meticulous in their actions. Even Shira knew that she was at a slight disadvantage in the situation. However, she remained disinterested.

“Your observations are quite astute,” Shira commented in a collected composure to the three in front of her. “May I ask why do you have a gun aimed at me?”

“There is only one Shal’rein that we know that wears a UHN uniform that serves at our military base,” the woman replied as she unholstered her pistol. She didn’t aim it at Shira but had it at the ready.

“Is your name Shira?” the lead man asked the Shal’rein woman.

“Yes….., but you have not answered my question,” Shira replied. “Why do you have a gun aimed at me?”

“For all good reason,” the man angrily replied. “It is true that you are her…..we heard the rumors. We know that Fleet Admiral Anaya commissioned you to work for her. You are the one that lead the attack on Aphadus!”

“And your point is?”

The man’s face snarled a little bit. Shira could see that the three in front of her displayed looks of anger at her. “Do you know that you killed my friend from that attack!?”

“They let you go……you are a fucking butcher to us,” the woman added.

“The events that unfurled were unfortunate,” Shira replied to them.

“You can’t just reply like that and think that you can get away from that.”

“Quite the contrary,” the Shal’rein said to them. “It is true. I defected to the UHN after that attack. It was the only action on my part that could be completed with perfection.”

“Bullshit,” the man replied. “The Fleet Admiral might forgive you, but it doesn’t bring back the dead that you killed.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Shira coldly answered.

The man looked at the woman and almost laughed. “So you freely admit that you were responsible for all the deaths that happened here?”

“Yes, I did. Your planetary defenses were inadequate. My forces were freely able to…..”

“Shut up!” the woman stomped her foot down. “Dalbir, we should shoot her…..”

“It is why we came here,” the man replied behind Shira. “It wouldn’t take much.”

Her tail twitched very slightly to hear the man behind her step back a little bit.

“Hmmm……most interesting,” Shira calmly replied. “You decide to outnumber me, but your actions are foolish.”

“Oh, and how so, Shal’rein?” the lead man asked her.

“You do realize that I am a member of the UHN? While possession of a firearm is not a crime, to brandish it and point it at any citizen or military staff without probable cause is a felony that can warrant the arrest for all of you. This is not including the fact that the other man holding the baton plans on threatening me with physical violence.”

“Yeah? You do realize that there are four of us? We outnumber you, and it’s our word against yours.”

“Hmmm……indeed you do, but you have also made another grave error. There is not enough of you to stop me in combat.”

“Fuck you, Shira!” the man replied behind her. “I have a gun aimed at your back. I can gun you down in a second.”

“You are not correct. Even if you all attacked me now, you do not possess enough power in those guns to render me dead. I could still easily kill or seriously harm many of you. You do realize that you are threatening a Shal’rein?”

She turned her head to look upon the marine behind her. Her single yellow eye and pointed snout showed no hesitation of anger or malice towards him, but she kept a fierce gaze that could intimidate most men. Even the marine seemed somewhat taken back.

“Think about your actions very carefully,” Shira continued with an almost articulate emotionless tone. “Even with an SS-30 rifle that you hold, it won’t do enough to save you as my jaws sink into your throat. If you turn around, I will let this pass,” she turned her head back to the three in front of them. “If anything, I admire all of your bravery, but it is misguided and will only lead to more problems in your future.”

“Ah…..Dalbir,” the man behind Shira continued. “I think I see something that is in her back right pocket.”

“Relax and think things through,” the Shal’rein said. “Watch very carefully. I am still willing to let this go.” Their entire gaze was focused on Shira’s right hand as she slowly reached her hand to her back pocket. She was conscientious and slow with her movements as her hand went and pulled out an object. The protrusion that she had was nothing more than a small uncompleted magnum big enough to fit her four fingers.

“She has a gun….” The woman replied.

“Good observation on your part,” Shira continued. As their attention was focused on the gun, Shira’s left arm had stretched outward and towards the panel. Technically, the gun naturally caused everyone to look at it more. She made sure that the barrel was pointed away from the three and towards the wall.

“They let you have a gun?” the lead man asked.

“No. They confiscated mine when I defected to the UWA months ago.”

“You think that is supposed to scare us?”

“It is only there to ensure that I have the means to protect myself.”

“It doesn’t even look like it is functional,” the woman said.

“Oh, I assure you that it does work,” Shira answered. “I have one bullet ready to fire.”

“Only one?” the lead man asked.

“I only need one.”

Shira could see that the three in front of them had hesitated briefly. The man with the stun baton was looking nervously at the other two next to him. The woman was shaking her head as this Dalbir was intent on his actions. The Shal’rein simply kept a calm composure as her hand was away from the panel. For a moment, the Shal’rein could see that despite her efforts to dissuade them, they were still persistent.

“Dalbir…..I don’t think this is worth it,” the man told the two next to him.

“Don’t wuss out on this,” the lead man countered. “We know it is her. The UWA let a murderer go and serve amongst us. It’s up to us to take care of it.”

“I agree,” the woman said as she lifted her pistol and aimed it at Shira. “We came here for a purpose. She can’t stop us all.”

“I, however, disagree with your assessment,” Shira answered as she pulled the trigger to her gun.

With that, a powerful round exploded from the chamber. It took them off guard as the gun had gone off. The shot traveled to exactly where it was aiming. It struck the wall and penetrated it enough that it hit something inside. The chain reaction was monumental as the entire passageway section sent off an explosion of shrapnel and debris. Most of the blast was more of a concussive force that resulted in expelling the three directly into the other side of the wall. All of them were knocked out immediately. The explosion was deafening. It was enough that even Shira felt it and her hearing momentarily rung a little bit, although most of this was because the uncompleted magnum had no form of sound suppressor built into it. She was expecting this, however. Her hearing physiology even allowed her to handle some of the explosive blasts from the gunshot and explosion.

Simultaneously, Shira knew precisely what she was doing as she hunched over and turned around as quickly as possible. Her large shark tail swung around to her rear. She threw the uncompleted magnum directly into the marine’s face. She knew that the man behind her was momentarily shocked. She had to get out of the way of the aim of the rifle. Much to her expectation, the marine was stunned by the combination of all the things that happened at once. Shira was onto him as she leaped at him. Amazingly, the man managed to pull the trigger of his rifle but, the Shal’rein was quicker. It barely grazed the right portion of her right breast as the bullet continued to travel forward outward, ricocheting around.

Before the marine knew it, Shira was on top of him. Despite how strong he was, Shira was more prominent and more robust. Her left hand grabbed and ripped the rifle from his hand as her right gripped his throat very carefully.

The marine was stunned as his eyes went wide. She could see the fear in his eyes as she knew that she had him. His ears were still ringing as she shoved him to the ground with a decisive toss from her arm. His body went sliding as he could still see what Shira was doing. The alien woman went and placed her hands on the rifle. She pressed the magazine release switch removing the magazine where she tossed it behind her. She then pulled the charging handle back with her two fingers to eject the unspent caseless round to the ground. She then threw the gun to the side as she could hear the alarms going off.

As the sound of the alert signal was sounding off, Shira decided to rest her back to the wall. Her tail fin stuck to the side as she stood comfortably to the back. There was no fire from the explosion. It was exactly what she envisioned what would happen. Most of her attention was directed at the three that were unconscious while keeping an eye on the marine every now and then. He was in no position to fight as he had been appropriately disarmed. The Shal’rein then decided to reach into her back pocket to pull out a small tin container. She opened it up to reveal a series of large cigarettes. She took one and put it to her mouth. Using a lighter, she lit it as she inhaled the delicate burning tobacco-like material. Taking a deep whiff of it, she relished the thought of everything that was about to happen. There was no remorse for her actions. She only envisioned everything that she had to explain as she waited for the authorities to arrive…….

The Lieutenant was well dressed in his red and blue officer’s uniform. The red cloak-like piece behind him waved around slightly as the other working personnel would nod their heads or briefly look at him. Most were used to seeing the officer’s face by now.

It was about thirty minutes after the warning alarm had been called out. An explosion had occurred at the base, but it was nothing significant. The overhead announcement had told everyone that an accident had occurred near the hangar bay passageway. It was nothing to be concerned about, but he could hear somebody mention that military police were arresting several individuals. The accident was something more than it apparently seemed.

He was being summoned to the Fleet Admiral’s stateroom. The fact that he was called in had to be related to the recent incident. He could not go to the passageway that had the explosion while he tried to find the hallway that led to the top COC’s room. Eventually, he found it. The floor was carpeted with red and blue. It had both the UHN emblem and the seal of Aphadus woven into it. The sliding door near the carpet was transparent colored. It was the only hint that it was best to be on your best behavior when going down this area. The Fleet Admiral may be watching you.

Javier took a deep breath. He was not in the mood for the events that most likely needed his attention. He put his hand to his neatly trimmed beard. His face had a very light tinge to his complexion. It was not uncommon for people to mistaken him from the colony of Palora due to his ancestry being mixed from people of Central and South America of former Earth. He looked at his uniform real quick before he reached the door. He wanted to look his best. His red boots looked pristine. It was a habit that he knew was becoming of an officer.

“Stop stalling,” Javier said to himself. “There has to be a good reason you are being called to the office. Why do I have a feeling that it has to be about ‘her’ somehow?”

He gripped his knuckles. He was not necessarily afraid of the fleet admiral, but he knew that anything that could upset the status quo wasn’t good either. His position was good enough at the military base as it was.

He stopped thinking about it as he walked up next to the door. He saw the panel by the door as he tapped the button on it. There was no time wasted as it slid open. That alone almost took Javier by surprise. Usually, Anaya would keep it closed and wait to see who it was before she let the person in. Javier almost poked his head in before he snapped himself out of it and stepped in. He had a brief glimpse of the interior before he stepped inside.

“Lieutenant Javier, reporting as requested, Ma’am,” Javier addressed himself as he rendered a proper salute to the top chain of the command. Fleet Admiral Anaya was sitting behind her metal enshrined desk. She wasn’t too pleased even though she was the type that was reasonable to many. Her bronze complexion and short black hair reflected that of a woman directly descended from former India of Earth. Her twin star rank was one that was that represented an overseer of the entire Aphadus defense fleet. While he had rarely seen her in the last month, he knew one that was all too familiar with her.

The room itself was the typical Fleet Admiral stateroom. It was spacious and consisted of numerous plaques and awards hung on the walls. It had multiple projection screens near her desk that showed the camera feeds throughout the interior and exterior of the base. Anaya was dressed in a similar officer uniform, but her rank said it all. The stateroom consisted of numerous chairs that allowed officers to regularly arrive and leave.

“Lieutenant Javier, you may have a seat on the right,” Anaya coldly told him. She didn’t even bother to render a salute in return. This alone showed that she was somewhat emotionally disturbed by whatever had happened.

“Understood, ma’am,” Javier replied as he dropped his salute. He turned to look at everything in better detail. The room consisted of four individuals that were in shackles. He could recognize that three of the personnel are UHN members, with the other being a marine. Another person was one that he knew all too well. Shira was sitting at another series of chairs, but it was away from the four people. There were a series of guards that were also in the room that were all properly armed. The severity was all but apparent as Javier went and found a comfortable chair closest to the wall.

Immediately, Javier’s mind was aghast to the situation. The rumor was indeed true. He would have sighed if he could. He knew Shira all too well and most likely would have to come to her defense……if she needed it. The fact that the four were in shackles had shown the worse, but he could tell that Shira was alright. He had a seat as he had a feeling about what was going to happen next. He could have a clear view of the Shal’rein woman. She briefly looked in his direction but showed no emotion as she always did. He instead almost shook his head at her.

“Right…..” Anaya explained in her thick Aphadus accent. She had a severe tone to her voice as she folded up her hands to the desk. “I want to make things clear on what has happened just now and why all of you are not in the hospital right now. I have to figure out why I just had an explosion on my base. Petty Officer Dalbir, Seaman Harshil, Petty Officer Lopa, and Lance Corporal Landen, and Petty Officer Shira……I want to know right now what just happened. Why the fuck do I have a hole mark in the passageway of junction 3B-H?”

“We were……..we were…….,” the arrested woman tried to answer.

“You were what? I have eyewitnesses that saw you following Shira.”

“You……” Dalbir tried to also answer. He summoned the courage to answer. “We were trying to……”

Anaya went and pulled out a tablet on her desk. She tapped a few buttons as she began to review the data carefully.

“They tried to assassinate me,” Shira answered calmly. “They failed at it.”

“Yeah…..I can tell,” Anaya said as she slapped the tablet on her desk. “I can’t believe this……what the fuck were you four thinking!?”

Shira briefly looked to her left. Javier went and face palmed as he realized what had just happened. Even Anaya could see some emotion from him. Meanwhile, the four arrested individuals were reserved like they had been caught red-handed.

“Shira is a dangerous person to have….” Dalbir said stoically.

“She is a member of this base and a UHN staff member! You tried to assault somebody on my base!” Anaya went and slammed her palm to her desk. “I have an eyewitness that says that they saw you three with unholstered guns pointing at her.”

“She had a gun!” argued Lopa. “She was going to kill us.”

Anaya turned her head to look at Shira. There was a look of surprise.

“It is true,” Shira answered. “I was armed.”

“Hmmm…..”Anaya remarked. “Still. That gives the four of you no excuse. I should have all four of you flogged in front of the entire base! You attempted to assault a member of my crew. Seaman Harshill…..I know your grandfather, and he would be shaking his head in disbelief in your actions. You had a baton in your hand. What were you planning on doing with it?”

The man reacted appropriately as he lowered his head down. He couldn’t answer.

“Thought so….” The fleet admiral continued. “I will not have racial hatred and bickering on this base. All four of you are going to be locked in the brig for attempted assault on my base. Lance Corporal Landen, according to the report, there was a rifle round that was discharged from your rifle. I am also aware that this was taken from the armory as well.”

“Yes…..it is, Ma’am,” Landen said.

“There was an explosion. How did it happen?”

“You already have the answers….”

Anaya slammed her fist on the desk. “I want to hear it from all of you!”

“Shira had a gun, and she shot at the wall,” Lopa answered. “I…..don’t know how it happened, but the whole bulkhead blew apart…..we don’t even remember the rest of it.”

“It is true,” Dalbir added. “She….we tried to…..we wanted to see her brought to justice for the actions she did. Fleet Admiral, you are a fool to let this alien serve under you. She was responsible for the actions that would lead hundreds to their deaths.”

“No excuse for your actions,” Anaya continued to explain. “You had the intentions of assaulting another. If it were Shira or any other human being, you have proven to be dangerous. All four of you…..I am ashamed to even have you here. I can’t even stand to have you here. I’m holding all four of you under the brig, pending a hearing and court-martial. I’ll make sure you spend years in a military jail on Palora. Guards, take them away. Get them out of my sight!”

Javier had never seen Anaya so angry as before, but she was doing what she had to do. Even then, the events had shaken her to the core.

With Javier, he felt emotion too. Somebody had decided to try to harm or kill Shira, his wife. This alone had him almost shaking his head at the four as they stood up. The guards kept a good hold on each one as they were brought out of the room. Even for Javier, he did his best to remain composed and professional. Shira didn’t even bother to look at the four. Eventually, the room was left with just Shira, Javier, and Anaya.

The fleet admiral waved her hand as she took a deep breath. She shook her head.

“Do you wish to press charges against all of them?” Anaya asked Shira.

“No, Fleet Admiral,” Shira replied.

“You don’t deny that they had the intentions to kill you?”

“They were well committed to doing it. I would say, however, to offer some lenience towards Harshil. He was very reluctant on the intention to hurt me.”

“I’ll keep that under note,” Anaya said as she tapped a few buttons on her tablet. “I’m afraid that I can’t let you go so easily, though.”

“That is quite understandable, Ma’am.”

“How the hell did you get in possession of a firearm?”

“For simple reason. When I was arrested, my SH-80 was confiscated by the authorities.”

“I know that!” Anaya almost snapped at her. “I was the one that ordered it and I remember that I told you that you can’t possess any form of firearms……is that correct?”

“It is,” Shira calmly explained. “I made requests to get my gun returned to me. You would deny it, but at the same time, more and more personnel were learning about me. Retaliation against my actions on the assault of this base was inevitable. Everyone else was allowed to possess their own firearms except myself. My opponents saw that they had a potential advantage. I decided that it was best to start producing a copy of an SH-110, the new, improved Shal’rein clan magnums, that……”

“You started to build your own gun?”

“That is correct, Ma’am. All Shal’rein are taught as children to build their own guns. I assembled my SH-80 when I was seven and a half Earth years old. I even know how to create the bullets as well in both case and caseless forms too.”

Anaya almost shook her head as she looked at Javier. “This is one of the reasons as to why I called you here. Did you know that Shira was producing her own firearm?”

“I didn’t, Fleet Admiral,” Javier answered. “I had no idea that she was doing that.”

“You cannot blame my mate,” Shira added. “I was doing all of this when we weren’t together.”

Javier could tell that Anaya was taken aback a little bit by Shira’s actions. He somewhat had underestimated her engineering skills. She seemed more to blame herself for not catching it. Regardless, she was not wholly impressed. Others on Aphadus could easily do it. Gun ownership was quite commonplace. The right to bear arms on this planet, Palora, and Oshun were allowed under different circumstances depending on place to place. It had also been the goal to try to keep Shira’s true identity somewhat muted to the base. Efforts were made to ensure that her defection wasn’t spoken too much, but it was evident that it was failing. How much of the outside colonies knew about the one that successfully attacked Aphadus to later serve there?

“I want to know how you managed to put a hole near the hangar bay that is over a meter in diameter,” Anaya demanded from Shira.

“It was quite simple,” Shira explained. “I had gotten word that Petty Officer Delbir had planned on attacking me. He was gathering supporters. Knowing him, he wanted to make sure that his assumptions about me were correct. Meanwhile, I had learned of the base’s internal structure and components. Hangar bay hallway 3B-H had a faulty oxygen tank air converter. While the four individuals were watching my gun, I had reached over and accessed the panel. I increased the flow rate. While technically, the tank is harmless even in its faulty state, it is enough that a well-placed shot from my magnum could cause a focused explosion, exactly where they were standing.”

“You lead them to there?” Javier asked her.

“Yes,” Shira said with almost a smile before she got serious again. “I was limited with my resources. I wanted to ensure that my targets would be incapacitated. The explosion would not be that powerful but enough that it could render them unconscious if they are not careful. I stopped right where I wanted them to be. Even touching the panel controls would not appear to be harmful against their own detriment. My gun was aimed directly at the converter’s location. One-shot was all that was needed.”

Javier could see a form of amazement on Anaya’s face. On the one hand, she was distraught, but it was still an excellent form of maneuvering on Shira’s part. Even he knew how well Shira was when it came to things like this. It was always like she was a step ahead of everyone. Finally, even Anaya had to shake her head.

“I……I don’t know what to say,” Anaya explained. “I let you serve under me as a member of a UHN. I gave you the rank of Petty Officer and secretly let you serve as an advisor to me. Your actions have proven to be of some great effort. You helped expose a cloaked Shal’rein warship that was in this system…..hiding at Kope. You’ve given valuable intel on the different warships and projects that your clan has. Hell, you’ve even provided future construction projects to help improve the defenses of this colony. Regardless, I have to look at this situation with grave concern.”

“It is quite understandable, Fleet Admiral,” Shira explained. “It is under your benefit and an act of wisdom that you employed my services. I like to think that your actions have greatly improved this base against further attacks. On the other hand, you feel that what I did endangers that and makes you look weak. You attempted to, as you humans would say, “swept it under the rug” when it came to commissioning somebody that is infamous as myself.”

Anaya sighed. “Yes…..that is true. I don’t know what to do about it. As an advisor, I don’t suppose that you have an idea on what I should do next?”

“I actually have a solution to all of that,” Shira replied as she leaned forward. “You are left with a situation in which having me here on this base is proving to be a problem. Some of the personnel see me as a threat regardless of whatever action that we take. You giving me the rank that I have is the only path that suits best as it makes me look like most other Shal’rein that had just joined the UHN service. It doesn’t make you look like you hired a possible criminal.”

“You’re not a criminal,” Javier countered.

“To those four individuals that threatened to attack me would disagree with that assumption,” Shira said as she turned her gaze to him momentarily before looking at the fleet admiral. “I have my own proposal that would help all of us in the end. The best solution is for me to simply not be on the base at all.”

“Umm…..what?”

“Explain,” Anaya asked.

“I propose that I be assigned to the military transports or ships. As I recall, there is a military transport by the name of the UHN Jian Seng that was recently assigned to the Aphadus defense fleet. It is expected to conduct a transport operation from Palora to Picaro as of tomorrow. Or, I can be reassigned to any other form of ship.”

Javier was somewhat surprised by the concept. The idea of having Shira moved might be a sound one, but one that he was not exactly thrilled with the more and more he considered it. He could tell that she momentarily looked in his direction as Anaya was tapping the buttons on her tablet to confirm her idea.

“It is true that I have the Jian Seng under my command now,” Anaya replied. “Hmm….an old Fu Yi class Military Transport commanded by Lieutenant Commander Lifen. Yes, I know it. It was recently pulled out of mothball status from Titan over a month ago. Does it matter what ship you would be assigned to?”

“No. It does not matter to me,” Shira replied.

“Ugh…..I’m not too keen on this idea. I would lose an advisor.”

“There would be numerous reasons as to why this is the case. The first reason is to remove me from the base and onto a place where there would be less knowledge of my identity. The second reason is to remove me from a place that could result in further violence against me or cause more destruction of property to the base. The third reason is because of the recent events made to you and to me. Regardless of my actions in self-defense, I have disobeyed an order that you made to me.”

“I admit that I’m not too pleased about it,” Anaya commented.

“All the more reason for me to not be here. I believe it would be in your best interests to have me reassigned. This will essentially discourage further individuals from conspiring against you to bring harm to me. It will also lessen the political impact that others may have towards you in commissioning me as a UHN member months ago. Even with the benefits that it may curtail, your opponents would still use me against you. Having me moved would help silence that opposition.”

“Spoken almost as a true politician…..”

“You wanted me as an advisor. The politics in the Shal’rein clan are not much different than the UWA. I would not have become an Adjunct at my age without that knowledge and experience.”

“True.”

“I do have to voice some opposition to this,” Javier interjected. “I…..I apologize for interrupting, Fleet Admiral.”

“You may speak, Lieutenant.”