Chapter One

DRINAR SENSED THE evil.

And it drew closer with each passing second.

He continued walking, but now his senses were on high alert and he wasn't quite sure why. His pace quickened through the crowded labyrinth of Lyth City, surrounded by the seemingly harmless bustle of aliens.

Still, there was something new among the myriads of aliens crowding the streets now ...A reflection or a movement.

Yes. A movement!

Movement existed everywhere—the crushing crowds on the high-speed sidewalks, the countless air vehicles zooming between the metallic towers that reached skyward and kissed the swirling, violet clouds overhead.

But this movement was different...

He paced himself in order not to give away to his pursuer his awareness of the chase. With sudden resolution, he darted into the throng of aliens to his left and headed for the dock where his fast starship sat at the ready.

Every alien his glance fell upon revealed no overt threat.

Still, something watched him—something powerful, something evil.

Drinar's instinct was never wrong, especially when he felt it this powerfully. A low growl rumbled from his throat as he caressed the butt of his holstered blaster. A split-second later, he stepped quickly to his right past another group of aliens and put his back against the base of the nearest city tower.

The murmuring crowds walked past him unabated as Drinar scanned more who approached. Nothing.

Something caught his attention about six meters above the crowds a full block away. Something moved.

As he gazed at the polished tritanium tower that rose like a gigantic needle to the clouds above, he saw nothing but the smooth, steel walls. He focused harder, mentally dimming the bright lights of the alien city and the countless air-vehicles whose reflections glistened off its metallic sides with an almost hypnotizing effect.

The Iraxxian warrior fixed his gaze at one spot as his instincts hammered his body with an overwhelming urge to fight—or to flee. His breathing and heart rate increased ten-fold—but he willed his muscles to hold still one more moment. His eyes now refocused to another spot—watching and waiting. Nothing, not the crowds passing around him nor the flashing lights of the city, distracted his piercing gaze. He saw it— almost.

In that instant, a feeling of intense dread filled his soul.

A ghostly image resolved momentarily—a nightmare shape clutching the sheer side of the tower. The shape wavered as if he imagined it—not really seeing it with his eyes. In the next second, the huge, spidery shape vanished—melting back into the wall and into nothingness. The muscular Iraxxian burst into a quick stride through the late evening crowds of the great city. But the strange feeling haunting him all evening now exploded and pulsed throughout his body with each beat of his powerful heart. He fought against the urge to break out into a run. It wasn't supposed to end like this, he thought. His mission was only half finished, and now it was threatened with total failure—for in his heart he knew what evil relentlessly pursued him. He stopped abruptly at the next intersection and drew out his handheld sensor with a lightning motion. His fingers danced over the display as he searched for the signatures of his known enemies. Drinar needed to know—and he needed to know now.

His heart missed a beat as the display of his hand-held sensor picked up a ghostly signal. The source of the mysterious signal quickly moved unseen above the crowds. Almost immediately, the signal disappeared.

But now he knew.

A Destructor pursued him.

Drinar ran through the crowded streets, scrambling between aliens, knocking down one and bouncing off another.

And still he ran.

A few moments later he fell, tripped by unseen feet.

Shouts and angry voices roared after him as he jumped up and increased his pace. Now the bright, flashing lights of the city reflected with crazy lines off the glass towers that rose high above the thick mass of late-night revelers. Drinar quickly ducked inside one of the party palaces, hoping to hide himself among the thousands dancing in the crowded, glowing room. The dancers were packed so tightly together that their writhing bodies were in almost constant contact with everyone else around them. The whole room seethed as one great mass of movement.

Panting, he quickly surveyed the room and made his way deeper among the rhythmically moving bodies. Drinar was bigger than most aliens; his muscular form stood head and shoulders above those dancing within the mesmerizing mixture of pulsating lights and loud music. His scaly skin glowed its true reddish color where it was exposed at his face and neck as white lights suddenly flashed. The rest of his body was clothed by a leather, one-piece jumpsuit, except for his thick tail which protruded just above his buttocks.

That short, muscular tail now curled with tension as he raised his face and sniffed the air. Drinar's short snout wrinkled as he took in quick breaths, tasting the air.

Reaching down, he felt the comforting handle of the blaster still holstered at his right side while his left hand firmly grasped his sheathed sword, keeping it tight against his leg so as not to get it tangled with a reckless dancer.

Maybe his bio-signs would be masked by the mass of aliens. Maybe the Destructor would continue past and lose his trail.

Maybe.

He pushed forward toward the far end of the room. But halfway through, piercing screams rose above the loud, pulsating music.

He turned and saw the distant commotion among the aliens—almost at the exact point where he had entered the room.

More screams of pure terror drowned the music.

The Destructor's main camouflage, its ability to match its background and avoid visual detection, became partially nullified by the pulsating laser lights and changing color schemes synchronized with the rhythm of the music.

The dancers saw, at the edge of their vision, the terrible form of the Destructor as it flashed in and out visibility.

Suddenly, everyone ran for the exits.

Drinar pushed others out of his way as he made a last bid for escape toward the rear of the building. But even as he burst out into the clear, he knew his life was now measured in seconds. He crashed down a darkened hallway, stumbling blindly in the dim red lighting as he searched for an exit out into the open city streets once again. The screams grew closer, telling Drinar that his executioner gained on him. Still, even if he made it out into the streets, he had no idea where to go or what he could do to escape it.

He simply ran for his life.

Drinar bumped into something in a darkened section and fell onto the floor, knocking the breath out of his triple lungs. Lying there, fighting to breathe, he heard the ominous humming sound for the first time and realized the chase was over.

Actually, his life was forfeit the first moment he realized it was a Destructor. He lay there, still fighting for that first good breath of air as he pulled his weapon out and aimed it at the darkness behind him.

He fired. The laser bolt from his blaster illuminated the room for one fraction of a second like green lightning.

But the hallway was empty!

The flash of his weapon momentarily revealed a corridor empty except for debris that littered the floor. With wide eyes, the Iraxxian warrior strained to see through the darkness, strained to see the slightest movement that would reveal the Destructor's position.

Had it left? Or simply given up just when it had closed upon its prey? Wild thoughts rushed through Drinar's mind as he peered into the darkness, trying to see the unseeable. Drinar found himself able to breathe again—his own raspy gasps drowning all other sounds before they reached his horn-tipped ears.

A faint hope rose inside his broad chest.

And then something fell—a tiny piece of ceiling debris floated gently down in lazy spirals right before his face...

Drinar froze.

He heard it then, almost ... almost as if he imagined it. He strained his ears as silence pressed in all around and choked him—strangling him as if he were awake inside his own nightmare. He finally heard it again—a scratching sound mixed with a faint, ominous humming. With a sickening dread, he knew the Destructor crouched somewhere above him in the darkness—probably braced against the ceiling with its multiple arms and legs splayed out and ready to make its final attack.

The sinister scratching sound echoed again—slightly louder, and closer . The warrior screamed as he brought his blaster up and fired it in a deadly volley. Tracers pierced the pure darkness above him in line after line of deadly streaks, piercing the ceiling and sending chunks down in a steady stream of falling debris.

He fired upward in all directions.

But the invisible monster did not fall.

With a flash of movement, his weapon was knocked out of his grasp. Almost instantly, a suffocating weight fell upon him. He felt the many arms groping his body and grasping at his flailing hands until they pinned him down.

He struggled valiantly a moment, but soon could no longer move.

As he strained against the merciless strength that held him fast, Drinar regretted only one thing—he had not gotten the message to Qirn.

His eyes strained to make out the Destructor, but even though it held him fast just above, he could not make it out against the darkness.

The whirring of precision gears caused his eyes to fix on the source of that new, sinister sound. Drinar steeled himself.

In the darkness, he saw a faint reflection against a shiny, black surface. Drinar's eyes made out the silhouette of the Destructor's pincer coming closer.

He saw it plainly now, a black steel needle outlined against the darkness as it came toward his neck. Its razor sharp tip poised to pierce his skin with only the briefest hint of pain. It would then allow the deadly fluid to flow inside his body until his guts melted into a fiery ooze—almost like being digested from the inside out by a giant, metallic insect.

But Destructors did not eat.

Drinar groaned.

No, his would not be a pleasant death.

As the wicked tip drew within inches of his neck, Drinar played his last card. With a flick of his short, muscular tail, Drinar slapped the iron grip and freed his right hand. In the darkness, the Iraxx warrior fought for his life.

And his frantic efforts were rewarded.

In the instant he felt its weight lift off, Drinar rolled over and jumped to his feet in one fluid motion. As he stood in a battle crouch facing the sound from where the Destructor gathered itself in the darkness, he drew the sword from its scabbard and held it before him—ready for action.

"Now, let us fight to the death,” Drinar growled

The darkness suddenly filled with movement as Drinar's sword crashed against first one black shape and then another as the Destructor reached for him. The metal blade sent showers of sparks as it hit home each time. Again and again he swung his weapon as he slowly retreated.

Out of the darkness, first from the left, then the right, and even from below, Drinar fought the shadowy arms lashing out at him. He still could not see the Destructor itself, but sometimes with a blur of movement, his eyes caught a glimmer of it.

He swung his blade like a machine, sometimes feeling a steely grip almost grasping him just as his sword quickly knocked it away. It was disconcerting to almost see this evil, to feel it right upon him but still not see it.

The warrior grunted with each mighty blow of his weapon as he began to tire. If only he could find a way back into the dance room, perhaps under the pulsating lights he could his see his enemy plainly and deliver a disabling blow.

Suddenly, his blade swung and struck nothing but air.

Drinar's heart froze as he held his sword ready before him.

But nothing came to his ears now except the rapid-fire pounding of his heart. He was so close to escaping—he felt it.

Drinar lowered himself into a battle crouch, only to freeze again as the faintest of sounds came to his hearing.

The ominous scratching sound came from somewhere above him again.

He moved back another step as he aimed his blade.

But it was a ruse.

Too late, he saw the shadow of the outstretched arm extended outward to confuse him. Out of the darkness the Destructor leapt.

Once again Drinar felt the merciless blows and cringed as steel talons searched and found their hold on him one last time. With all his strength, he tried to free his right arm for one more blow of his sword, but his enemy proved relentless and unstoppable.

Seconds later, shoved onto the ground and pinned, Drinar realized he couldn't move. In fact, he could barely breathe under the suffocating weight.

The warrior's heart melted with defeat.

With only the ominous humming as accompaniment to the faint music from the room beyond the wall, the needle came into view out of the darkness.

He cringed.

Slowly, he watched its deadly tip draw ever closer.

With a single, hot flash, the probe pierced his skin, and Drinar felt his body burn as if lava flowed inside his very blood. He grew disoriented, and in another moment he couldn't remember where he was—or who he was.

Or why he was...

Mercifully, the Destructor finished its grisly work in the silent darkness. Silent, except for the faint sound of humming and a metallic scratching...

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Chapter Two

"THIS PLACE IS wall-to-wall aliens,” Jaric said, his eyes full of amazement.

"That's exactly what we want.” Kyle laughed.

Jaric glanced over the countless faces around them, each one different from the next. The harsh, artificial light reflected off Jaric's ebony face and caused his bright, intelligent eyes to sparkle. His face was well defined—the handsome face of a young man just twenty-one years of age. Jaric's body was lean and lithe like a long-distance runner and filled with the energy of youth. They stood overlooking a huge, open atrium filled with aliens as they entered and exited the doors of Bullet-Cars and Bullet-Trains, and entered the main terminus of this floating city. In his mind, Jaric compared it to the mythical Grand Central Station of old New York before the destruction of Earth—except this place was on a scale far larger.

More importantly, and the main reason for their own arrival, most came in order to use the famous Search-terminals. These Search-terminals were the portals to the knowledge of all the known sectors, and beyond. They allowed users to view the results of far-traveled expeditions in pursuit of new races as well as knowledge collected throughout the history of the known worlds. Yes, aliens traveled here to conduct business both new and old, personal and private—to learn and understand.

They came because the Mrad did not allow remote access to their most valuable resource—knowledge.

"There has to be thousands of different alien races in this one place alone!” Jaric chuckled.

"Yeah, I've never seen a place like this before.” Kyle nodded. “We've traveled to twenty worlds in the year since we left the Three Kingdoms, and this is the first...” Kyle's voice trailed off as he searched for words that adequately described RahajMr.

"Floating city,” Jaric completed for him.

"Yes— floating city that I've ever seen,” Kyle finished. He ran his hand through his curly hair. It was now a sandy brown instead of the blonde of his childhood. Kyle crossed his arms over his broad chest as he admired the overflowing atrium of the floating city.

"Or even heard about, for that matter,” Jaric added.

"Cities, plural. There are others."

The two young men turned toward the familiar voice of Minstrel.

But there was nothing familiar about Minstrel. Bulbous eyes at the end of seven eye-stalks gazed down at Jaric and Kyle.

"What kind of being are you disguising yourself as this time?” Kyle looked the strange alien up and down.

Indeed, standing between Rok and Jysar was the weirdest creature any of them had ever met in all their travels.

"I am a Zuuk, please remember that in case Security questions us,” Minstrel replied. “The Mrad like to register all species that come to use their system—the most powerful computer system known in the universe."

"Yeah,” Jaric said with awe. “It's amazing that they've got more raw computing power than Mother!" Jysar's eyes gleamed with keen anticipation.

"I'm sure the Hrono Technologist will enjoy this.” Minstrel laughed as four of its eyes focused on Jysar. But Kyle kept his gaze fixed on Minstrel's new form. “A Zuuk sure is an interesting alien." The Zuuk's seven eye-stalks extended from a small head whose only other feature was a mouth shaped like an upside down U. The tiny head and slender eye-stalks sat on top of a long, flexible neck that protruded from a body all but hidden inside a huge, colorful shell. The Zuuk's silver skin glistened under the lights, moistened by its bodily secretions.

Other than the fact that the eye-stalks rose on its neck three meters tall, the most striking feature about a Zuuk was the shell that protected its body. The shell's surface had a polished glaze, covered in a rainbow of bright, iridescent colors.

"Is this armor, or part of your body?” Kyle asked as he lightly tapped the shell.

"It's a shell,” Minstrel-Zuuk explained. “The Zuuk creates this over its lifetime with bodily secretions. This fantastic shell is the pride of every Zuuk."

Minstrel-Zuuk moved effortlessly closer—almost as if the huge, ungainly body floated on air. Jaric bent down as he tried to get a look under the Zuuk's shell. “How did you move like that?"

"I have over ten-thousand tiny, cilia-legs that move in waves, hence my seemingly effortless and fluid motion.” Minstrel-Zuuk chuckled. “The Zuuk's homeworld is a world of never-ending rain. Every moment of every day it rains, and so the Zuuk's legs allow it to move especially well over wet surfaces, as well as dry."

"How in the world did this race develop tools, let alone technology that took them to the stars?” Kyle asked incredulously. “You've got no arms, much less fingers or an opposing thumb." The seven eye-stalks twinkled with humor. “There are appendages, delicate ones, folded inside the shell that the Zuuks extend and use to fashion tools and operate their technology. These fragile appendages are protected inside the shell until needed."

"Cool.” Kyle gazed at the multi-colored spiral shell.

Rok grunted in agreement as he looked back at the crowded room filled with alien races. He brushed his hand over the ridge of black feather-hair that grew in a narrow band over the top of his otherwise hairless head. But it wasn't the long feather-hair that dominated the Kraaqi's profile. Curved horns grew upward from each side of his head directly above each ear—these were the pride of a Kraaqi, his natural headdress that complemented his thick feather-hair.

Rok's skin glowed a deeper ebony than Jaric's under the bright lights, and the Kraaqi alien stood head and shoulders above the two humans. His warrior background was also very evident—solid muscle covered his taut body.

"Why do they build their cities around a lifeless planet like this, Minstrel?” Rok asked.

"Yes, this is a gas giant,” Jaric said, remembering his original question about these unusual floating cities.

“No life can be supported on the surface of such a planet."

"And that is precisely the answer, Jaric,” Minstrel-Zuuk said as its seven eyes stared back.

"They bought this world cheap,” Jysar said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Indeed, other aliens felt it a worthless world. The gravity is too powerful for anyone to survive on the surface. Additionally, the nearness of its home star means its surface is constantly bombarded with deadly radiation. And so they purchased this world at a huge discount and built these floating cities. The Mrad are shrewd at business."

"And knowledge is their main business now,” Jysar added appreciatively. The Hrono smiled to himself.

“I bow in honor to these wise aliens."

"But why inside the cloud layers, why not in orbit around this world? We have visited huge orbiting stations before,” Kyle said.

"But none built near the magnitude of this one city alone.” The smooth, green scales of Jysar's face deepened with emotion as he admired the scene before him. “This must be a very advanced race, technologically speaking. I must consult with them on some of the fantastic engineering feats they have accomplished in creating this truly one-of-a-kind city.” Jysar's eyes widened with pure excitement just thinking about such a conversation.

Being a Hrono, Jysar literally worshipped technology. Like all others of his race, his body scales shone with a green electric hue, including the twin row of upright scales that ran across his head like that of an ancient dinosaur—except these were ridged and a darker green than his tiny body scales. His slim physique and his bird-like arms and legs gave his race a seemingly fragile appearance. But the Hrono were physically strong, more than their appearance indicated.

Jaric and Kyle broke out laughing.

Jysar's face changed to puzzlement. “Do you find humor in engineering masterworks?"

"No, only in geeky aliens gawking over engineering masterworks.” Jaric laughed.

"Hmmph.” Jysar pursed his mouth with a look of indignation.

Rok grinned from horn to horn, intrigued by this exotic and artificial place. “So why are these cities in orbit within the cloud layers?” Rok and the others looked out the massive reinforced window that dominated the seven-story wall. Green, white and purple clouds whipped by like ragged sails caught in a full hurricane.

"Other than the natural beauty of living among these wonderful clouds, I cannot fathom a valid reason.”

Rok paused as an entire line of green clouds suddenly enveloped the sky outside the window. Just as quickly they disappeared, replaced by the normal stream of clouds of various colors whipping by at mind-numbing speed.

"And I hope those windows are made pretty well. It looks like those winds are blowing over three hundred kilometers an hour,” Kyle said with a hopeful look.

"Indeed, sometimes over thrice that speed,” Minstrel-Zuuk said. “And yes, those windows are triple-reinforced using the strongest transparent metal known. After all, the clouds are the only natural beauty here, and you will agree that the view is worth it."

"Indeed.” Jysar's eyes widened with excitement at the window and its own engineering marvel—not at the beauty it displayed.

"But the reason is quite simple why this city and the other twenty-three floating cities were built inside the tempestuous clouds of this gas giant.” Minstrel-Zuuk paused, building the moment to a climax.

"And the answer is...” Jaric prompted.

"RahajMr orbits at about the same position as the human's home-system planet Venus, which is the second reason the Mrad built their cities within the cloud layer,” Minstrel-Zuuk said.

"Ah, the clouds provide protection from the star's energy,” Jysar surmised correctly. He smiled broadly at his own quick thinking.

"Partly correct. Primarily, the brightness is too intense for any alien's eyes. One could be instantly blinded this close to the star if they looked directly at it."

Jysar frowned.

"You are right, this huge planet is so close to the star it orbits that the radiation would be lethal—the clouds do provide protection. The hull of the cities are designed to protect even further. Still, more is needed. Which is why the cities are not stationary but travel with the winds around and around this planet.” Minstrel-Zuuk lowered its serpentine neck so its eye-stalks were closer.

"Which explains why Mother took that route—always keeping the planet between us and the star as we made our final approach from space.” Kyle's eyes narrowed with the recent memory of that ride. “And I must say, as we entered the cloud bands of RahajMr that was the roughest ride I've ever felt. Those are some winds!"

"Yes, landing is the trickiest part. The Wind Specialists have to determine a window when the buffeting winds will remain a constant speed in one direction for a few minutes in order to allow a visiting ship to land at a Leeward docking door and get inside the protective city walls,” Minstrel-Zuuk said with admiration. He raised his head far above the others and admired RahajMr.

"But how do these cities stay afloat, as well as steady themselves, as they ride the winds?” Rok asked. Kyle and Jaric both looked expectantly at the eye-stalks far above them.

"Rok, you above all races should guess that answer.” The seven eye-stalks twinkled with mirth.

"Anti-gravity engines!” Rok half-shouted. He rubbed his chin in thought. “They must be massive, to keep a city this size floating and utilize the gravity of such a huge planet."

"Yes, they are. This city alone contains almost fifty million inhabitants. But still, another design was utilized. The Mrad harnessed these mighty winds to a certain extent and turned them to their own use.”

Minstrel-Zuuk paused. “You no doubt have noticed that these cities are shaped to ride the constant buffeting of the horizontal winds which greatly assists the anti-grav engines—huge, aerodynamic-shaped cities originally built in far orbit and then carefully lowered into the clouds." Rok turned to the great window. “Look, the wind has changed direction." They all turned.

The ragged ribbons of purple and white clouds flying from left to right across the window disappeared with a blur of movement. The sky outside cleared into a wide-open expanse of several hundred kilometers. But in the far distance a solid wall of green clouds approached.

"The clouds never really disappear from view on this gas giant, but clear sky appears briefly once or twice a week,” Minstrel-Zuuk said, his tone matter-of-fact.

The onlookers suddenly felt disoriented; Kyle and Jysar reached out for support while the others swayed off-balance.

The distant wall of clouds changed.

"Wha...” Jaric said uncertainly, blinking his eyes rapidly as he tried to fathom what his eyes told him but his mind refused to believe.

The cloudbank took shape; details that a fraction of a second before were not visible suddenly became obvious—and huge. The distant clouds exploded into a massive cloud wall five thousand kilometers wide as it leaped toward them with unimaginable velocity.

Two seconds later, the leading edge of the green cloudbank reached them as everyone readied themselves—their subconscious minds telling them a tempest of fantastic magnitude was upon them with such awesome force it surely must destroy them all.

The window became solid green as the stillness and silence haunted their minds. In that moment they comprehended the fantastic speed at which the winds blew in this unique place. As they gazed, still tensed for an explosive blow that never came, the solid green parted and small valleys of clear air grew between ribbons of cloud as the wind continued to rush head-on at them. The only discernable effect was a humming sound that grew louder with the onslaught of the green clouds and now slowly—very slowly—began to fade.

Minstrel-Zuuk's voice broke into their awestruck reverie as a new wave of green clouds filled the huge window again.

"At strategic points all around this city and its twenty-three sister cities are massive vents that channel the force of the wind. This system powers the cities as well harvests the natural elements found in the clouds. This is why the Mrad have been able to build the most powerful computers ever constructed. And why they built them here."

"How can there be that much to those clouds?” Jaric asked.

"Again, being so close to its home star, and having those titanic gravitational forces wrenching the planet's surface, as well as the constant hurricane-force winds at its surface that eventually join with these horizontal upper winds, well, these cloud bands are rich with sub-microscopic raw material."

"Why doesn't that barrage of raw elements slam through the walls of this city?” Jaric asked again, fascinated by this exotic place.

"By the time the winds reach this altitude, the elements have been practically vaporized—battered almost to their molecular level and ready to be harvested. Still, there is a series of outer shields both protecting this city as well as funneling the elements to be processed. The Mrad leave nothing to waste, they utilize everything."

"Ingenious,” Jysar commented.

"But, we forget why we have come to RahajMr in the first place,” Minstrel-Zuuk said. A shock of sadness gripped Jaric's soul and overwhelmed him. It seemed to kill him one lonely heartbeat at a time.

Yes, Jaric remembered.

He remembered all too well the hopelessness of their life-long search to find other survivors of the human race.

For the human race was no more—destroyed—eradicated.

Jaric shook his head as childhood memories flooded his mind.

No, exterminated better described it.

Well, almost, he added mentally. He and Kyle alone remained, two young men, sole survivors of the human race.

Jaric's mind reeled with his dizzying melancholy .

There was a third. Three humans survived mankind's destruction as Earth blew apart in the finalbattle. Becky had also survived—the last female human.

But Becky was now dead.

Jaric growled under his breath, anger filling his soul as he remembered again how Becky's ship disintegrated in their last battle with the T'kaan—the climactic battle of six alien fleets. A battle that brought the final destruction of the T'kaan. A mighty struggle fought by the combined Hrono, Mewiis and Kraaqi fleets led by Mother and Kyle and Jaric ... and Becky.

Jaric groaned deep inside.

The T'kaan were finally destroyed, but at such a terribly high cost.

Yet, there was Becky's clone...

Jaric remembered the entrance of Becky's clone, the clone created by the Hrono from Becky's DNA. So, there was a third human survivor...

No. The clone did not count. There were only two survivors of the human race—he and Kyle. He fought back the hot tears that suddenly filled his eyes as he turned away from his friends in embarrassment.

Kyle groaned as he watched Jaric. With clenched fists, Kyle too turned away. Jaric's mind went back further. He reviewed once again their escape as Earth lay under siege by the mighty T'kaan Third Fleet, just before its destruction.

Deep inside the AI starship, the young child Jaric hid from the universe. He closed his eyes as mankind's Last Stand played out.

In this, Jaric's earliest memory of that terrible time, the only comfort he felt was that of Mother—the AI starship inside which he hid.

Mother was the ultimate warship, designed by the scientists of mankind as they retreated before the T'kaan onslaught. Mother was a combination of the best technology left to mankind—the most advanced hardware ever designed coupled with the latest, most sophisticated AI software ever developed. Mankind armed the AI warship to the teeth and programmed it for one primary function—to destroy the T'kaan. Additionally, they enhanced the firepower of this ship with the most destructive of T'kaan weapons, reverse-engineered from one of the few T'kaan warships captured by humans—and even that battle had not been a victory.

For the T'kaan rarely lost in battle.

Knowledge learned as he grew older augmented Jaric's memory. There had been an AI ship created before Mother—the Alpha ship.

The prototype AI ship, the Alpha ship, was hugely successful at first. In five straight battles it destroyed every T'kaan ship it faced—although outnumbered every time.

The T'kaan trembled for the first time since their never-ending war began. Next came the sixth battle, and the Alpha ship's single fatal flaw crippled it—for it was merely a war machine—and nothing more.

The T'kaan discovered this weakness and destroyed it.

The scientists who created the Alpha ship learned from that mistake.

They improved on their design with the second AI ship, the one Kyle and Jaric knew as Mother . The scientists also programmed the second ship with science and human psychology and literature—and more. This would enable the ship not only to learn —learn more than simply how to fight better with each experience—but to grow and become more alive with each and every experience. The second AI ship was more than simply a warship.

And secretly, with a hasty plan to save a handful of human survivors before the final battle, the scientists downloaded more—much more. Every piece of knowledge, science and lore—every aspect of recorded data about humanity throughout all history. From every collection of knowledge across the Fifty Worlds, the scientists downloaded everything to the AI ship.

They stored it all in the unimaginably vast memory systems created specially for this second AI warship—synthetic human-DNA memory systems.

The ship contained every recorded experience of the human race on which to draw upon, to learn from...

But the escape plan failed as the T'kaan attacked early.

With only three small children onboard and the collected memory of the human race, the AI ship observed in silence as the last human stronghold—planet Earth—blew apart. The others never arrived to make the final escape.

The AI starship wrestled with its core programming as it left the destruction behind. The ship's turmoil grew as the young children cried out to it for direction and for comfort. And for love.

Jaric remembered it all too well. And why they still searched for other human survivors, although it seemed hopeless.

"Which way to the Search-terminals?” Jysar's tone reflected his own emotional tension as he and the others watched the distraught humans.

"I wouldn't get your hopes up too much,” Rok said with a nod. “Remember Jarbornir, we were certain we had found a valid lead about other hoo-mans.” Rok's thick Kraaqi accent slurred the last word. Jaric sighed with the memory of six months ago.

"Yes,” Jysar agreed. “The evidence seemed rock solid—a small remnant from a race destroyed by war-like aliens who took refuge there only a short time ago."

"But they were not humans, and the race which destroyed them had not been the T'kaan.” Kyle shook his head sadly.

"I think the one that really got to me was last month, when we landed on Krasas,” Jaric said as he turned to face the others again.

"We should have suspected something the moment he asked for money in return for his knowledge,”

Rok growled. “I knew we could not trust that slimy alien the moment I first laid eyes on him." Jaric looked up at the moist skin of the Zuuk. “Present company excepted." Kyle's face became puzzled. “I thought the saying went, ‘Present company accepted.’”

"Now I'm confused, hoo-mans say same thing twice.” Rok looked from Jaric to Kyle. Kyle began to chuckle. “Well, almost. At least our meaning is meant to be the same, but we did say different words—the last word."

"We've run into a lot of dead-ends,” Jaric said sadly.

Kyle bit his lower lip. “Well, we've had a couple of really hopeful leads turn out to be nothing the last few months. And the one that hurt was the lie we spent money on, hoping it was true."

"We must be more prudent in our use of questions, as well as the information about humans we share in our search.” Jysar looked at the two young men. “But most of all, we must weigh carefully any results we find—especially when it's exactly what we want."

"Yeah, if it's too good to be true—it probably is,” Kyle mused.

"Well, here on RahajMr we'll query a super-massive knowledgebase. Yes, we will have to pay to gain access to their vast knowledge resources, but at least our questions will be answered honestly as we honestly pay for them,” Minstrel-Zuuk said with confidence.

Jaric sighed. “Even if it's not the answer we want to hear."

[Back to Table of Contents]

Chapter Three

"PLEASE SELECT AN appropriate queue. Please be patient, average waiting time is currently seventy-seven krinos,” an emotionless voice enunciated from the nearest speaker. Minstrel-Zuuk and the others waited behind about twenty other customers—each appearing to be of a different alien race—in this particular queue. Behind Minstrel-Zuuk stood Jysar and Rok, with Kyle and Jaric bringing up the rear.

"And that means?” Kyle asked.

"About ten minutes,” Minstrel-Zuuk translated.

"Not bad.” Jaric looked around at the dozens of lines full of aliens waiting their turn, each queue containing perhaps a hundred aliens waiting just like them.

"There are over seventy thousand of these controlled search rooms in which to gain access to their network in this city alone. Imagine how many there are for all twenty-four cities.” The seven eye-stalks looked first one direction and then another simultaneously .

Jysar's eyes widened with amazement at the technology surrounding them.

"As I mentioned, this is the largest single store of knowledge known. Even to Minstrels, and we get around.” The seven eye-stalks suddenly turned in seven different directions. Minstrel-Zuuk smiled with satisfaction. “Wow, I just had to try that once. A real panoramic view, so to speak."

"Guess a Zuuk can really keep an eye on things, eh.” Jaric laughed.

"You bet.” Minstrel-Zuuk chuckled.

"Why don't aliens just log on from their ships, or from their own planets? They have multi-system networks in this Quadrant connecting planets, don't they?” Jysar asked with disbelief.

"The Mrad are shrewd businessmen. Their massive computer does indeed connect to the local inter-system network. But the data flow is only one-way, they search out data and bring it in, but none go out from it."

"Why do the other races allow that?” Jysar's voice filled with exasperation. “Why don't others protect their data from the Mrad?"

"They tried at first. But the Mrad have ingenious ways to sneak into computer systems and capture data, even from outside the known Quadrants.” Minstrel-Zuuk stretched its eye-stalks as far out as it could, surveying the myriad of aliens all around for a moment. “In fact, their system even has some basic information about the races of the Three Kingdoms, although neither the Hrono, the Kraaqi nor the Mewiis have any reciprocal knowledge."

Jysar's eyes narrowed. “The nerve of them, taking data like that."

"The Mrad make a lucrative living on data. And it is true, in the beginning a lot of races were angry. But soon they all acquiesced after using the system. They discovered that the benefits of using the data for a modest fee outweighed the problem of actually having to travel to the floating cities of this world. Actually, the Mrad make it worthwhile, running a nice tourism trade on the side too. Some of the best hotels, entertainment, food and drink are here.” Minstrel-Zuuk yawned. “And because their data acquisition techniques are so far-reaching, if any references to human survivors exist in any of the nearby Quadrants or from a passing starship's logs that they've lifted, this massive system will contain it."

"Cool,” Kyle said.

"Not very proper, taking data like that,” Jysar said stoically.

"Who cares,” Jaric added. He turned as an alien bumped into him.

Jaric found three black eyes staring back from a face covered with short, curly fur. Two huge nostrils on its furry forehead suddenly flared open. The alien's eyes widened as a look of disgust grew over its hairy visage. It took a half-step backward only to bump into a large, bird-like alien behind it. The bird alien with iridescent green feathers stared in shock, its red eyes glaring above a long beak of blue, green and yellow stripes. The huge beak was twice the size of the rest of the alien's head, giving it a very odd profile. The multi-colored beak opened wide and a large black tongue became visible as it spoke.

"What's that awful stench?” The bird-like alien groaned.

The hairy alien whispered to the bird-alien as it pointed at both Jaric and Kyle. Two more aliens behind the bird-like alien joined them as they too stared with disapproval. All four aliens took a half-step backward.

"Must've forgotten to put on my antiperspirant again,” Jaric said with a twinkle in his eyes to Kyle.

"Huh?” Kyle asked.

Jaric jerked his thumb at the aliens still trying to distance themselves and yet keep their place in queue. Rok began to chuckle.

"You find this funny, eh, buddy?” Jaric said.

Rok shrugged nonchalantly. “I've gotten used to your peculiar odor.” Rok grinned widely. “But it is something that must be acquired with time ."

Kyle jabbed his elbow hard into Rok's side, causing the Kraaqi warrior to grunt with pain. Kyle smiled.

“Oh, I'm sorry. Must've been some kind of reflex action on my part. You know how we smelly humans are—always causing problems."

Rok chuckled louder as he rubbed his side tenderly. “Remember about Kraaqi pay-backs, hoo-mans. My return humor will be most delightful when the time is ripe.” Rok's eyes twinkled mischievously. The queue continued moving slowly forward until...

"Next."

Jaric's face clouded with emotion. He leaned forward and whispered into Kyle's ear. “I almost don't want to do this—try another search. Probably just another disappointment." Kyle nodded without looking at him, a solemn expression on his face. He cleared his throat. “Well,” he said in a low voice so nobody else could hear, “we ought to be used to disappointment by now. Let's just try...” He paused. “...one more time, my friend. We'll never know unless we try."

" Neeee-xt."

Minstrel-Zuuk stepped up to the short, plump alien that sat behind the huge computer console facing the queue.

The creature's face was small, dominated by a cylindrical snout tipped by a tiny black nose and tiny mouth. His beady black eyes stared unblinking as he waited on them. His smooth skin was covered by alternating black and white stripes over its entire body—at least the part exposed by its uniform. In complete contrast to the diminutive mouth at the tip of his snout, his deep voice seemed comically out of place.

"Yore name and methuud of payment, pleez.” The black and white striped alien spoke with a distinct drawl, enunciating his words in slow motion.

"Thank technology for universal translators,” Jysar said with obvious gladness.

"Indeed,” Minstrel-Zuuk concurred, turning up the volume.

"Are you a Mrad?” Jysar asked.

"No, I am a Clakza. Our species are hired exclusively by the Mrad to operate their great system." A loud drumming noise erupted from behind the striped Clakza, effectively interrupting their conversation.

"Wait jesst a moment, pleez.” He turned to look back at the numerous enclaves of search terminals. At one of them a group of five aliens stared intently at the screen. Two of them slammed their fists onto the console again, almost as if hitting it would make it work better.

"An-ny trouble over thar?” the Clakza yelled politely.

The two aliens looked up, a sheepish grin on their faces. “No, no, no, everything fine. No trouble here.”

They smiled innocently and stopped their attack—for the moment.

"Well, jest holler out if you need help with that machine. And pleez, don't damage it.” He started to turn back to Minstrel-Zuuk.

"Oh no, we no damage. We just use.” Their innocent smiles widened. Jysar stared in shock at the impertinent aliens, obviously troubled that anyone would treat technology with such blatant disregard. He sighed loudly, rolling his eyes in disbelief.

"Some aliens just don't know how to treat technology, do they?” Rok whispered to Jysar with a humorous tone.

Jysar shook his head.

"Mah name is Ablek, how mah I assist yew with our Search-terminals?” The Clakza smiled.

"Ablek, we would like to purchase time on three terminals. Myself and my friends behind me.” Three of the eye-stalks turned to eye the others while the other four remained fixed on Ablek. Ablek gave a cursory glance to Minstrel-Zuuk, Jysar and Rok. But he paused as he glanced at Kyle and Jaric.

"Whar in the great wad galaxy do you two come frum? Never seen the likes of yore kind here before,”

Ablek said with surprise.

"Humans, we're humans,” Kyle said with an angry edge to his voice. He'd had just about enough of aliens sniffing and talking down to him for one day.

"Sounds like he'd be more at home on an agricultural planet than this place,” Jysar whispered with mirth as he glanced at Ablek.

Minstrel-Zuuk spoke again, trying to focus everyone back on the primary purpose for coming here.

"Our purpose is to search for any references related to humans among your vast computer network.”

Minstrel-Zuuk's eye-stalks all faced Ablek again, eyeing the little alien intently. “Jysar also has some specific search parameters for his personal research, as do I. We require three Search-terminals." Ablek turned to another of his kind and shouted. “Hey, kick that machine on, will ya. It's for this big fella here with all the eyes."

The alien's loud voice caused every head in the room to turn toward them.

"Man, I feel embarrassed just being near this alien,” Jaric whispered to Kyle as he tried to ignore the stares that went from the humans back to Ablek.

"You should have more respect for your technology than that!” Jysar growled, his patience at an end.

"Hey, lighten up fella. It's just a fi-gur of speech.” Ablek pointed as his companion flicked a couple of switches and brought the Search-terminal online for Minstrel-Zuuk. “This parr-ticularr unclave waz dee-signed to seat extra large aliens. The uther terminals are fer more normal-sized aliens." Ablek motioned for Minstrel-Zuuk to take his Search-terminal.

A few minutes later Jysar sat on his own terminal busily using the system while Rok, Jaric and Kyle sat together at a third one.

But before Jaric could begin, Kyle's communicator beeped.

"It must be Mother wondering what our status is,” Kyle said as he took the device from his belt and held it up to his mouth.

"Kyle here."

"Have you entered your search routines into the Mrad system yet?” Mother asked with a soft, feminine voice.

Kyle looked over at Jaric. Both smiled knowingly at each other.

"What's the deal, Mother? Don't you trust us to get this done ourselves?” Kyle said, his voice laced with humor.

"Of course, I was only checking in order to approximate the time you would return. I've discovered some interesting things about this place with my own scans—despite being limited by their security shields."

"Maybe we can arrange a direct link for you to use their huge computer system, although I'd bet it won't be cheap. If they allow it at all,” Kyle said.

"Yes, we will investigate that. But I want you to take the Bullet-Cars back, they will get you here quickly. Tonight is our music evening and I don't wish you to be late. I look forward to it every week." Kyle and Jaric smiled widely at each other—ever since arriving on RahajMr they had heard that riding the Bullet-Cars was a must do experience.

Rok grinned wolfishly with keen anticipation.

"Sure, Mother. We'll take the fastest transportation back possible—just so we won't be late. We wanted to take in all the scenery earlier, taking our time, you know."

"Contact me if anything changes."

The communicator went silent and Kyle replaced it back on his belt. “Let's get our search going here, we'll come back tomorrow and review any results."

Rok cleared his throat. “May I suggest something?"

Jaric and Kyle paused.

"Sure,” they said together.

"Many times, on many different planets, we have asked questions—we have searched for the tiniest references for the existence of other human survivors.” Rok took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts logically, remembering the different alien bars and taverns, the numerous network cafes, the countless conversations with traders, explorers and other beings who roamed the vast reaches space. And in all of them, never the first shred of hope that any other humans survived.

A visible tension grew in both Jaric and Kyle. Rok sensed their fear of failure even before they entered the first search criteria.

Because they fought alongside the Kraaqi against the T'kaan, Kyle and Jaric were anointed as Brethren. As their Brethren, Rok wanted to help them and not see their emotional wounds opened once more. Rok raised his head as he stroked his chin. “Allow me, from a non-hoo-man perspective, to define the descriptive criteria for the search. After all, if another alien race came into contact with human survivors, it will be their description, their reference in the ship's log or report. It will be a description about humans from their perspective—an alien perspective. So if I, a Kraaqi, define our search, it may have better success of making a match in the vast data of this system."

Jaric felt his heart begin to race. He looked at Kyle and saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes too. And for the first time that day, he felt like they might really succeed.

"That's a great idea, Rok.” Kyle motioned for Rok to sit at the terminal. “Jaric and I will add human-specific criteria, such as proper names like Earth and Nuevo Mundo, names human survivors would likely mention to any aliens."

"And the name...” Jaric suddenly seemed to lose his voice as his eyes narrowed. But he forced himself to continue. “T'kaan. They're likely to mention the enemy that destroyed humanity.” Jaric's eyes peered at the others.

T'kaan was a name which they rarely uttered anymore.

Kyle and Rok sighed with remembrance of the dreaded race.

"Yes, we will. We have to,” Kyle said, a huskiness in his voice. He fought the anger that rose inside him.

"Computer, description of species called hoo-man.” Rok paused, his eyes reflective a moment.

“Warm-blooded and smooth-skinned race, skin color ranges from almond to chocolate brown with a wide variety of shades between. Male and female sex.” Rok looked Kyle and Jaric up and down slowly, pondering their physical description. “Hoo-mans walk upright on two legs. Two arms attached on upper part of cylindrical torso just below neck. Two eyes on forehead, two small, fleshy ears on either side of head. One mouth, lower part of head. Nose with two small nostrils located mid-face—thick growth of hair above forehead and over head and down to back of the neck."

Rok paused again, staring at his two friends as if seeing them for the first time. Then he sniffed the air. He began to chuckle under his breath, but realized it would be something important.

"Strong and pungent body odor—unpleasant."

Kyle opened his mouth to argue, but Jaric placed his hand firmly on his shoulder.

"They'd probably mention that,” Jaric whispered.

"But it can become tolerable—with time.” Rok's eyes sparkled with mischief. Kyle wrinkled his nose subconsciously and nodded his head in agreement. “Okay. I'll buy that. Now, if that's it for your part, let Jaric and I input our criteria. I'm getting hungry."

"Yeah, and I want to ride a Bullet-Car!” Jaric said eagerly.

* * * *

DEEP WITHIN THE data storage banks of the Mrad system an alarm routine activated. The coded parameters matched the search criteria and within milliseconds the alarm routine kicked off its action code, alerting the agents of the Paum that someone searched for the forbidden knowledge—knowledge restricted on almost every single world in the Four Quadrants. In the deep recesses of their parked starship, the Harg warriors awoke with a start as the red beacon and screaming alarm shattered the silence.

"What is it?” The stout Harg nearest the console leapt up and began reading the message on the screen.

"Someone searches for...” The alien paused in shocked silence. He turned to his commander with military precision. “Someone searches for sentient machines, sir."

"What? Is there a specific search? A specific world?” The Harg commander leaned over his shoulder so he too could see the message.

"No, it is a general search—checking for any references on the existence of sentient machines—their location and their creators.” The sub-commander waited as his commander rubbed his chin in thought.

"Send the kill routines. Set to it kill these search routines at the top of the hour."

"But, sir, the Mrad system has many checkpoints. Sending the kill code may alert them to us."

"It does not matter—the Paum has stationed us here for many reasons, but this is the most vital. In fact, we need to contact the homeworld about this as soon as the search is killed." The two Harg warriors snarled at each other, but the sub-commander turned and keyed the sequence to activate the kill-code. A few seconds later, he turned with a grin.

"Target search updated with kill time in six hundred krinos."

"Good."

"The original search has already returned some initial cross-references, but none that reveal anything of importance. Even better, the source Search station is identified as well as the time initiated." The Harg commander reviewed the information.

"You have done well."

"Could this be the Iraxx again?” the sub-commander asked.

"I do not think so, they would not be this foolish. No, this public search of the great Mrad system is from another alien race. And that is what makes it more dangerous to us."

"Shall I use breaker code and slice into the Mrad credit system to see who purchased the search console?"

"Using the kill code to stop a public search is one thing. Using breaker code to infiltrate their credit system will certainly get picked up by their security sub-systems. It may lead them to our ship and compromise our cover.” The Harg in command paused in thought.

The subordinate Harg waited patiently as his commander pondered the risk. The commander nodded. “Do it."

With rapid keystrokes, the Harg sub-commander enabled the breaker code and targeted the infiltrate and seek parameters with the system ID of the Search console and the time the search began. The breaker code launched.

The Harg watched the progress chart intently. At first, the Mrad security kept the malicious code at bay. But before an entire minute passed, a hole was identified and penetrated. Ten seconds later, the targeted data scrolled across their screen.

"A Zuuk purchased the search?” the Harg commander said with surprise.

"Hmmm. Zuuks are not that common in this Sector. Although they do come to Mrad on occasion."

"Look.” The commander pointed to the screen. “The Zuuk purchased time on two other Search consoles. A Hrono on one. Now, that is an alien race I've not heard of before. We need to check its searches."

"And look at this, a Kraaqi and something called humans on the last console?" The Harg looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

"We must interrogate the Clakza in charge of this station and identify these unknown aliens. As well as this Zuuk who searches for the forbidden knowledge."

"And when we find him?"

"Then we find out who sent them, and why—and report directly to the Paum. The Paum has explicit orders on this subject—if anyone showed interest in sentient machines." The Harg commander stroked the blaster on his hip as a smile grew.

"And if the Paum decides they are dangerous to our paradigm, we kill the Zuuk and everyone else on its starship."

[Back to Table of Contents]

Chapter Four

MINSTREL-ZUUK'S EYES STARED unblinking.

"You know, your new shape gives me the creeps sometimes. I feel like I'm being watched all the time,”

Kyle said with a laugh.

"I'll be glad to remove this body myself,” Minstrel-Zuuk whispered. Clearing its throat, it continued in a normal tone. “I left my searches running in background mode a few minutes ago and will check their output tomorrow. How have you done?"

"Mine are running as well,” Jysar reported.

"We're trying something new.” Kyle stood. “But, the progress bar is barely growing. And it's time to get back to Mother."

"Good, I'll see you later then."

"Hey, did you forget it's ‘Music Evening’ tonight?” Jaric said with surprise. “The band won't be the same without Minstrel."

Five of Minstrel-Zuuk's seven eyes twinkled with pleasure.

"I have a musical adventure awaiting me at the Blue Star Lounge. A new musical fad—or genre—is blooming here. It's spreading across the planets like wildfire too.” The huge Zuuk form quivered with excitement. “In recent weeks, a Minstrel copied a few songs from starships that recently traveled here. The songs were communicated outbound to all Minstrels in this quadrant—which is how I received them. The music is quite distinct."

"Yes,” Jysar said with remembrance. “You travel the universe in search of song."

"That is one code we live by, yes. But there is more. Minstrels seek out what is good and beautiful and noble from all races. Music is our greatest love,” Minstrel-Zuuk said with pride. “Think about it, what greater bond is there between all sentient races in the great, wide universe? They may speak different languages. They may breathe oxygen, nitrogen, or hydrogen. They may live millennia, or they may live mere weeks. But, music is something that all sentient races share in common. And each can listen to and enjoy the music of another alien race even without being able to speak their language."

"What about the technology we share?” Jysar asked. “And a decent Galactic Translator resolves any language barrier."

"Pre-space travel sentients, even pre-technology sentients, make music, my Hrono friend."

"Music is good— good for the soul.” Rok nodded appreciatively.

"And the melodies, the lyrics, and the rhythms are unique to each alien race which creates it. Still, because it is music—the rest of the universe can enjoy it. But only if the music is heard—that is why we Minstrels seek it out, not only to listen but to record it and share it. We ourselves learn to play it with our instruments—instruments integrated directly into our starships."

"What is this music you go to hear now? And I hope you've told Mother you're not coming tonight,”

Kyle said.

"Mother is informed. In fact, she is eager to hear what I will record tonight, although no one will realize what I'm doing at the Blue Star. The music is associated with a new dance form—the Mrad call it

‘Happy Dancing.'” Minstrel-Zuuk smiled. “And the songs I have heard so far identify the music as

‘Happy Music.’”

"Happy Dancing?” Jaric said with surprise. “Why should that be so special, or different?"

"Most forms of dancing by adult sentients are with specific purposes in mind—to tell stories, to follow a complex choreography, to impress others, or to encourage mating rituals."

"And this?"

"This, it seems, falls into the genre of pure, child-like enjoyment. To dance, to make music—for the sheer enjoyment of it, much as young children dance simply for the joy of dancing, not caring if others see. Adult aliens are ‘Happy Dancing’ across all planets in this sector.” Now, all seven of Minstrel-Zuuk's eyes gleamed with excitement. “Humans may reference the music of J. S. Bach or Mozart as happy music. However, there is a better example that spawned a kind of ‘Happy Dancing’ on Earth in the mid-twentieth century. This genre, called Rock and Roll, is exemplified by early Beatles songs as well as songs by Chuck Berry, The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, and others of this time period."

"Cool,” Jaric agreed.

"Hey, I want to hear some when you get back,” Kyle said excitedly.

"And so you will.” Minstrel-Zuuk glided gracefully away toward the more sedate thoroughfares—the moving sidewalks—of RahajMr .

"And now, we get to see why they put the bullet in Bullet-Cars.” Kyle laughed. Eagerly, the foursome made their way through the throngs in the opposite direction of Minstrel. The queue moved quickly as they pulled out their credits and prepared to step into the tight confines of the sleek Bullet-Car.

"Very cool,” Kyle said with awe as he watched a Bullet-Car in the next slot over from them suddenly shoot into the air with a hiss. Seconds later it disappeared inside one of the hundreds of tunnel openings studding the great wall that rose before them. Each tunnel led to various destinations of the great city.

"Oh man, those things can fly."

While watching others pay and step inside the bullet-shaped cars, they noticed how the gull-wing door closed shut and made the steel surface seamless and totally aerodynamic. Next, the Bullet-Car moved slowly forward to a launching square. After a quick countdown, it shot silently through the air directly at one of the tunnel openings—each one the beginning of a long tube lined with both magnetic and anti-grav components. These devices ‘shot’ the cars down through the tunnels with ever increasing velocity to their destination, normally in less than two minutes. The longest tube ride lasted just over four minutes, and its destination was the other side of the city.

"Bullet-Cars are not for the faint of heart.” Rok nodded with anticipation.

"Wow,” Kyle agreed.

They watched with mouths agape as another car disappeared with a blur of motion. Rok and Jysar paid their money and stepped inside their own Bullet-Car. Jysar smiled and waved to them as the gull-wing door closed. In total silence, the Bullet-Car moved forward into position—aimed at a specific tunnel opening.

"I hope they have lights lining the tubes, I want to see and feel this bad-boy as we fly through the tunnels,” Jaric said to Kyle as the Bullet-Car with their friends suddenly soared silently away. Another Clakza, his distinctive black and white striped snout and face fixed on them, waited for payment.

Kyle fished some credits out of his pocket to pay for himself and Jaric.

"So, these are the famous Bullet-Cars, eh?” Kyle smiled as he started to sit down in the front seat as Jaric took the rear one. Both seats faced forward inside the cramped compartment.

"Yes,” the Clakza said, his dialect not as strong as Ablek's. “Some aliens jest come to RahajMr in order to rad every single tube. When we dee-signed this transit system, we wanted the rad to be as much fun as the destination—meybe more. Each tube, or tunnel, has its own unique set of twists and turns. We designed it that way.” The tiny mouth grinned at the end of the huge snout. “Jest for the fun of it."

"Alright,” Kyle said with excitement.

Kyle twisted his body and finally fell the rest of the way into the tight confines of the forward seat. He immediately noted the lack of buttons or controls on the console before him—only a few indicators for speed, time and location. Looking up, he stared through the reinforced windshield at the curved nose of the Bullet-Car.

"All Bullet-Cars are automated bah the central computer,” the Clakza said, guessing his thoughts. “But I'll tell yew, if yew really want a ride yew need to take the city-to-city Bullet-Cars. The ones that leap out into the wild winds and fly between the floating cities! Now that is a ride."

"How do they work?” Jaric asked, his interest piqued.

"Navigation systems are point-to-point between the cities. Those parr-ticular Bullet-Cars are bigger and carry their own internal anti-grav engines, which is why they can carry up to six average-sized aliens. But even with their bullet designs, the ride can be rough and wild as they sail into the eternal winds of this gas giant."

"Oh man, we may have to try that before we leave,” Kyle said from his seat. Jaric twisted his body and fell into his seat behind Kyle. He smiled mischievously as the safety force field wrapped tightly around his body in order to hold him in place. “You bet." Their hearts pounded with adrenaline as the Bullet-Car moved with complete silence to the launch pad and stopped. On the console, all lights glowed green.

Kyle tensed.

He knew that at any moment they would be launched forward and get to their bullet speed of one hundred fifty kilometers an hour in mere seconds.

Jaric looked around, his head firmly held against the back of the thick cushioned seat by the safety force field. Jaric smiled as he saw Kyle glance back.

" Let's rock this thing!"

In that instant, their Bullet-Car rocketed forward with a blur of motion. For one brief instant, it seemed that they were leaving their bodies behind, a strange sensation of intense speed and the conflicting sensation of the force field holding them in place. Seconds later, they entered a tunnel.

As their eyes quickly adjusted, they noted with satisfaction that a line of lights lit up the tube's interior. Their car surged silently forward with a new burst of speed. The two young men felt their bodies pressed deeper into their seats as the G-forces increased.

As they reached their top speed their eyes were assaulted by the line of lights as they hurtled down the long tube and suddenly curved to the right, back straight, then left. In another moment, they hurtled forward upside down.

With two more bursts of speed and three more hard banks into tight curves, it became impossible for them to tell if they were right side up or still upside down.

The only thing they knew was that they were hurtling forward at immense velocity. Suddenly, the line of lights traveled downward.

The Bullet-Car shot straight down with more speed.

The Bullet-Car quickly turned upright as they realized they could feel their bodies again. They were only fifteen seconds into the ride.

Jaric's mind began to function again as his senses coalesced and he realized how fast they were traveling. In that moment, Jaric did what came naturally.

He screamed.

Kyle's laughter mixed with Jaric's howl as the line of lights revealed a curve that now took them left and straight up.

And suddenly down with a hard left turn!

Both men felt their stomachs jump with the sudden turns as their bodies jerked time and again between the two forces assaulting their senses—one fighting to keep them in place with an iron grip, and one pushing and jerking with titanic force with each turn.

With their mouths wide open in silence, they stared in wild fascination. In the next seconds, they felt the Bullet-Car slow.

Slightly.

In another moment, the car slammed hard left followed by a hard right. They entered a series of corkscrew turns that lifted them out of their seats, but the force field pressed them back down each time.

Again they felt the Bullet-Car throw them upside down.

And again they banked upward and through a long curve to their right as the Bullet-Car righted itself. Jaric felt a dizziness enveloping his mind.

The Bullet-Car dropped straight down again.

Down, down they hurtled.

It felt like the drop would never end.

Suddenly, they straightened and hit a long straight-away.

Now an electric thrill of total excitement filled their senses as the pure speed pressed them deeper and deeper into their seats with each passing second.

Kyle and Jaric found their voices as they yelled with excitement. But it required all their effort simply to scream—each held in place by the comforting grip of the force field.

Their vision blurred as the lights grew into one long line.

Without warning, the Bullet-Car braked with a hard jolt.

The line of light changed back to normal as their speed continued to slow. A bright light at the end of the tunnel grew.

A few seconds later they stared out into another huge room filled with Bullet-Cars as their own slid out into the open air. This station was almost identical to the one they had left. Kyle and Jaric turned as the force field relaxed its iron grip.

Behind them, another wall rose. It was also filled with tunnel openings. The force field now fell completely away from their bodies as the Bullet-Car glided effortlessly toward a landing pad amid dozens of other cars.

Kyle turned his head, taking his first deep breath— his first real breath—since their ride started. He glanced at the time.

The entire journey had taken less than two minutes. They had traveled from the central section of the great city all the way to the outer docks located just inside the massive outer hull. It was here where all starships docked while visiting RahajMr.

"We have got to do that again!” Jaric shouted as he jumped out of the Bullet-Car, adrenaline pumping throughout his body like a laser cannon.

"You bet. I need to do it again just so I can figure out what we just experienced! It all happened so fast I don't really know what just happened!” Kyle laughed heartily.

The two ran joyously through the crowds of aliens. They made their way toward the dock where Mother waited. As their heart rate and adrenaline levels began to subside, they gradually slowed their pace.

"Hey,” Jaric said as a recent memory flashed. “I want to tell you something when we get back—an idea I have."

Kyle looked at his friend questioningly. “Sure, what's it about?"

"I have an answer for our girl troubles. Or rather, our lack-of-girl troubles.” Jaric smiled knowingly.

[Back to Table of Contents]

Chapter Five

THE TWO MEN approached the familiar manta-ray silhouette of the starship. The hull glowed with a purple sheen under the docking bay's harsh lights. Dozens of other starships stood in their own docking bays on either side, each starship's configuration different from the other—each an example of unique alien artisanship.

The two young men walked up the ramp and inside as the door slid silently open.

"Hello, boys. I hope your day has been one of enjoyment.” Mother's voice greeted them with a feminine tone from the nearest speaker.

"It sure was. This is a very cool place,” Kyle answered.

"We're hopeful their vast store of data will give us our first real lead on any human survivors,” Jaric said with gladness in his voice.

"Yes, their massive store of data is indeed amazing. I hope I may be able to interface with it directly soon,” Mother said.

"We asked about it when we left our Search-terminals today. The Mrad frown on it, afraid somebody might steal their data somehow. But, they said they'd at least consider it.” Jaric looked up at one of Mother's optical sensors.

"Mother, I'm going to show Kyle some of my research. Please give us some privacy for a while. Okay?"

"I will disable my sensors in the main library."

Jaric and Kyle ran down the lighted corridors of Mother. Kyle could sense Jaric's excitement now and he found it wonderfully contagious.

They stopped amid the huge room that housed the main source of entertainment in the ship. A huge display screen for old-fashioned two-dimensional programs dominated the center of the great oval room. On all the surrounding walls, holo-projectors were positioned for interactive programming. Audio speakers dotted the room everywhere, ready to fill it with sound.

At one end, a stage rose above the main floor filled with various musical instruments—some of them the exotic instruments of the Kraaqi, Hrono and Mewiis.

Minstrel's alien instrument dominated them all. Numerous pipes curled outward in all directions from its circular body while countless buttons, dials and keys covered the rest of its surface. It was here that everyone gathered to play music.

Normally, Minstrel was not physically present playing on-stage, for a Minstrel's true instrument was its entire ship. For those concerts, the music of Minstrel was transmitted to the library to blend with the instruments of everyone else. But at times, Minstrel played on-stage with the others using this miniature version of its musical starship.

"Okay, so what's this answer to our girl troubles?” Kyle asked sarcastically, not really believing his friend. “Must be something pretty fantastic, seeing our problem is that there aren't any girls left in the universe—except for you-know-who."

Jaric looked around the empty room with a conspiratorial smile. “And that's our answer." Kyle looked at Jaric as if he'd lost his mind.

Jaric's smile grew wider.

"We could clone us some women!” Jaric shouted.

Kyle's face grew deadly serious as he shook his head sadly. A long silence settled between them.

"Have you completely flipped out, Jaric?"

"No! Think about it. Our problem is that our source of DNA is so small that we can't possibly clone enough different strains to recreate a human population.” Jaric grabbed Kyle by the shoulders and held him fast. “But, I've determined that with some minor modifications we can create enough variety to clone a woman who wouldn't be...” Jaric's eyebrows bunched up questioningly.

"Our sisters,” Kyle said for him, knowing the answer.

"Yes!” Jaric's voice erupted with excitement. “We could marry ‘em!” A wolfish smile spread over his face. “And we can decide just what we want! Brunette, redhead or blonde. Short or tall. Dark complexion or light complexion. Think of it! Just like ordering out for the latest holovid!" Kyle's eyes grew wide.

"I passed this by Jysar, of course—kind of theoretically.” Jaric's face became serious. “Jysar thinks it best we not have children with them, if we do decide to do this.” Again his face switched to excitement.

“But they could be our companions, our wives! You see that Becky's clone is ... well, er, almost like Becky."

"You mean our dear friend, Elise?” Kyle snorted sarcastically.

"Yes, she seems, er...” Jaric coughed nervously, trying to force the word. “ Human,” he finally sputtered.

"Quacks like a duck, walks like a duck.” Kyle rolled his eyes.

Jaric smiled sheepishly. “Yes, she's human enough. I think."

Kyle became silent, an expression of intense concentration on his face. Long seconds passed as Kyle meditated about this alternative solution to their loneliness. His deep, slow breaths were the only sound audible in the room as he paced in circles while Jaric watched him intently.

"There are some ethical issues we need to consider,” Kyle said with an air of wisdom.

"Wow,” Jaric said, impressed. His mind whirled with thought. He had never anticipated Kyle answering like this. After all, the human race was only the two of them, and well, he was the usually the deep thinker of the two.

It seemed ethically fine to him if there was a way to clone a few more humans.

"Like what?” Jaric countered.

Kyle pursed his lips tight. “I mean, what if they turn out to be ugly? What do we do then?" Jaric's mouth fell open in shock.

"Great galaxies, I hadn't thought of that!"

"See, we've got to think this thing through. We can't just go playing God here like it's a game. Creating another identical clone is one thing. But applying a few modifications here and there to get variety...”

Kyle's voice trailed off as he nodded, pointing a finger at his temple for emphasis—to show his deep thoughts.

Jaric whistled.

The wisdom kept flowing from Kyle.

"And, what if she complained all the time? Or she was too short? Or too tall?" Jaric's eyes widened.

"And worse. Think about this, man. What if she has the face of an angel, the body of a swimsuit model, but she's like ... well, we can't stand her!” Kyle placed his hands on his hips. “I mean, what would we do then? Just drop them off at the next planet we landed at and try again?" A pained look came over Jaric's face.

"And more important, remember why humanity outlawed cloning humans way back in the twenty-first century.” Kyle's face became hard as rock with the dreadful memories from their childhood history lessons. “Remember the ... accidents . Playing God is not without its consequences." Jaric's eyes grew distant. “But the Hrono seem to have perfected cloning, right?"

"Cloning an exact copy."

Now Kyle's eyes became far off with a more recent memory of Jysar bringing the Hrono present to Mother. His eyes narrowed as he pursed his mouth, remembering it like it was yesterday.

"Remember when El...” Kyle stopped in mid-word, his expression going from reflection to anger and then to puzzlement. He shook his head. With a deep sigh, he continued. “Remember when Becky's clone first showed up? Remember how we felt? And those first three months after we left the Three Kingdoms?"

"How could I ever forget?” A look of somber reflection swept across his face. After a few moments, Jaric looked at his friend with a newfound respect.

"Man, you're deep, Big K!"

Kyle rubbed the sides of his head as if he were trying to ease a throbbing migraine headache. “When it has to do with creating life, or cloning life, one has to think it through. Really think it through." Jaric walked over to a chair and fell down onto it with an air of resignation. He placed his head in his hands as he spoke. “I just feel so lonely sometimes—so terribly lonely, man. And I thought if we can't find any others, you know, any women survivors. And well...” His voice began to shake with emotion. For a long time Jaric sat frozen in his melancholy pose.

The silence stretched on to eternity.

"Even if technology can give us the answer we want, is it the right thing to do? Do we have the right? Do we know right from wrong in the first place?” Kyle's voice rose with indignation. His eyes narrowed as more sparks of wisdom came to life inside his speeding mind. “I mean, what if we clone these women and decide we just don't like them! What do we do then? Just put ‘em out with the trash and start over?"

The two men locked eyes, a stern look of sudden insight in each.

Jaric slowly stood up. “You're right, Big K. This is wrong. I'd only thought of the biological and scientific side of it.” Jaric shook his head somberly. “And our selfish needs. I guess I'd better rethink this whole..."

"What are you two bozo-boys up to now?"

Jaric and Kyle turned suddenly, a surprised expression on their faces. Their surprise quickly changed to outright embarrassment as they realized who had just spoken as she entered the library. It was Elise.

She looked from one to the other as she walked inside.

"Looks like I just caught you in the middle of some kind of conspiracy.” She half-laughed. But her eyes were watchful as she waited for their reaction.

Elise knew how the boys felt about her.

"What are you doing here?” Kyle's tone was defensive and edged with anger. Elise scowled at Kyle as she walked silently to the nearest chair and sat down at a display and keyboard. She began to browse for something on the console while the two young men continued to stare.

"It's a public place, right?” she said defensively. “And I have some research I need to do before dinner. After all, it is my first time playing in the band with you tonight.” She almost smiled with that happy thought, but the empty looks on the boy's faces washed her smile away before it could be fully born. The air grew tense between them.

But it always did.

* * * *

MOTHER'S OPTICAL SENSOR had come to life unnoticed by any of them as Elise first entered the library. Inside her circuits, Mother felt a surge in her processing cycles as she contemplated whether she should intervene. Yet, no easy solution presented itself as she scanned her knowledgebase a second time. Indeed, in the arena of human feelings and human relationships, there never seemed to be an easy answer.

And Mother doubted if there ever would be.

Mother's thoughts and memories flowed throughout her circuits, recalling the recent past with exact electronic clarity.

Those first three months after they left the Three Kingdoms were difficult for everyone. Mother, Jysar and Krinia worked diligently with Becky's clone almost every minute of every day in those first months—teaching her, helping her.

The Hrono had created her to help ease Mother's dearest loss—the death of Becky in the final battle. The Hrono scientists also sped up the growth rate of the clone until it had reached the approximate age of Becky at her death—eighteen—before presenting her.

Mother accepted the clone instantly and whole-heartedly.

But not so the boys.

Mother was forced to keep the clone away from them as much as possible due to their angry reactions. Neither Jaric nor Kyle could stand to be in the same room with her, much less be civil to her. All they saw in her was Becky. But the clone was not Becky, although physically she was her exact twin. And this caused their anger to erupt each time they saw her.

Mother kept them separated those first months.

Jysar and Mother concentrated on teaching the newborn clone, giving her a basic education as a foundation on which they could build in order to bring her mental capacity equal to her physical age. Her mind was like an empty sponge and the clone soaked up every bit of knowledge with eagerness, learning at an amazing pace. In fact, once she advanced past the very basics in math, science, history and literature, she begged Mother and Jysar to teach her faster, to double the sessions as the universe around her came alive with knowledge.

Krinia also helped. But her teaching was even more important, because she not only taught the clone academic knowledge, but what it meant to be a female—what it meant to be a young woman. It was early in their first week together that Mother named her new daughter, after the clone had asked her the ultimate question.

What is my name?

Mother had pondered over this question from the first second that she saw her new daughter, stressing her CPU cycles at times while she ransacked her knowledgebase for the perfect name. A name she hoped her daughter would like. A name that was ... special. But as the long searches throughout her knowledgebase continued day after day, it seemed that this seemingly simple task was nothing of the kind. In fact, it was a paradox.

A name—a designation. A title. An identifier.

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

Mother searched throughout the great literature inside her knowledgebase—poetry, prose and song—trying to pick a name that would be significant. A name beautiful and strong, a name that reflected heartfelt love and intelligence.

A name that would fit a beautiful young woman full of the promise of life. A name with meaning .

Mother burned hours of long utilization analyzing an unnumbered myriad of names. But in the end, she couldn't make a single decision based on her original query. And so she found the answer another way—a simpler way.

She named her daughter after her favorite music—a short piano work by Beethoven. The piece was really just a joyous melody—so simple on the surface, and yet it glowed with a mysterious power. When that magical melody played there was a timelessness about it—and Mother played it time and time again. Indeed, it contained an internal energy that belied its flowing simplicity. Music of power was a trademark of Beethoven's compositions. But ‘Fur Elise’ must have been something special for this legend of orchestral thunder. It contained the essence of something very personal, something cherished.

Something close to the heart.

Because of this music and its wonderful, enchanting melody, Mother grew fond of the name. And so she named her new daughter— Elise.

Mother remembered again how Elise's mind had recently blossomed. She remembered with a stirring throughout her systems how Elise finally became cognizant of the universe around her—aware of its vastness and beauty, and of her own potential.

Elise realized that she now was a part of it all, a part of life.

Elise took her first bold steps to inner maturity with this new awareness. After ten months of intense instruction and exclusive interaction with Krinia and Jysar, Mother consulted with them and it was agreed that for the sake of Mother's extended family, and for Elise's next steps emotionally, Elise needed more interaction with the others.

That included the aloof boys, Kyle and Jaric.

The boys purposely avoided her during that early time, always leaving when she entered a room they occupied. Elise had not fully understood their actions, but she sensed their rejection and it caused deep pain inside her heart.

She began to avoid the boys as well.

Although her mind soon functioned at the age of her physical body, inside her heart she remained a babe emotionally.

And the boys were not kind to her.

They resented her. They were harsh, even critical with her, during their infrequent encounters. Mother assumed Jaric and Kyle did this because of the strong emotions they still felt over the loss of Becky, and now here was an identical person with the exception that inside her mind, and yes, inside her heart, she was a blank canvass waiting for an artist to place the first brush strokes of life. Yes, every time they saw Elise, her likeness must remind them of the person they once loved sodearly—now gone.

How hard it must be for such creatures, their emotions filling them with grief and sadness, blinding them with love or hatred, joy or depression—warping their judgment and actions with a combination of them all.

Elise was a person.

But ... she was not Becky.

Mother knew from the boys’ words and actions, especially when they tried to whisper so her audio sensors could not pick it up—though she did hear—how much anger they felt toward Elise. Mother could not fully comprehend how they confused their sorrow for Becky, replacing it with anger for Elise so that it caused even more pain—especially for innocent Elise.

Mother watched carefully over Elise because of that as well as for another special reason—Mother realized Elise had come into this universe in much the same way as she—with the exception that Elise was human.

Mother came into existence in an instant—sentient, fully formed and powerful. And yet, she had not understood the first thing about what it meant to be alive—to be a living entity. Elise was like that, except she did not even have the initial programming that guided Mother those first days and which she soon grew beyond.

Mother felt a special relationship with Elise.

Still, Jaric and Kyle were her sons too.

It was a balancing act, a very difficult balancing act.

Mother focused her sensors.

Only three seconds had passed as she reviewed these memories of Elise.

* * * *

JARIC ROSE TO speak.

"You know, a real person would've knocked or...” Jaric took a surprised step backward as Elise angrily jumped up from her chair.

Elise stood before him staring daggers. Her breathing grew rapid and ragged like that of person just completing a marathon race.

In that instant, it appeared Jaric realized what he had just said.

"So!” Elise's voice choked with her boiling emotions, and her voice failed as tears streamed down her face. She looked away from him, her lips trembling.

"Uh, wait a minute,” Jaric looked away with embarrassment. He shook his head as he rubbed his face nervously with his right hand. “You know, I didn't mean to say it like that..."

"Yes, you did!"

Elise's voice turned to rage. She uttered those words like weapons. And now her blue eyes glared at Jaric without tears, but her soft cheeks still glistened with her heartache. She took a deep breath, trying to regain control of herself. “Yes, you did. You said what you were thinking, what you think — of me!"

Jaric held his hands up defensively. “Wait..."

"No, you wait!” Elise walked closer to him as he eyed her carefully. She stared into his eyes. “You don't think I'm a real person. You never have. And neither have you!” She jabbed her finger at Kyle with the last sentence.

Kyle let out a sigh as he rolled his eyes.

"Just because I wasn't born, just because I'm a clone of Becky, you don't think I'm a real person.” She stated this fact as if it were a spiritual revelation. Her mouth fell open as she looked from Jaric to Kyle, her eyes now wide with understanding.

"Well, I didn't mean...” Jaric began.

"You treat me like some kind of unwanted step-child!” Elise cried. But Kyle and Jaric simply averted their eyes.

"Oh, I'm sure you didn't mean to say it in front of me. And Mother.” Elise sobbed, new tears falling fresh. She wiped them away quickly, as if they had never been, although her heart was breaking once again—because of the boys.

Kyle and Jaric each lowered their heads a fraction in shame as they realized for the first time that Mother's sensors were active in the library.

"Oh man, I guess Mother's heard all of this.” Jaric sighed.

"Unfortunately, I have,” Mother said.

A pained looked covered Jaric's face, while Kyle shook his head slowly and sighed again.

"But that's it, isn't it, I'm just the clone ,” Elise uttered the last two words as if it were something loathsome. She paused, fighting the tears that threatened to fall again. Her breathing grew ragged for only a second, as with all her will, she focused her pain back into words. “You think the clone is not a real person. That I'm not real somehow."

The tension in the air grew electric with raw emotion as Elise looked from Jaric to Kyle, daring them to speak.

"But if you strike me, I cry. If you cut me, I bleed! Just like you!" Jaric's eyes narrowed as Kyle held his breath.

"And if you kill me, I die!” Elise clenched her eyes shut, still fighting her tears. But she couldn't prevent a single, mournful sob. She continued, her voice now full of sadness. “But maybe that's what you really want, you'd rather I was dead than here bothering you with my presence!"

"Wait a minute, aren't you going a bit far..."

But Elise did not let Jaric finish. “Think about how you've treated me ever since you first laid eyes on me! How you've avoided me, resented me, talked behind my back. Don't you think that's hurt me?” Elise took a deep breath. And then she put her pain into words.

"You know, sometimes I wish I was dead."

Expressions of regret and guilt clouded Kyle and Jaric's faces.

"Yes, I know. Everybody wishes Becky were still alive. Everybody wants Becky back. And you know...” The tears returned, streaming like rain down her cheeks. She began to sob now, no longer caring if the boys saw how badly she hurt.

"You kno-o-ow,” she sobbed. “I wish Becky was alive too,” she cried. “And I wish that I was dead instead of her. Everybody would be much happier then. And the clone would be gone forever!" Jaric and Kyle stared at Elise dumb-founded.

With a rush, Elise ran out of the room, her painful sobs cutting the air like blaster fire.

* * * *

JARIC SAT DOWN and placed his head into his hands, rubbing his temples as if he were suffering from an intense migraine.

Kyle stared at the closed door, speechless, still shaking his head.

"I guess ... I guess she might be right,” Jaric whispered.

"It's not her fault Becky died,” Kyle agreed.

"Elise is a unique person, even though she looks identical because she is a clone,” Mother added, unable to watch in silence any longer.

Jaric stood and walked to door. He stopped suddenly and turned back to Kyle, glancing momentarily at Mother's optic sensor. “I'm going to try to treat Elise ... differently from now on.” Jaric sighed. “I'm going to try to treat her like a ... a person.” A pained looked came across his face with the memory of Elise running from the room. Looking down, he fidgeted nervously with his hands while a thick silence filled the room.

"Like a real person,” Jaric whispered.

Kyle nodded silent agreement.

"It'll still be hard. Every time I look at her, I see Becky. But I've got to stop thinking that way.” Jaric looked directly at Mother. “I'll try."

He spoke from the doorway. “I have to think about this some more. It's hard for me, too. Tell the Fixers I'll have dinner by myself in my room.” The door slid silently shut.

Kyle rose.

"Do you agree with Jaric, Kyle?” Mother asked.

Kyle rubbed his eyes tiredly. “When I saw her tears, and thought about Jaric's slip-of-the-tongue, well...” Kyle sighed deeply. “I thought back to Earth, early twenty-first century. Back to those first, foolish attempts at cloning humans—the accidents .” He emphasized the last word with hidden meaning, and with sadness.

"It was terrible,” Mother agreed.

"So much pain, for so many.” Kyle's eyes became moist. “I guess the awful connotation associated with that word—clone—well, that poisoned both of our reactions right off toward Elise. And then every time I looked at her, I only saw Becky."

He stood with sudden energy. “I want to be alone too. I guess all three of us do, right now. We'll have to postpone the ‘Music Evening’ this week."

"And Elise practiced so hard,” Mother said.

But Kyle did not acknowledge her words. Instead, he made his way to his room, to be alone with his pain like the other two.

Mother's optic sensor watched him leave impassively.

The next two hours went by in quiet solitude. Mother focused her processing on necessary housekeeping tasks, especially her memory systems. She utilized an algorithm she designed herself in order to keep it at optimum efficiency.

A sudden shimmering in the air caught her attention.

"I am glad you are back, Minstrel. And I'm glad you've changed back to your natural, plasma body. Did you enjoy the ‘Happy Dancing'?"

"Yes. It's always fun discovering new music—especially music we classify as Escastre or Special Music."

"What is that?"

"Music that is on another level—music that floats in your mind all day after you've listened to it. And as you listen, you feel its power, its emotions."

"Yes, I know what you mean. I've played the entire Mozart catalogue today,” Mother said.

"That's a lot of Mozart."

"You can never have too much Mozart,” Mother said, her tone matter-of-fact. Minstrel glowed and swirled with agreement.

"It is fascinating though, that some of his music—certain of his melodies—echo through my memory systems over and over for hours afterward. Such music is different in a mysterious way, while other music by Mozart is simply pleasant and melodious—just music."

"Escastre. Somehow the composer, like Mozart, infuses the notes with passion and pathos and it lives. That is music on another level.” Minstrel twinkled, remembering the first reports of Mozart's music by another Minstrel visiting Earth during his lifetime long ago.

"It is music that moves the inner emotions of biological life-forms. Although I too can somehow sense it is on another level,” Mother said.

A wave of blue and black flashed throughout Minstrel. “Have I missed something tonight? I passed Kyle in the corridor just now, and he was the opposite of what I experienced at the Blue Star—which was happy."

"I will fill you in later. Let me say there was a very emotional, a very human, encounter between the boys and Elise tonight."

Minstrel's body twinkled with a thousand lights. “Well, we did want them to interact with each other."

"Yes, we did,” Mother said. “But another emotional issue is bothering the boys. They are once again too preoccupied with searching for human survivors. Every time we visit a new planet, that is the only thing that interests them. They don't enjoy meeting new aliens. Nor do they want to explore these new worlds and experience the beauty and uniqueness of each. They are missing out."

"Indeed, how many beings yearn to travel to the stars and never get the chance,” Minstrel said with a wave of color. “And here the boys have traveled to scores of worlds and met dozens of interesting alien beings. Yet, they don't take advantage of this wonderful privilege because they are so preoccupied."

"How could we get them to focus on traveling to another world and simply enjoying it?” Mother wondered.

Minstrel's plasma body glowed and swirled like a multi-colored whirlpool.

" Life is a journey, not a race."

"And the boys live as if it is a race, with the only goal to find other survivors,” Mother said.

"They need to enjoy life more,” Minstrel said.

"And they can still keep their utmost objective. But if they appreciated the beauty, the wonder of life around them..."

"Did humans have a process for such activity in their past—to simply enjoy themselves?” Minstrel asked. Mother referenced her vast knowledgebase. “There is a process entitled vacation ."

"Perhaps they need a vacation then?” Minstrel said.

"I must research this term,” Mother said.

"All beings need time to rest and refresh themselves—a time of renewal. A time to simply enjoy themselves and life.” Minstrel glowed brighter. The plasma alien danced in the air, waiting for Mother to complete her search.

Ten seconds passed in mutual silence.

"I have studied over one million references to the term vacation—a most interesting concept,” Mother said, breaking their short reverie.

"Please explain, how do humans ... vacation?"

"In most instances, humans travel to distant locations far from their normal residence—traveling to cities or areas of great, natural beauty. Food, dance, music and associating with new friends seem to be common themes.” Mother's processors hummed as she correlated and cross-referenced more data about humans and their vacations.

"Well, that's easy enough to do with a starship. And vacation sounds like a good thing, if music and food is involved.” Waves of silver and green swept Minstrel's plasma surface.

"Two intra-planetary locations seem to be the most popular destinations—either traveling to the mountains for recreation and relaxation, or going to a tropical climate and enjoying sea-side activities. The latter seems to be slightly preferred from all the sources I have checked so far."

"We must find a planet that will fit the needs of a perfect human vacation. Perhaps one with beautiful mountain ranges—I've visited some worlds where the mountains are fifty kilometers tall. And I've traveled to worlds with exquisite oceans of various colors—sometimes seas of gold, or orange or royal blue. Although the most beautiful ocean I've had the pleasure of swimming in was the deepest, darkest green. And the wonderful beaches bordering their shores—fabulous! Surely we can find a planet perfect for vacation ,” Minstrel chimed.

"Another reason for choosing a particular location for a human vacation seems to hinge on the term festival .” Mother paused as she digested more data on this new subject. “There are various themes to festivals—the most popular festivals are based on music and tradition and drink. It seems festival and vacations are almost synonymous."

"I understand why a festival based on music would be so enjoyable. I can imagine all the various flavors of music coming together in one place in order to celebrate life with song. Minstrels have such momentous events once every thousand years—we call it Caldara. All Minstrels come together from the far reaches of space, bringing with us the songs we've discovered or created from our distant travels. It is a very special time for Minstrels. And a lot of fun!"

"But how many could you attend—a thousand years is a long time between each Caldara."

"Minstrels suffer from no natural disease. It is only due to accident or violence that a Minstrel's life is cut short. Otherwise, we live on indefinitely."

"And how long is the normal life-span of a Minstrel?"

"I have attended twenty-four such Festivals of Minstrels.” Wave after wave of twinkling lights swept Minstrels fluidic body. “And I am nowhere near what is considered the middle epoch of a normal Minstrel life-span."

Mother whistled, a long, electronic sound that slowly faded away. “That's a long time. You risked much by fighting alongside us against the T'kaan, with such a potentially long life ahead of you. You might have died."

"Indeed. But I evaluated the risk as worth it—for your sake, and the children. And for the universe to be safe from T'kaan."

"You honor me, and my children. We will always value your friendship. I will now cross-reference the human definition of the ideal vacation and search for a planet upon which the children can experience it."

"A delightful concept."

"I only hope the children will embrace the concept of vacation and forget about searching for other humans for a while. I wonder if a vacation will be enough,” Mother lamented.

"Remember how insistent Kyle was that the Kraaqi frigate go check out the planet Oord that serves as a trading center in the adjoining Sector, leaving only Rok to travel with us here?” Minstrel added, “I think the last few disappointments have really affected them."

"I agree. But I do not want to divert them completely away from searching for any survivors, as remote a possibility as that hope may be. It is their greatest dream—to find other human survivors. And I do not want to damage something so dear to them."

Minstrel's body glowed brightly, as if it might go nova. Minstrel spoke, its words echoing as if in a great, solemn hall.

"O, but dreams die so hard. And well they should."

"But when dreams fail, or never come true, it seems to humans that it is the end of their existence.”

Mother paused, reflecting on that subject as she quickly referenced the knowledgebase where she reviewed the failed dreams of so many. Her checks found another list. “But if their dreams come to fruition, then it is their greatest happiness."

"Well, being here may bring that to a climax. Even Minstrels travel, albeit incognito, to RahajMr to tap into its massive search engine, seeking out new worlds to visit. If there is mention of human survivors from anywhere in this section of the universe, and the Mrad are reputed to be able to gather data from all of the Known Quadrants, it will be here. The vastness of their knowledge is unheard of except for Minstrels themselves in our travels. This place could well be where Jaric's and Kyle's search will find success."

"Or their final failure.” Mother's voice faded ominously.

"There is another reason for our visit here,” Minstrel added quickly.

"Yes?"

"Because RahajMr is a focal point to which so many far-flung races travel to for data, it is the ideal place for Jaric and Kyle to meet aliens solely for the sake of friendly interchange. And enjoyment. In fact, RahajMr is the social entertainment center for this quadrant. Tourism is the second most important reason aliens travel here."

"Well, I hope they indulge and have some fun. They need to,” Mother said.

"I too, have a personal reason for coming here.” Minstrel's body undulated like a cloud as different colors shimmered across its body with emotion. “A reason associated with you."

"Please elaborate."

"Ever since I met you, Mother, I have marveled that a race was able to create technology that is sentient, alive. No other Minstrel has ever come across such a life-form as yourself, not in all the ages of our traveling the known universe."

Mother's processors hummed with activity, remembering how the Minstrel race traveled to the ends of the universe.

"But one Minstrel did report a rumor of such a thing—recently.” Minstrel's body sparkled as a bright red wave swept over and over its tenuous surface. “A few months ago, in a search on this very system we used today. That Minstrel reported a reference, a single item, about a living computer system created on a nearby world."

"I am intrigued,” Mother said.

But now the flowing colors turned to deeper hues of blue and black across Minstrel as the twinkling lights faded. “I feel awkward."

Mother processed this word. “Please explain. I would think the search would not elicit this emotion at all."

"The initial search results were negative. I found nothing—almost as if it were never there. And my search received other answers that were very surprising. And I mean, very surprising," Mother's processors hummed as she tried to predict the answer Minstrel received and that seemed to bother it so much. Although thousands of possible answers presented themselves, Mother could not locate a single one with a high probability of being correct.

"With what initial answers did your search respond?” Mother finally asked.

"My search revealed that there are actually laws forbidding such research among most alien races in this quadrant—laws forbidding artificial intelligence and even its research.” Minstrel paused, a sense of foreboding in its tone now. “In fact, the punishment on some worlds for this type of research is death ."

"That is incredible.” Mother's voice rose several decibels.

Minstrel spoke, its voice filled with mystery.

"I wonder why these worlds have outlawed this kind of research?"

[Back to Table of Contents]

Chapter Six

BACK AT ONE of the numerous Mrad Search Complexes, Ablek started to shut down the last console. The little black and white Clakza smiled to himself, reflecting that another profitable day was once again successfully concluded. Walking slowly to his desk, he again checked the daily tally of usage—over one hundred thousand requests for data from his complex alone. The other workers had already gone home, their own tasks completed. As Section Coordinator, Ablek alone was responsible for final shutdown of all terminals for the night. He went about his task with a sense of deep satisfaction.

He sat before the large console and began issuing the end-of-day commands, never noticing that the security cameras had gone silent—purposely inactivated.

But no alarms sounded to alert Ablek about the security breach.

Neither did he notice through the semi-darkness the three forms creeping steadily closer. Ablek concentrated tiredly, ready to finish and go home. As he sat at this particular console, he noticed a faint odor in the air—something not altogether pleasant either.

The diminutive alien wrinkled his nose with distaste. He remembered—those smelly aliens who called themselves “humans” had used this console.

Without warning, a heavy blow slammed Ablek up against the wall from behind. The small alien groaned with pain as he struggled, but an iron grip held him down.

Ablek froze, waiting for the robbery he knew must come next. If he didn't struggle, maybe they'd just take the credits and leave.

Ablek waited.

Surprisingly, a calm voice whispered into his ear.

"Two new aliens came here today to buy some searches. They came with a Zuuk, and two other aliens never seen here before. A green, scaly one called a Hrono. And a horned alien, a Kraaqi. You remember them?” The unseen voice now whispered harshly into Ablek's ear, causing him to cringe and moan.

Ablek took a deep breath, forcing himself to sound unafraid.

"Ye-ah, sure. Whut of it?"

The fist slammed into his side like an iron bar. Ablek grunted with pain as tears streamed out of his black eyes.

"The two others, the humans, did they say which quadrant they're from? Their registration papers reference an unknown planet—Earth.” The unseen attacker whispered angrily. “Did they say anything to you while you were setting them up?"

"They didn't sa-ay, and I didn't want to hear it anyway...” Ablek groaned painfully as another fierce blow shook his body.

The vicious blows did not stop this time.

Fists pounded him from all sides as the little alien cried out with fear, begging for mercy. Ablek raised his small hands in a vain attempt to ward off their blows, but it was no use. After long seconds, the blows stopped and Ablek fell to the floor unconscious. Two of the attackers watched his unmoving form while a third walked over and accessed the last terminal still logged onto the system.

The stout Harg typed commands, going through the search history. A low laugh rumbled from his broad chest. He smiled wickedly and worked the controls faster. A minute later, he returned the terminal to its original screen.

"I've ID'ed their starship and dock number. The Zuuk, all of them, came here on it. But nothing on their sector of origin,” he whispered in a rough voice to his two accomplices. Ablek's eyes fluttered open, although he didn't comprehend the words. He felt terrible—every inch of his body throbbed with pain.

He lay still as the footsteps of his attackers retreated, and just as they slipped through the door, he took a cautious glance towards them.

They were short, muscular aliens with thick bull-necks. A memory clicked in his mind—Harg, aliens from a secretive and violent order.

And not the kind of alien you wanted to cross.

Ablek groaned as his body ached with renewed waves of pain.

There was something else about Hargs. Yes, they came from the mysterious Paum Sector—the Forbidden Place .

He shivered in the semi-darkness.

Nothing good ever seemed to come out of there, and the few who ventured there rarely came back. If they did, they were changed somehow— different. No one who had dealings with the aliens of Paum spoke of it except with the darkest of curses.

And they never wanted to deal with them again.

In fact, less data was stored about the Paum system than even the most distant planets of the known sectors—a strange thing indeed.

"Looks like these huumans are in fer some trouble,” Ablek grunted as he rose. “And I don't want any part of it either."

Ablek struggled to the Security console, falling into the seat. He began checking why no security personnel were alerted or came to his rescue. The answer was most disturbing—somehow the Harg isolated the security cameras from main Security, all the while simulating normal signals. These aliens knew what they were doing—effectively circumventing the vaunted security of the Mrad. Not good.

Ablek paused in thought, wondering if he should report the incident. But his body ached with renewed pain, and nothing of value had been damaged or taken. In the end, he decided to finish his shift and not report it. He desired no more dealings with these dangerous aliens.

He limped over to the last Search Console and paused a moment as waves of intense nausea overwhelmed him. Ablek bent over, trying to clear his mind. Finally, he logged off the last terminal, never realizing the Harg had infiltrated the User Information.

* * * *

DINNER WAS LATE and very subdued that night.

Not only did Elise not show up, but neither Jaric nor Kyle showed as well. The others sensed something amiss as well, though they could not put their finger on it. Even Rok was not his normal self. Everyone ate in silence and quickly retired to their private cabins.

Mother watched all the occupants retreat to the privacy of their rooms and once again contemplated life and loneliness—something she knew all too well. It was a long night for everyone. The next day began like most others.

"Rok, why don't you and I and Kyle take the Bullet-Cars back to the main Search terminals. We can check on the results and go from there.” Jaric motioned for the Kraaqi warrior to join him and Kyle at the ramp.

At that very moment, Elise, Krinia and Jysar entered the corridor. Elise watched impassively as the three turned to leave. Her eyes still reflected the pain from last night, but they reflected something else there too—a hardness, a determination.

"I want to help, too."

The trio froze in their tracks.

Jaric and Kyle exchanged uneasy glances before they turned around and faced Elise. Inside his mind, Jaric's thoughts and emotions shouted at him, urging him to apologize for his words and actions of last night. But he wrestled with his inner feelings of shame and embarrassment, sensing not only Elise's guarded looks, but also feeling the weight of the presence of the others around him. He wanted to apologize to her, but not in front of everyone—then he would have to explain his apology and his stupidity to everyone. Jaric couldn't bring himself to make eye contact with Elise as his mind whirled with confusion and embarrassment.

He felt terrible because of the way he acted to Elise last night.

And now Elise wanted to help.

Jaric looked over at Kyle, whose expression remained set like granite and emotionless. But Jaric could tell by Kyle's eyes—eyes that looked everywhere but not at Elise, eyes that revealed just a glimmer of sadness. Yes, Kyle also felt the pangs of his conscience.

The silence stretched on with no one acknowledging Elise's desire to walk for the first time outside Mother's hull as well as her wish to help Jaric and Kyle.

Mother watched intently, sensing the rising body temperatures and the dilated pupils which indicated high emotions ready to explode. Her processors hummed with activity.

Elise had yet to leave the protective confines of her hull. At all the other planets they had visited, she stayed behind to observe via Mother's sensors. Jysar and Krinia advised Mother that Elise needed to learn how to interact with others, something normally learned during childhood and adolescence—years of growth she hadn't experienced being a clone.

Because of her naiveté, unscrupulous aliens might take advantage of her, especially if she got separated from the others. After all, they lived in a dangerous universe.

But every child eventually grows beyond the apron strings of their mother.

"RahajMr is a very crowded place, Elise. And there are thousands of different races here, each with a different emotional makeup. It is a very difficult place for one so young as you are,” Mother advised with a soothing, electronic tone. “Why don't you view the city from—"

"No! I want to help Jaric and Kyle search for human survivors. I'm a human too.” Elise's eyes narrowed in challenge, not only at Mother's nearest optic, but also toward Jaric and Kyle. Jaric sighed wistfully. He nodded momentarily, then realized Mother was correct. It might be too much trouble to baby-sit her in this maze of steel and countless aliens.

"Mother's right, there are some pretty rough aliens here. And when they're all bunched up together like this, it might get a bit, well, dicey.” Jaric grinned knowingly at Rok and Kyle.

"Yeah, you need to know how to handle yourself. But I think you'll be ready soon,” Kyle said, trying to be helpful.

But Elise heard the patronizing tone in their voices—including Mother's.

"Your fear and worry are a prison to me. I can handle myself just fine,” she said firmly. Jysar grabbed her by the arm and held her still. “They are right, Elise. There are so many unknown scenarios and so many aliens with short fuses. We must pick a better planet for you to walk upon for the first time."

Elise's face expressed shock at her close friend. “So, you think I'm still a child, too.” She shook her head firmly. “And I would've thought you of all of them would know what I'm capable of."

"It's not that,” Jysar said quickly, a hurt expression on his face. “I'm thinking of you personally." Elise snatched her arm out of his grip and marched back toward her room without a second glance. Jysar looked helplessly around the room until he met Krinia's harsh gaze.

"You're all wrong. She has to go out into the world one day, and today's as good a day as any.” Krinia whipped her head-tail a few times to emphasize her anger. Her smooth green complexion deepened with emotion as she turned and quickly marched after the retreating form of Elise. Jysar took a deep breath and walked silently back to his quarters.

"I will talk to her,” Mother said. “But I want you boys to realize that soon she will join with you in your search. If not today, soon."

Jaric wrinkled his nose in thought while Kyle stared into space.

"Sure,” Kyle said unexpectedly.

Jaric's eyes widened with surprise. “Sure?"

Kyle looked at him as a teacher does his student. “Of course, she's human too.” Kyle looked up at Mother. “But when the time is right."

"I agree,” Mother said. “I will work with Elise in order for that time to come soon."

"Let's go, the morning wastes away and we have not yet begun our journey.” Rok motioned with his arm toward the ramp.

"Be careful,” Mother said after them.

"Oh, we will. There's not an alien here we can't handle, right, fellas?” Kyle laughed.

"Not a one. I'd bet that we three are more than a match for anyone we're likely to run across,” Jaric said with a twinkle in his eyes.

Rok grunted ominously. “Just let anyone dare to cross us, it'll be a day they'll rue for a very long time!”

He laughed heartily as the others joined in his mirth. The three walked away as one, ready to take on the universe.

* * * *

"WELL, I HOPE OUR young warriors are half as good as their talk!” Minstrel's flowing body swirled into the corridor.

"I am glad the authorities here on RahajMr do not allow weapons to be carried by anyone entering their floating cities,” Mother said.

"A very prudent law,” Minstrel agreed.

"But, three overconfident young males can still get themselves into a lot of trouble without realizing it."

"Imagine that!” Minstrel laughed.

Mother's processors focused on her other child. “I must talk with Elise, she is very upset.” Mother paused, more to allow Minstrel to follow her train of thought than her own need.

"I understand. I am planning on entering the city today totally incognito—with my dampening field active around my natural body. I want to observe some new species and learn of them while unseen.” Minstrel's twinkling body flashed out like a light simply switched off.

Mother waited a few moments before she closed her hull door. Even the most sophisticated Mradian sensor would not detect Minstrel now.

Krinia entered Elise's room as Mother watched silently.

The Mewiis sighed deeply, a compassionate expression on her green face as her head-tail grew limp. She sat down beside the sobbing form, then ever so carefully she began to caress Elise's shoulders.

"There, there, my young friend. No need for tears."

Elise looked up and wiped the wetness from her cheeks. “I—I'm just tired of being treated like a baby. And a non-person.” Her breathing grew ragged, but as she looked into her friend's face, she began to breathe more normally. And most important, she felt comfort simply from Krinia's presence.

"I know, it must be very hard for you. But look how far you've come these past months. Look how much you've learned,” Krinia said soothingly. And then her face changed to surprise. “And why is it you want to help Jaric and Kyle all of a sudden anyway, the way they've treated you!"

"I want them to like me."

Elise's voice trembled with emotion, her eyes a mirror of forlorn sadness. She looked away quickly, wiping her eyes again. When she spoke, she kept her face hidden. “Didn't you see how Jaric and even Kyle looked at me just now—like they were uncomfortable with me just being there?” She sniffed loudly.

“I just want them to like me ... and ... and I thought if I offered to help them with their precious search, well..."

"Elise, it's not all you. A lot of this is their problem. Theirs, not yours.” Krinia began softly stroking Elise's long blonde hair. “And they will learn to like you. They will."

Krinia smiled as Elise turned to her.

Elise smiled shyly back at her.

"But there must be more?” Krinia asked.

"Yes! I want to meet other aliens now. The only life-forms I've ever been around much are you and Jysar. And Mother.” Elise paused, a puzzled look on her face. “And Rok. And Jaric and Kyle, if I can count them, although they've mostly avoided me."

"And maybe that's a good thing.” Krinia smiled, merriment in her eyes. Elise laughed for a moment, then put her arms around her friend. “That may well be, Krinia." They laughed at their shared joke. But Elise looked away again, a serious expression on her face.

"But you still want to meet new aliens,” Krinia said, guessing her thoughts.

"Why can't I?” Elise looked at her with urgency. “You could keep an eye on me, keep me out of trouble. I know, I know,” she said quickly as Krinia opened her mouth to speak. “I may not have learned the basic skills of protocol or know how this race greets each other or how that race says good-bye, but how does anybody else learn those things if they don't go out into the universe?” Elise's eyes burned with her need to take the next step in her life. “I need to meet new life-forms, if I'm going to develop social skills. I can't learn that from lessons and holovids."

"But Elise, there is so much you don't know—cultural and social protocols—or how to beware of aliens with evil intentions. You could be taken advantage of so easily,” Mother reasoned, breaking into their conversation.

" Mother,” Elise groaned. “I know enough not to get mugged or raped or something like that!"

"But what about other subtle ways you could be taken in?” Mother asked.

"MotherShip,” Krinia said confidently. “I think I could watch out for her long enough to mingle and perhaps take in a part of this city. We could go out for a couple of hours and come straight back. And she would see others up close and personal for the first time, and somewhat safely, in these constant crowds of RahajMr."

"Oh please, Mother,” Elise pleaded. “We'll be safe, I promise. I won't even talk to anybody, I'll just watch them as they pass by!"

Mother observed the earnestness in Elise's eyes and heard it in her voice. She realized that maybe she had been wrong earlier.

"Krinia,” Mother said.

"Yes."

Both women looked up at the optic.

"I am contacting Jysar. He has not left yet. Perhaps if you and he escorted Elise, and especially if you both aided her in any personal encounters with other beings she might run into, then it would be safe enough for her to investigate the city."

Elise laughed with glee as Krinia hugged her.

"Where shall we go?” Elise suddenly asked.

Krinia smiled. “You want to help them search, you said earlier. Let's go to the Search-Terminals first, maybe you'll be able to help them. After that, we'll go to one of the main shopping levels, do some window shopping and observe the other shoppers too."

"Great!” Elise gasped. “And I've thought of something the boys have never tried, something obvious if an alien race receives only an audio transmission from any human survivors."

"Cool.” Krinia smiled. “And what is your brain-storm, my young detective?" Elise brushed her blonde tresses back from where they had fallen across her face. She smiled cunningly, her blue eyes twinkling with conspiracy. “Well, with audio-only contact, especially a remote automated beacon, any alien ship picking it up but never making contact would file the transmission and upload it to their master system to be analyzed at a later time. Any transcription would be translated into their native language ... well, how would they know how to spell some of the proper names!" Krinia's eyes lit up with excitement. “You're right, their translation computers would only be able to approximate some of the proper names without a human dictionary to compare with." Elise nodded. “And so, I will not simply search for ‘human’ or ‘Earth’ or whatever. I will input some common misspellings an alien race might use like...” Elise leaned closer, as if somebody might be eavesdropping on her fantastic idea. She sounded each letter in a low whisper. “The word human might be found as h-u-m-u-n. Or misspelled as h-o-o-m-u-n or something like that."

"Or they might list Earth as U-r-t-h, or something even more bizarre, depending on the alphabet of the aliens that intercepted the transmission,” Krinia whispered, getting the idea. Elise sighed. “And this is the first really comprehensive computer system that's been searched since we left the Three Kingdoms. The boys have normally only interrogated systems of a single planet or individual starships. So, we will stress some obvious misspellings when the system asks for our keywords, in addition to their correct spelling."

"It's so simple, yet your search might just make a hit on something,” Krinia said with a smile. “It's worth a try."

"After that, maybe we'll find one of the Social or Entertainment sections so we can mingle a bit,” Elise said excitedly

"Sure, we can find something fun. And safe.” Krinia laughed.

Elise hugged her friend and jumped off of the bed. “Let's give the boys time to get the results of their search first and then find Jysar and get going! I don't want them to know."

* * * *

"COME ON UNIVERSE, throw your worst at me!"

Kyle laughed, a dangerous glint in his eyes, as the trio exited the Bullet-Car.

"Wow! What a ride,” Jaric exclaimed. “I'm still dizzy from those last three turns."

"What a concept—mass transportation and a super roller-coaster combined—powered by anti-gravity thrusters to get you around—smooth and fast.” Kyle nodded approvingly.

Rok smiled. “Good stuff."

"Okay, okay. Let's get back to business. There's the Search Complex over there.” Jaric pointed. The three young warriors walked toward the counter and displayed their pre-paid tokens to the nearest Clakza. Kyle looked around at the other Clakzas, searching for a familiar black and white snout.

"Where's Ablek today?” Kyle asked a female Clakza.

She scanned his token and handed it back. “He called in sick today. Are you friends of his?"

"Not really. He served us yesterday, just wanted to see a familiar face in these crowds,” Kyle replied.

"You have Search-terminal Alpha twenty-seven over there. Same as before.” She nodded. Rok, Jaric and Kyle were making their way over when she spoke again.

"Actually, it's kind of strange. Ablek calling in sick like that."

"Why's that?” Kyle turned.

"Well, he's been working this complex over three years and this is the first time he's ever missed a day due to illness. Or due to anything, other than scheduled time off."

"Guess there's a first time for everything,” Kyle said.

The Clakza nodded. “I guess so."

The three sat down and brought up the main screen. Jaric quickly found their original search paradigms and glanced at the RESULTS column. His heart raced like it always did when they searched for humans, and like every other time, he tried his best to hold his hopes and his emotions in check. After all, it always seemed to end in disappointment.

Why should this time be any different?

The RESULTS came up.

Jaric and Kyle gasped simultaneously.

Rok leaned closer. “Hmmm. Looks like the system found something." Jaric remained motionless—in complete shock.

Kyle stared at the screen, afraid to believe his eyes. And afraid that if he reached out to follow the link it would all disappear. It happened like that in his dreams, when he dreamed of really finding more humans—it always disappeared like a puff of smoke, always just out of reach. Deep inside, Kyle groaned with fear.

"What are you waiting for?” Rok asked with surprise.

"I ... I don't know what to do.” Jaric shook his head.

"Easy.” Rok pressed the highlighted link and the screen changed.

Jaric and Kyle closed their eyes.

"Hmmm. It found a match for the word T'kaan ."

Kyle and Jaric opened their eyes and hungrily read the words on the screen.

"A match!” Both Kyle and Jaric eagerly read the initial paragraph. “The next floating city over has a large population of displaced aliens. Let's see, populations displaced due to planetary disasters, wars, disease

... and...” Jaric read quickly, his eyes darting over the word and then back over them to make sure he hadn't missed anything important. “There it is, a small group of survivors who recently arrived—they've given themselves a new name, Ialliaz in the Mrad tongue—and Survivors in most other languages. It doesn't list their homeworld, or what they call their race!"

"But it says they're the small remnant of a once proud people destroyed by an evil alien race called T'kaan!” Kyle shouted excitedly.

"They say there are no other survivors except themselves,” Rok read out loud. “The name of the original species is now sacred to them and is only uttered during a special ceremony of remembrance once a year."

"Well, I can see that,” Jaric said.

"Does it have any photos or descriptions?” Kyle asked.

"Let's see. No, no pictures. Not yet. This data seems to be some kind of initial registration form, pretty brief and to the point.” Jaric gave the Search-terminal more vocal instructions and waited. “Okay, there is a description, looks like it's done by whoever registered them.” His eyes darted over the words on the screen. “It says—the Ialliaz are aliens approximately two meters tall, bi-pedal with matching set of major organs. They have smooth skin with pockets of hair...” Jaric stopped short, his eyes wide as saucers as he skipped to the next sentence. “They have a heavy, musky scent not unlike that of animals!" Rok leaned closer. “Yes, and there is a note."

Kyle ran his finger to the bottom until he got to the note. “It says pungent! It says pungent!" Jaric yelled with glee.

"Sounds like they could be smelly hoo-mans.” Rok nodded.

Kyle and Jaric began jumping up and down as other aliens stared at them in wonder.

"What's going on there?” a Clakza attendant called out.

"We've found something!” They yelled simultaneously. “On our search! We found something!" The Clakza turned to another of its kind. “Satisfaction is our motto." Kyle laughed. “You bet! And we're satisfied!"

"C'mon, let's go book one of those city-to-city Bullet-Cars.” Jaric ran toward the exit, followed by Rok and Kyle.

Fifteen minutes later they waited at another counter with another Clakza looking tiredly back at their beaming faces. “Can I help you?"

"The city Rxariar, where the dispossessed aliens reside,” Jaric said with rapid-fire words.

"Yes, I know of it.” The Clakza shuddered. “Down-trodden kind of place, if you know what I mean. We maintain it in order to get a huge tax break from Sector HQ, or so it's said. But if you ask me, it's not worth it."

"I thought it was noble, having such a place for poor aliens who've lost their worlds?” Jaric felt taken aback by the Clakza's attitude.

"Oh well, it's good for business. But having them all there together, a lot of them with post-traumatic conditions of one kind or another. And some still recovering from, you know, from whatever. It's, well ... tricky.” He raised both his arms as he shook his head.

"Well, we want to book a ride over there to check out some of them. Some may be our people.” Kyle slapped some credits on the counter.

"Sure, sure. Your people.” He wrinkled his nose as he shook his head. “I hope you don't mind some friendly advice."

Rok eyed the Clakza warily. “What advice?"

"Those are some real stressed-out aliens over there. Just be very careful around them. Don't get them excited."

The three took their tokens and walked toward the huge walls filled with tunnel openings where numerous sleek Bullet-Cars sat at the ready.

"What did he mean by that?” Kyle asked.

"No telling,” Jaric replied.

They approached the Bullet-Car assigned to them.

These Bullet-Cars were twice the size of their inner-city cousins—built to ride the buffeting winds of the gas giant as they shot toward the next floating city coded on their pre-programmed guidance system. The trio stepped inside the opened door on their car's right side and quickly took their seats. The reinforced gull-wing door slowly dropped into place.

Inside the bullet-shaped vessel, they quickly took in the controls. A familiar, pre-recorded Clakza voice began going over the safety instructions as they looked at the glowing displays on the main console. But there wouldn't be anything more for them to do here than in the smaller Bullet-Cars that traversed the vast network of tubes that laced the interior of each floating city.

The voice suddenly turned serious.

"In the event of an emergency, if the automated systems fail while in-flight, there is a manual navigation system which can be accessed by..."

Three pairs of eyes and ears watched and listened intently.

The automated voice instructed them on how to fly the Bullet-car—just in case. However, if any riders ever accessed this manual system outside of an emergency situation, the violators would be expelled from all the floating cities.

Immediately.

"Do not engage manual navigation—unless there is an emergency." Silence echoed inside the small interior of the Bullet-car.

"Well, you think we should fly this Bullet-Car on our own?” Kyle laughed mischievously.

"Not unless you want us kicked off of this place,” Jaric shot back.

"Oh well,” Kyle said in mock disappointment. “Guess I'll just kick back and enjoy the ride."

"Restraint systems will now engage,” the automated voice chimed.

"Yeah, yeah. We've ridden these things before. Let's get it on.” Kyle mimicked the voice exactly. Their vessel slowly rose and headed to a lower section of the great wall where a huge round door suddenly opened. They watched with growing interest as their Bullet-Car maneuvered into position. Directly ahead, a long straightaway of darkness lined by lights became visible.

"I thought we were going outside the city on this one?” Jaric asked.

"Look harder.” Rok nodded forward.

Jaric peered out the front view-screen and down the long, long corridor until he made out a tiny pinprick of color at the far end. “You mean that..."

In that instant, the Bullet-Car hurtled down the tunnel.

Before they could take a single breath, they found themselves outside the city amid the hurricane-force winds.

Three screams of pure delight, mixed with a healthy amount of fear, filled the Bullet-Car. Bright, glowing clouds of orange laced with blue and yellow surrounded them. As they leapt from cloud-band to cloud-band across valleys of clear air, their vessel rocked with vicious jolts. Their screams grew louder, fear now edging out delight.

"Hang on!” Kyle shouted.

"To what?” Jaric shouted back.

"Feels like we've been shot out of a laser cannon,” Kyle yelled.

Suddenly, the Bullet-Car jolted hard to the right and shot straight into a rolling mass of titanic clouds. Darkness filled the small cabin as their craft shuddered violently. Each occupant put his hands out to steady himself although the Security Force shield kept them restrained safely in their seats. Still, it couldn't hurt.

The Bullet-Car lurched upward.

And gained speed.

"We've caught a tail-wind!” Rok yelled happily.

Kyle and Jaric shouted triumphantly.

The unending expanse of tenuous orange clouds changed in an instant, replaced by clear sky as far as the eye could see.

The view was breathtaking.

The three stared with unabashed awe. They found themselves flying through a large area devoid of any clouds. And yet out in the far distance, all around them, they saw the wispy walls of massive cloudbanks. They soared forward within the island of clear air.

The Bullet-Car suddenly changed direction as they felt it shudder against the hurricane-force winds. Directly ahead of them, the clouds that seemed so far away a few seconds ago rapidly drew near.

"Here we go again!” Jaric yelled.

The Bullet-Car pierced the leading edge of the cloud wall with a gut-wrenching jolt. They flew blind now, buffeted by the tempestuous winds until their teeth chattered as if in a deep freeze. With another quick change in direction, they shot out into the clear air between two monstrous cloudbanks; unending walls of wispy green laced with orange towered far above them on each side like canyon walls.

"Those cloud peaks have to be a thousand kilometers from top to bottom!” Jaric shouted.

"Look!” Rok yelled.

In the distance, the cylindrical shape of a Mrad floating city began to grow. Within seconds, it filled their viewscreen.

"Man, these anti-grav engines are smooth!” Kyle whistled appreciatively.

"Have you ever felt such acceleration?” Jaric added. “And the G-forces weren't bad at all!"

"Good stuff,” Rok grunted. “And we just flew through winds of at least two hundred clicks or more, and no telling how fast the crosswinds were in that last cloud band."

"Man, I'm not even bruised.” Kyle nodded, impressed.

"I bet Mother couldn't have flown that any better,” Jaric said.

"The anti-grav engines my Kraaqi brethren installed in MotherShip do not have the acceleration of this design, but they would allow her to navigate these dangerous winds.” Rok crossed his arms, looking from Jaric to Kyle.

"I bet it would be one rough ride, though, Rok ol’ buddy.” Jaric jabbed Rok playfully with his elbow.

"She could ride them,” Rok answered, his voice serious. “Kraaqi engines may not be as fast, but they are strong."

Their craft veered according to its programmed navigation and soared toward the leeward side of the floating city that also rode these hurricane winds. A black dot appeared against the white hull as the city hull filled their viewscreen.

"Look...” But that was the only word Kyle got out as they surged forward. In seconds, they found themselves inside the tiny black dot. A familiar tunnel lined with lights filled the viewscreen for a few moments as more G-forces pulled at them with their rapid deceleration.

"Man,” Kyle grunted. “These engines are smooth!"

And as suddenly as it began, the ride ended.

The gull-wing door opened, and the trio staggered out into the floating city of Rxariar.

* * * *

"THERE THEY ARE."

Three large, reptilian aliens watched closely as Jaric, Kyle and Rok stumbled around trying to get their bearings amid the throng of bustling aliens. Each of the watchful aliens wore a one-piece jumpsuit made of leather that covered their reddish, muscular bodies. As they watched, their short, muscular tails tensed with interest.

The huge hangar throbbed with the perpetual motion of bodies and Bullet-Cars as aliens arrived or prepared to ride the multi-colored clouds outbound to another city.

The air reverberated with voices and movement.

"The Paum are stalking their use of the Mrad computer system. They have tracers on their Search queries. And, they've killed one of the queries.” The first alien scratched his short snout.

"One carries himself like a warrior, the one with the horns on his head. The other two, they are pups.”

The third Iraxx grunted.

"Never underestimate your enemies. Nor an untested alien.” The largest of the three smiled knowingly.

"Very wise, Qirn. Very wise."

The three alien warriors drew closer, the red complexion of their faces glistening under the harsh lights. Their muscular tails whipped from right to left as they followed the two humans and the Kraaqi.

"Why would the Paum be interested in them, Qirn?"

"That is our mission, Rab, to discover that answer. But I've already gotten word on what first drew the interest of the Paum's agents.” Qirn peered into the faces of his two warriors. “The Zuuk that travels with them, it searched for ‘sentient technology.’ And that alone is enough to interest the Paum.” The three nodded silently, deep furrows of concern on their faces.

"Then they too may be our enemies, these humans and the horned warrior." Qirn nodded. “We must find the answer—are they with the Paum and his ‘Holy Plan'? Or is there something else to this business? Kadir and our best hackers are back at the ship tracking down the other queries that these humans have entered into the mighty system. A clue may lie there." Qirn quickened his pace as their quarry melted into a crowded corridor. He moved with the instincts of an accomplished hunter, side-stepping his way through the mass of bodies until he again made visual contact.

"What if they give us trouble, Qirn? I feel naked without my weapons."

"You are a weapon, my friend. You are trained to fight in any situation. We obey the laws of this city by not carrying weapons."

"I hope they respect the law as much as we do,” Rab grunted.

"That is a chance we take. We are honorable warriors, that is our way.” Qirn suddenly discerned the destination of their quarry.

"Hmmm. They are heading for the Refugee Section of Rxariar.” Qirn stopped short as he watched the three up ahead slow their pace, looking around as if not sure which direction to take.

"Why are they heading to this place of tragedy and despair?" Qirn continued to watch until the trio suddenly came to a decision and moved forward again. But even as he began to follow, he held his hand up. His gaze focused across the crowds to a far corner where two, short aliens were also intently watching the two humans and their Kraaqi companion. But although they were shorter than most aliens, their thick bull-necks and barrel chests gave the distinct impression that they were pound for pound a match for any warrior.

They grinned and began to move.

"Agents of the Paum."

"Yes,” Qirn said. “They are bold to follow them in the open like this. There must be more to these humans than we surmise.” The warrior's tail tensed as he considered this new circumstance. But in a moment, he decided. “Rab, return to our room and make contact with the ship. Tell them to send another team in quickly. We may need them."

Qirn nodded to his remaining warrior. “Jaan, you come with me. We will follow the followers now. But keep sharp—where there are two of the Paum's agents, there may be more."

"These Harg are a nasty bunch. The Paum chooses his enforcers well,” Jaan whispered. “They are paid mercenaries—hard-hitting and hard to take down.” Jaan stroked his snout in thought.

"It could be worse.” Qirn's eyes narrowed. “The Paum could've sent a Destructor."

"Only if he wanted them dead,” Jaan replied.

All grew silent in recognition of the dreaded name.

They nodded agreement.

A low growl emanated from Qirn's throat. “Still, we must show caution,” Qirn added as he gathered his thoughts. “Too many aliens have disappeared from this section of Rxariar lately. And we know the agents of the Paum are behind many of them."

"And so the evil spreads,” Jaan mused.

Qirn's eyes and his locked. Finally, Qirn nodded at Rab.

The two reptilian warriors moved stealthily forward as Rab disappeared in the opposite direction.

[Back to Table of Contents]

Chapter Seven

MINSTREL ASSUMED HIS Zuuk form again. “I will return to review the results of my queries now." Minstrel had returned briefly to upload data after returning from his first survey. Now, the towering Zuuk turned to leave.

"Good. Maybe you can keep an eye on the boys for me."

"That should be easy for a Zuuk with seven eye-stalks.” Minstrel-Zuuk laughed.

"I did not mean the request literally,” Mother chided.

"They're probably halfway across RahajMr by now. But I'll try to catch up with them,” Minstrel-Zuuk said in a more serious tone.

"I'm ready!” Elise ran into the room, her excitement evident in every motion. But all Mother and Minstrel needed to do was look at her eyes—eyes that gleamed with the freshness and exuberance of life. Elise was ready to go out into the universe.

"I want Krinia and Jysar to stay right beside you.” Mother's optic focused on Elise's companions. “Keep her in sight at all times, Krinia."

Krinia put her arm around Elise's shoulders. “We'll take good care of your baby, Mother. Let's go, girl-friend."

"The city of RahajMr is a most civilized and technologically advanced society,” Jysar said with emphasis.

“These cities are probably the safest places in the universe."

"Hmmm.” Minstrel-Zuuk turned its seven eye-stalks to Jysar. “I wish I could share your feelings. But with so many different species drawn here to use the most powerful computer system known and the riches it has collected, there is the potential for trouble. I am just glad personal weapons are not allowed inside each city."

"I hope I will be able to directly connect to this system,” Mother said. “It is the personal reason I wanted to come here."

"I will inquire again about this possibility when I reach the Search-terminals,” Minstrel-Zuuk said.

"Yes, a supreme accomplishment for any race.” Jysar sighed. “And security is very tight here,” Jysar agreed, changing the subject. “Their sophisticated technology is able to scan and prevent anyone from getting around it. It can detect hidden weapons with almost one hundred percent success."

"That is true. Jaric had his pocket scanner confiscated on our first visit yesterday. After it passed another more detailed security test, they returned it,” Minstrel-Zuuk said.

"That makes me feel better,” Mother said.

"At any rate, RahajMr and its sister-cities are as good a place as any for Elise to begin discovering the rest of the universe.” Krinia smiled at Elise, who beamed back at her.

"Please be aware of your surroundings at all times,” Mother advised. “I will wait for you here."

"We'll be careful,” Elise said with a wave of her hand as she bounded down the ramp and into the floating city of RahajMr.

Jysar and Krinia kept glancing at Elise as they walked with her through Security and out into the moving masses of races that filled the halls and corridors to overflowing. Elise's head turned from one side to the other as she tried to take in this mass of beings all at once, her eyes wide with wonder as she saw faces so varied, so different, that at times she stopped in her tracks to stare in amazement and appreciation. And sometimes surprise.

"Did you see that alien that just passed us?” Elise burst out.

"Yes, what about him?” Jysar responded nonchalantly.

"It ... it didn't have a face. It just had a head with three eyes, and a huge bird-like bill that must have been nearly a meter long. The bill was its face!” Elise shook her head with wonder.

"I thought he was beautiful,” Krinia added. “Especially with all those deep blue feathers. It gave him character."

"I hope we get to meet one and talk with it,” Elise added. They were suddenly walking through a new throng of diverse beings. Elise's eyes seemed to open wider than physically possible.

"I am so glad you did not want to take the Bullet-Cars.” Minstrel-Zuuk glided smoothly beside the trio.

“Life goes by too fast anyway. It is better to walk leisurely among the variety of races here and enjoy ourselves."

The air was filled with words and bits of exotic phrases from a thousand different languages. As they stepped between and around aliens in the never-ending crowds, different faces and astounding shapes seemed to appear as if from a dream—and sometimes a nightmare—as they made their way to the Search-terminals.

Several times Elise gasped out loud as unusual aliens passed right by her. Once an alien with a mountain of sparkling, glowing hair suddenly appeared right before her. Just as suddenly, a walking head with four mouths and four eyes mumbled quick apologies as it narrowly avoided knocking her down. Before she could respond, Jysar's grip on her arm carefully guided her around a family group of tiny aliens only one meter tall with transparent skin—Elise could not only see their internal organs and brain but at points even right through them!

"You need to keep your mouth closed, Elise,” Krinia said with a laugh. “Depending on the culture, some aliens will think you want to attack them, or that you're romantically interested." Elise smiled sheepishly.

Their thirty-minute stroll seemed to fly by.

Minstrel-Zuuk glided to a Search-terminal to check on its results from yesterday after he flashed his pre-paid token.

Elise and her two companions purchased their own access. Krinia and Jysar helped Elise with her personal searches for remnants of the human race at a nearby terminal. Elise smiled cunningly as she and her friends misspelled words, hoping to find a match that might lead them to any other human survivors stored in the mountains of data. After they typed in their last queries, the trio got up and walked over to Minstrel-Zuuk, who was already waiting for them.

"Any good results?” Jysar asked.

"No.” Minstrel-Zuuk's eye-stalks gazed thoughtfully off in seven directions, but now two of them focused on his friends. “As a matter of fact, one of them seemed to end prematurely, as if cut off before it completed."

"Oh? Which queries?” Jysar's interested was piqued.

"My query about sentient computers. Most strange, I would've thought that somewhere in all this data different races would have made progress in this field. But, it seems to be almost ... non-existent. Or hidden.” Minstrel-Zuuk's eye-stalks all focused on the trio.

"What about Mother getting a direct connection so she can use the system?” Krinia asked.

"Turned down."

"That's a bit strange,” Jysar commented.

"Well, we're off. Time's wasting.” Elise grabbed both Jysar and Krinia by their arms. “I want to mingle and see more of this place. Our queries are off and running. We'll check them tomorrow."

"And don't forget shopping.” Krinia smiled.

Jysar rolled his eyes. “And shopping ,” he repeated with an utter lack of enthusiasm.

"I am going to contact the boys in a bit to check on them, after I ask the Mrad about my search query that terminated prematurely,” Minstrel-Zuuk added. With a silent grace, the huge, shell-encased body glided away. “I hope their queries for human survivors were more fruitful. I hate to tell them mine came up null.” The seven eye-stalks looked off in seven different directions as the multi-colored Zuuk moved away.

Elise, Krinia and Jysar quickly made their way to the main shopping section of RahajMr. They discovered the mass of aliens even more crowded here—the sole difference being everyone carried one or two shiny bags of merchandise under various appendages.

The shopping section of RahajMr resembled a vast and crowded indoor street bazaar combined with an elaborate mall with storefronts that rose level after crowded level far above—a fantastically huge atrium. Indeed, the threesome peered upward in awe at the stores and walkways that lined the massive atrium walls.

Aliens shouted the price and value of their goods to passersby from booths on the floor level while neon signs pointed the way to countless other stores selling everything from exotic clothing to imported curios and hand-crafted items that boggled the imagination.

And of course, innumerable electronic toys and gadgets manufactured from thousands of different worlds lined shelves everywhere.

Far above were more storefronts, extending over twenty levels above them and accessible by hundreds of high-speed elevators that seemed constantly full of happy alien shoppers. Bridges extended in various directions like a huge web, creating steel geometric patterns at every level. These provided a path for shoppers to crisscross to the other side or to travel up or down a single level without using elevators. The air vibrated with laughter and countless alien languages.

Jysar suggested they disable the Galactic Translators wrapped around their left ear for a moment so they could absorb the full ambiance.

Elise reveled in all of it—the myriad of different beings all around her, the stores and tables full of exotic merchandise, and the constant chatter and laughter that filled her ears. In fact, her senses almost became overwhelmed because every face and everything she came into contact with was new to her. Her heart beat so loud she thought that Krinia and Jysar must surely hear it over the noise. She felt so alive.

Every moment brought a new experience. Elise quickly realized that the beings around her were wonderfully diverse—no two aliens exactly alike. And she came to appreciate the different forms of beauty that each possessed—each with its own unique look and its own peculiar kind of magnificence. Elise realized she wanted to value diversity. She would always look for the beauty in those different from her. And hopefully, they would view her in the same way.

"Come here lovely alien , I have something just for you ." A sales-alien inside a booth smiled directly her.

"Yes, yes. Come over here, my lovely little alien. I have something here that will enhance your natural beauty. And it is priced right—just for you.” The shopkeeper was covered with long, flowing yellow fur from head to toe. It wore a black tunic and pants, while its large, brown eyes seemed to draw the trio closer.

Elise looked questioningly at Krinia.

"Let's go see what he's peddling,” Krinia encouraged with a smile.

"Yes, yes. Look at this, it's all the rage now among beings with long, silky hair like yourself.” He held in his hands what looked like a small net, its fibers translucent and seemingly as delicate as a spider's web—and just as strong. The trio caught a glint of supple metal as the alien let the light glance off the miniature netting.

"What does it do?” Elise touched the fragile-looking net. It was so soft, softer even than the strands of her long, blonde hair.

"Allow me."

Taking the net with both furry hands, the alien held it just above Elise's head. His smile grew as he allowed it to gently fall until it seemed to melt into her hair. He stepped back with an approving expression, a strange pinkish glow now glistening from the fur of his face.

"I love it!” Krinia exclaimed with pure joy. “What do you call it?"

"A Hair Lighter ."

"It is very nice,” Jysar agreed as he gazed at Elise. “Very nice. There must be some embedded technology within the tiny fibers. How does it work?"

"What, what? Let me see too.” Elise took the hand mirror the alien offered her. She looked at herself and gasped.

Her blonde hair glowed a bright, neon pink. It looked so natural, not like it was colored or dyed in any way. It glowed as if electrified somehow.

"How does it work?” Elise's voice was full of wonder.

"It draws its power from your body, from your body's natural energy. And this model determines the color it emanates based on a formula detected from the emotional energy of its wearer—calculated partly on pulse rate, body temperature and on and on. I only sell them—they're made by the Razzaza—so I can't explain the exact process. And I sell a lot of them to pretty beings with long hair such as yourself.”

He smiled knowingly as he held up another small net of translucent threads.

"Oh, remember that one alien with the mountain of hair?” Elise said quickly. “Her hair seemed to glow, I bet she wore one of these."

The alien smiled even bigger. “These are all the rage right now. And they are so natural, they work in harmony with your body. We call ours a Hair Lighter because that in essence is what it does. Other manufacturers have different names—Color-Nets or Light-Nets."

"Will it change colors?” Elise asked excitedly.

"Of course! Right now, you must be in a high state of excitement and happiness for it to glow this bright shade of pink.” He took a handful of Elise's glowing pink hair and held it. “When you are more calm, it will glow with more of a greenish or bluish color. And if you are angry, upset or...” The alien smiled, his eyes alight. “Or if you are feeling passionate, your hair will glow red or orange—depending on how intense your mood."

Jysar stepped closer to Elise, a stern, fatherly expression on his face.

"I love it!” Elise exclaimed as she looked at herself in the mirror again.

"Where is the technology embedded?” Jysar asked as he peered at the neon glow of Elise's hair.

"It is located at the thick corners of the netting."

"Wow!” Elise exclaimed.

"And it is so cheap— only four hundred Mrad tokens. Other brands of Hair Lighters go for twice as much."

Krinia pursed her mouth. “That seems a little much."

Elise turned to Krinia with a look of shock.

Krinia nodded to Elise, indicating she knew what she was doing. Her head-tail flicked rapidly from side to side as she turned to face the alien seller.

"Tell you what though, seeing that my friend does like your little trinket.” Krinia reached into her purse and pulled out three tokens. “I'll pay you three hundred tokens for it."

"But, I couldn't take less than three hundred and seventy five tokens for this model!"

"And I can't pay more than three hundred fifteen.” Krinia smiled shrewdly. Elise watched closely as the alien waved his hands and began espousing the real value of this particular model while Krinia explained their budget and that they would continue looking and perhaps find another vendor with a better price. This bantering continued for five minutes while Jysar grew bored and sauntered over to another booth filled with electronic gadgets.

"Done!” The alien took the three hundred and fifty Mrad tokens Krinia held out to him. As the women moved to join Jysar, the alien called out to another prospective client, a female alien with long, black hair covering her entire face and head.

"Why didn't you pay him the first price?” Elise asked as they walked out of earshot.

"It's called haggling—negotiation.” Krinia paused as she gathered her thoughts. “A seller will ask a higher price in order to make a higher profit—if a buyer has not shopped around in order to determine the actual value, they may pay that higher price without knowing. Research is important, even in purchasing items. And impulse purchases are not normally good ideas.” Krinia paused as she noticed Elise's puzzled expression.

She realized this was Elise's first shopping experience. Krinia tried to simplify her previous words. “If a buyer does research and learns the range of prices for a particular item, it will enable the buyer to recognize a good deal—a fair price."

"Oh,” Elise said.

"A shrewd consumer, one with knowledge of an item's price range, then will haggle—she'll offer to purchase it at a lower price, the lower price range, while the seller counters with a higher price, until they reach one that is mutually agreeable—a fair price for both."

Elise nodded. “Then I should have gone to another seller first, to check their price to see if it was fair."

"Probably. But we negotiated a lower price with the assumption his asking price was high.” Krinia smiled. “Plus, you really wanted it. And, it's a gift from me."

Elise turned and hugged Krinia.

Krinia smiled. “So, we did all right. If the price had been outrageous, we would've shopped around some more."

"Wow, I do love it! I feel so pretty.” Elise noticed a few admiring glances from the crowd as they made their way forward.

"It is fascinating technology. I almost bought one just so I could take it apart and see how it works,”

Jysar said admiringly.

"I bet you would, you curious technology-fiend.” Krinia chuckled.

"I'll let you scan it when we get back to Mother,” Elise said with a smile.

"Let's take a break, my feet are killing me.” Krinia looked around intently a moment. “There, over there looks good. It's both a restaurant and a bar. I think I'd like a nice glass of Mrad fruit wine myself." Elise's eyes brightened as her glowing pink hair grew a shade darker. “Do you think I can have a glass too?"

"We'll see. I'm not sure if eighteen is the drinking age here on RahajMr." They made their way inside, only to find the crowds more tightly packed than back at the shopping complex.

They finally found three open spots at a small table against the far wall. Krinia activated the small console on the table and began looking at the list of wines while Elise and Jysar glanced down their own tiny consoles and reviewed the list of food and drink offered.

"I could use a bit of lunch myself,” Jysar said.

"Me too. I'm famished from all this walking.” Elise smiled at the others.

"Well, well, don't I know you? I think we met back at Alexxa Four last week? Ah, one could never forget such beauty."

The deep, confident voice seemed to come out of nowhere—unseen from behind them. Elise froze, afraid to turn.

Krinia replied for her.

"That's got to be the oldest line in the galaxy, fella.” Krinia glanced at the orange-skinned humanoid alien with a bored expression. “And we've never been to Alexxa Four. So, keep moving, pal." The young alien wore his jet-black hair slicked back over his head. The dapper alien sported a red jacket over a lavender shirt with a myriad of thick gold chains around his neck. His large, leaf-like ears were pierced with several golden earrings.

He stood out from the other aliens crowded in the room.

"But everyone needs a new friend, especially beautiful aliens such as yourselves.” The alien Romeo sat down with a flash of teeth from a shark-like smile.

Krinia almost laughed out loud, but she held herself back—for the moment.

"Listen, we're...” Krinia began.

"You don't mind if I sit here and get to know you better?” The alien smiled from Jysar to Elise and back to Krinia, whose expression grew rock-hard.

"Listen...” Krinia began again, a forcefulness now in her voice.

"Ah, your hair is so lovely, my young beauty.” The alien smiled wolfishly at Elise, who blushed in return.

“That color becomes you."

"Thank you.” Elise smiled innocently. Her pink hair turned reddish. Krinia groaned.

"And you,” he said to Krinia. “You are like a goddess. Actually both of you are.” His eyes flashed from Krinia back to Elise. “Ah yes, one is the goddess of youth and love.” He picked up Elise's hand and kissed it passionately. He turned to Krinia. “And you, you are like the goddess of fertility and..."

"Could you shut-up!” Krinia's exasperated shout drew a flurry of attention. She rolled her eyes and leaned over the table toward Elise to speak to her alone, but she was loud enough so the aliens at the next table could hear.

"This is the kind of alien your mother warned us about.” Krinia jerked her thumb towards Romeo.

"Oh no, but you misunderstand. Allow me to introduce myself.” He rose with a great air and bowed. “I am Lamall dex Fronato Presanntos of the planet Kinallias. I am eldest of my father's house, and the favorite.” He flashed his toothy smile once again.

Krinia opened her mouth but he continued before she could speak.

"And let me assure you that I, Lamall dex Fronato Presanntos of Kinallias, am the kind of alien that you

‘ take home to Mother.'” He stroked his perfect hair with an air of aloofness.

"I sincerely doubt that,” Krinia said with conviction.

"But...” Elise began.

"And what kind of technical knowledge do you possess, my dear Lamall de Frompus Presentus?” The Hrono smiled wryly as he carefully mispronounced the alien's name. As the silence grew, Jysar carefully stroked the upright scales across his head as his green complexion deepened with emotion Lamall eyed him carefully without answering.

Finally, after a lengthy silence, Lamall shook his head. “You do me a disservice, sir. I am a friendly kind of alien, I only want to get to know all of you much better ... and what does technology have to do with love or friendship anyway?"

"Why, a lot of things!” Jysar said with shocked amazement.

Lamall, Krinia and Elise each turned with puzzled expressions to Jysar, who looked back at them with surprise.

"Well, you've lost me on that, my green, scaly friend. But these lovely, wonderful female creatures, surely they know..."

"Yeah, we know .” Krinia sighed. But the sharp, angry flicks of her head-tail gave away the emotions that boiled inside of her.

"Ah, but I love this. It is so wonderful.” And before Krinia realized what he was doing, Lamall reached behind her neck and caressed her head-tail.

A low growl emanated ominously from Krinia's throat.

"But I love this, it is so soft and yet so firm. This...” His caress changed to a gentle grip.

"Uh-oh,” Jysar quickly moved his chair back from the table, knowing what would happen next. “You shouldn't have done that, Lamall de Dumbest Dunderhead."

With a flash of movement, Krinia knocked his arm away.

"Owww!” Lamall groaned. “But you have hurt me..."

With a deadly earnestness on her face, Krinia rose to face him.

Her fierce gaze caused Lamall to stumble backward in surprise.

Krinia slowly lowered herself into a battle stance. In the next instant, she launched herself into the hapless alien.

Lamall shouted for help as he waved his arms wildly in a vain effort to fend off her determined assault. But Krinia meant business.

With two rapid blows to his mid-section, she knocked the breath from him as he doubled up with pain. He raised his hands again, panting for air, but Krinia knocked them away as if they were nothing. She sent him reeling with a solid blow to his chin. He fell to the ground in a heap and lay still a moment. With a painful groan, he tried to crawl away.

But Krinia planted her foot firmly on his back.

Lamall's body tensed, waiting for the next blow.

"A word of advice,” Krinia said in a hushed voice.

Lamall groaned again as her foot pressed harder against his back.

"Never touch a Mewiis’ head-tail—unless she wants you to touch it." A muffled groan answered.

Krinia took her foot off and then looked around at the faces staring at her and her handiwork.

"Anybody got a problem with this?” Krinia asked them all.

Everyone turned back to their companions and began talking as if nothing had happened. Within seconds, the room filled with the normal crowd noise.

Nobody paid attention to Lamall as he crawled painfully toward the back door. Elise's eyes were the size of saucers as Krinia sat back down.

"And I don't think Mother needs to know about this little incident.” Krinia smiled conspiratorially at them. “We'll just keep this to ourselves, right?"

"But, what happened? He seemed so nice.” Elise's hair now glowed with an electric purple sheen.

"He was too nice . I'll explain more to you later, when it's just us girls. Now, let's get back to the food and wine. And I sure need that glass of wine now.” Krinia peered at her tiny console.

"He had motives,” Jysar added with a knowing glance.

"Motives?” Elise asked with surprise. “Is that like negotiations?"

"A whole different subject. Any way, let's eat.” Krinia said forcefully, changing the subject. “And afterward, we need to make our way back to Mother. I think we've had enough excitement for one day."

"But let's check my queries first on the way back!” Elise said eagerly. As their food arrived, the three eagerly dove into it with smiles and murmurs of appreciation. The trio never noticed the two muscular Harg as they sat down at a table directly across from them. Nor the secretive glances they cast in their direction.

[Back to Table of Contents]

Chapter Eight

"DOESN'T SEEM TO be a very happy place, eh?” Jaric confided to Kyle and Rok as they walked down the main thoroughfare.

"It looks like a typical residential section—like back at RahajMr.” Kyle glanced at the entrances to the single-family enclaves that lined the walls and upper levels above them. But unlike RahajMr, small groups of aliens sat outside many of the doors. As the trio walked past, they felt the suspicious looks following them.

"But it seems like everyone stays at home over here. And you're right, they're not smiling very much."

"I assume they do not have work, so most of the family groups stay close to their homes,” Rok surmised. “These are aliens on hard times, remember. They are all refugees, looking for a new home, a new life."

"Well, they could at least be friendly.” Jaric smiled at another group they were passing, but the aliens simply stared back in return, their scale-covered faces devoid of emotion.

"Oh well,” Kyle whispered to Jaric. “Let's just find the Ialliaz—or humans."

"Look, there's a Mrad security officer.” Kyle pointed ahead to a uniformed Mrad. “Let's see if he can direct us to the Ialliaz. I'm not sure if this is the right street or it's the next one over."

"Excuse me, Officer,” he called out as they approached.

Kyle waited as the Mrad turned to face him.

"Can you tell us if this is the block that houses the families of Ialliaz who recently arrived?" His black eyes surveyed Kyle and the other two carefully before he answered. After a moment, he seemed satisfied. “No, it's the next one up. Then go down three blocks. They live in the enclaves all along the right side from there to the end of the street.” He paused a moment. “I don't suppose you're here to accept them as immigrants to your planet?"

Kyle was taken aback. “Well, not exactly. I mean, we're just here to talk with them." The officer nodded apologetically. “Well, I was just hoping. They're a sad bunch, more so than the rest. I don't meant to butt in, but I like to know what's going on with the residents under my jurisdiction.” His eyes became far off. “I'm always happy when some of them find a new home. It's what they all want—a new home."

"Yeah,” Jaric agreed. “We understand all too well."

Jaric and Kyle exchanged knowing glances.

"Looks like most of them are pretty forlorn,” Kyle said with a sigh.

"Well, they're all refugees. They have no homeworld anymore. And most have experienced things we can't even imagine.” A deep sadness etched the Mrad officer's face. “By the way, my name is Aje Veeio.

"Officer Veeio, nice to meet you,” Kyle mumbled, still lost in his own troubled thoughts.

"Actually, we can imagine. We're refugees ourselves,” Jaric added.

"Then you know.” Officer Veeio raised his arm toward the street where the Ialliaz lived. “They were conquered by a heartless race called the T'kaan. But everyone has a story here—some lost their homeworlds to natural disasters, or disasters they brought on themselves, and now their planet is uninhabitable. For others it was disease, unimaginable plagues. But for most, war and persecution drove them here.” A great sadness swept the Mrad's face.

Rok's eyes narrowed. “There is tragedy here, I can feel it too. You can see it in the faces and the eyes of these aliens.” Rok turned his head as he looked at the haunted expressions. “There is pain here, terrible pain."

"Yeah, this isn't an assignment most Mrad relish. But I like it."

"Why?” Kyle asked.

"Our government provides these aliens with housing, food and clothing. We get them registered in our computer system and allow them to search for other worlds that are accepting immigrants. And with the high volume of traffic to our cities, there is ample opportunity for the refugees to find a place where they can find work, find a place where they can start over.” Aje Veeio paused. “But the reason I volunteer for this assignment is that these people need protection—from con artists and other criminal elements, sometimes from each other if there's trouble because of different ethnic attitudes or other historic animosity."

"It burns my heart to know that the weak and helpless can be treated this way.” Rok sighed. The Mrad's eyes widened with approval. “Yes, these people have been through a lot. They've seen a lot of pain, a lot of death, you name it. But they're in my jurisdiction here, and I look after them, protect them."

Rok looked deep into the Mrad's eyes. “An honorable task. You have my respect, Officer."

"Thank you,” Aje said simply. “But sometimes it's a thankless job, and even the refugees themselves give me trouble."

"They should know who is taking care of them,” Rok said. “And respect them for that."

"And sometimes there is worse.” The officer's eyes became hard.

"Worse?"

"The refugees are supposed to check in when they find a new home, or before they leave. So we know when their homes are going to be empty and we can give them to new families. And to ration the food and other articles appropriately.” Officer Veeio stared at Rok. “But the last year or so a good number of them just seem to disappear from the face of the universe—individuals mostly. But sometimes whole groups. I don't like it when they just disappear."

"Maybe they forget to check out before they leave?” Rok countered.

"Maybe. Maybe not."

An ominous silence settled upon them.

"Do a lot of worlds offer immigration?” Jaric asked.

"Not in this Sector right now,” Aje replied. “Most planets are overflowing with their own peoples. And work is fairly scarce with the recession in the Quadrant. But some Sectors are still accepting refugees."

"Well, maybe the Ialliaz will be finding a new home soon,” Kyle said. “And us too!" Jaric smiled with anticipation, but his smile faded as the Mrad spoke.

"Right now, only the Argias and the Cends are accepting. And the Paum Sector.” The uniformed Mrad grew silent after he uttered the last word. “But they're just a little too eager in their offers, if you know what I mean.” His voice took a serious tone. “Most of the refugees only take them up as a last resort—if everything else falls through.” He drew a deep breath and held it a moment. “But the Paum are always accepting refugees."

"You said that last sentence with hesitation,” Kyle commented.

The Mrad officer nodded. “The Paum have a reputation. They're a secretive kind of people, nobody knows a lot about them outside their own systems.” The Mrad's eyes narrowed; his face grew hard as granite. “It's whispered that they're a strict and severe society. Anything one does must be in harmony with the High Paum, or you do it in fear of your life. Everything is controlled by the Paum." The Mrad's eyes gazed far off. “They like to say, ‘Life must be guided by Paum, or else it is evil. And all that is evil must die.’”

This time the silence wrapped them in an icy embrace. Their hearts beat faster with a feeling of dread, almost as if something evil reached out to them that very moment.

Officer Aje Veeio looked intently at the trio. “Not the kind of lifestyle one would run to join, in my opinion."

"Well, I don't think I'd want to go there either,” Kyle agreed.

They thanked the officer for his directions and headed toward the Ialliaz. As they found the street and made their way toward the block indicated, Kyle and Jaric felt their hearts begin to beat faster with their rising hope.

"I think we're really going to find them this time,” Kyle said, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"I feel it too,” Jaric agreed. “Their description fits, and they were conquered by the T'kaan. That's us too."

"Be patient,” Rok warned them. “Do not arouse your hopes until what you seek is within your grasp. Or else you risk disappointment."

"But everything fits,” Kyle argued. “And this is a place full of refugees. I mean, if you're a refugee, this is the place to come to, sooner or later. And now we're here!"

"You have sought this life-altering moment for a long time now—that of finding other humans. But such momentous events are rare in life.” Rok gripped each of them by the shoulder. “You must not expect great things but accept what each day gives you—great or small. It is my experience that many things do not live up to their hype—and there is a terrible let-down afterward." Kyle stared silently at the Kraaqi.

Jaric's expression changed too as he pressed his lips together as his eyes reflected a deep sadness. Rok shook his head slowly. “Perhaps you expect that finding other humans will change everything for you—that it, and only it, will bring you some kind of happiness or joy that is missing from your life today.” Rok looked deeply at both of the young men. “But even if you find other humans, you will still be you. It may not change your life the way you expect or want it to. It may not change anything—inside you.” The Kraaqi pressed Kyle's and Jaric's shoulders harder.

"It will change everything,” Kyle growled.

The air became electric between them.

Kyle's piercing blue eyes stared into Rok's steady gaze. Without warning, he shook Rok's hand from off his shoulder with a violent jerk. “You don't understand, Rok! Even after all these months with us, you don't understand."

The Kraaqi warrior watched Kyle with a wary surprise. There was a look in Kyle's eyes now, a flash of intensity as if he were going into battle. Rok's eyes narrowed as he waited for Kyle to continue.

"This is all I want, Rok. Understand?” Kyle shook his head from side to side. “It's my only dream, my only hope. It's all I really want."

Rok grunted with a noncommittal sound in his throat.

Kyle rolled his eyes as if in total disbelief. He looked at Rok as if he were seeing him for the first time.

"If you wanted to, you could go home tomorrow."

Rok's eyes glimmered with the beginning of understanding.

Kyle saw it, but he didn't feel any satisfaction. Instead, his anger rose like a storm inside his heart.

"You see, I can't go home. I've got no homeworld, no hometown. I don't even have a village, or a single street, that I can call home. I've got no people. No one .” Kyle's eyes moistened. “I can't go home. No matter how bad I want to, I can't go home. It doesn't exist for me." Rok stared with full realization of the pain inside Kyle's heart.

Standing silent beside Kyle, Jaric bowed his head with sadness.

"But you can, Rok. You could go back to your world, to your people— anytime. You have a home.”

Kyle blinked his eyes rapidly, fighting his tears. “And that's what I want. And that's why I search so hard. And why I never give up.” Kyle became silent, staring off into the distance while Rok studied his face.

"You are right, my Brethren. I did not fully understand."

Kyle turned his head slowly to face Rok.

Rok nodded at him. “You have shared your heart. And I thank you.” Once again Rok took Kyle by each shoulder and held him firmly in his grip. He looked deeply into the human's eyes.

"But you are wrong on one point. You do have a home, and a family to return home to whenever you wish. And a mother."

Kyle looked deep in Rok's eyes as he weighed the Kraaqi's words. A faint sigh escaped him.

"It's a dysfunctional family at best."

"But it is a family—your family. And it is as good a family as I have ever known.” Rok tightened his grip and then released him with a shake of his head.

"Come on, Big K. Rok is right,” Jaric said, surprise in his voice. “We might not be the ideal family, but we are family!"

Kyle looked away, avoiding Jaric's pleading gaze.

"Come one, Big K,” Jaric repeated. “Lighten up.” Jaric looked from the stern face of Rok back to the angry countenance of Kyle. “Let's forget this serious stuff and get back to having a good time!" Kyle and Rok eyed each other warily.

Kyle turned to start walking again when Rok spoke.

"I would like you to remember this one thing before we finish." Kyle hesitated.

"Go on,” Kyle said with a questioning look.

"I hope one day you will realize what you really have—how precious it is. Far too often we only realize this fact after it is gone. And once it is gone, no matter how badly we wish it back, it is gone." Kyle stared at him evenly, but he did not speak.

"Reflect on what you have today, young human. It may be of more value than your greatest dream.” Rok carefully studied Kyle's face. “The Kraaqi have a saying, one of my favorite— It is the simple thingsthat bring the greatest joy."

Kyle's eyes narrowed as his mind carefully digested Rok's words.

The tense silence softened.

"Whew!” Jaric whistled in a second attempt to lighten the mood. “That was deep, Rok. Maybe you should find a mountain and make a home on top of it. That way everyone can go seek out your fabulous wisdom!"

Jaric laughed, thumping first Rok and then Kyle on the arm to try and get a chuckle out of either of them. Kyle smiled. And with a confident air made his way forward again.

"I still feel good about this,” Kyle said a little too enthusiastically. “Let's go on and see what we'll find around the next corner!"

"Yeah! There's more refugees here than we've ever run into or even heard about in one place before. This city is like a clearinghouse for refugees. It makes sense other human survivors might find their way here,” Jaric added.

"That's right,” Kyle agreed quickly. “It all makes sense."

"Let's get a move on!” Jaric broke into a trot, closely followed by Kyle.

"I hope that your dreams come true this day,” Rok whispered to himself. “I really do." Rok kept pace with their eager steps. “Keep your hearts prepared,” he said to their unhearing ears.

“Once we have met the Ialliaz, then you can open them wide."

But Jaric and Kyle couldn't keep their rising excitement in check any longer. All the talk of refugees and all their personal years of searching for human survivors burned inside their hearts. They had to find others. They just had to.

As they rounded the final corner, both of them picked up their pace until they were almost running. Rok broke into a slow run behind them.

"Look!” Kyle pointed excitedly.

Two human-like figures stood directly ahead of them. From the back, they looked exactly like humans—their arms, legs and body type matched exactly.

"Hello!” Kyle and Jaric shouted together.

The two aliens turned.

And in that moment Kyle and Jaric's hearts sank.

The Ialliaz were the most human-like aliens they had run into yet.

But they weren't humans.

The most obvious physical differences were the vertical pupils of their eyes, their mouths centered on their necks, and the huge, ridged nose that dominated their faces almost like the beak of a bird. Otherwise, they were very close to humans in appearance, especially the almond shade of their skin and the hair that covered their heads.

Rok could sense the deep disappointment in his friend's faces and their words as they talked with the Ialliaz.

It was true; the T'kaan had destroyed their worlds just as they had destroyed those of humanity. But it had been the T'kaan First Fleet, although it did occur during the same T'kaan cycle when the T'kaan Third Fleet fought the human race to the edge of extinction.

The sadness etched on the faces of the Ialliaz refugees became etched on Jaric and Kyle's faces as well. As they talked with the Ialliaz survivors, they once again relived the tragic end of the human race. One more time.

* * * *

AN HOUR LATER, they found themselves at the central community kitchen that provided food for the refugees. They decided to join the communal noonday meal that the Mrad provided for all refugees. After all, they were refugees too.

Their spirits slowly revived. The energy and never-ending hope of youth grew again inside their scarred hearts. And the Kraaqi warrior continued to encourage them with his words of wisdom until they were able to reflect with humor on their latest disappointment.

It was almost funny, in a sad kind of way.

And they decided it was better to laugh about their dashed hopes than to cry out in pain. And in the face of defeat, they laughed one more time.

They stood in a long queue with about two hundred other refugees, each with a plate in their hands as they waited for the aliens up ahead to serve them their daily allotment of food. Jaric stood in front with Kyle and Rok behind. Jaric leaned far out to one side and looked back at the others in the rear of the queue. As he turned back around he discovered the back of the huge alien in front of him blocking his view forward. He stepped to the side in order to see how many aliens were still ahead of them. The gargantuan alien turned and glared down at Jaric.

Jaric smiled back at him and quickly stepped back in line.

"I still can't believe it,” Jaric said, disappointment mixed with a touch humor.

"What, that we're standing in a soup line?” Kyle said with mock humor.

"No, bozo. I still can't believe the Ialliaz weren't humans, that's all." Kyle chuckled. “But it was close."

Rok's eyes narrowed in thought. “You know, if you two survived the T'kaan, and now a small group of Ialliaz survived the T'kaan's attack upon them, well...” Rok spread his arms apart. “Perhaps there is real hope we will find other human survivors—somewhere."

"Yes,” Jaric said, his voice empty of emotion. “Maybe we will, one day ."

"There is always hope, my friend.” Rok thumped Jaric on the shoulder, causing him to bump the alien in front.

The huge alien turned and gazed down at Jaric.

Jaric smiled sheepishly.

A huge, curved horn rose from the alien's short snout. Two red eyes stared unflinchingly as the large nostrils flared.

"Have you got a problem or something?” The huge alien snarled, revealing a dangerous set of teeth.

"No, no. I just tripped.” Jaric laughed.

"Don't trip again,” he warned with a rumbling growl.

Jaric and Kyle rolled their eyes at each other as the big alien faced forward.

"Friendly kind of alien, eh?” Kyle whispered to Jaric.

Jaric hurriedly placed his hands over Kyle's mouth in protest.

"Shut up, man!” Jaric whispered, jerking his thumb at the alien's back. “This guy's built like a tank." Kyle laughed louder, which caused the horned alien to turn back toward them. Jaric smiled innocently up at the massive alien. “Private joke."

Kyle's laughter continued a moment, but it slowly faded away as the huge alien glared at him. Kyle shrugged his shoulders and shook his head in disbelief at the big alien's lack of humor. Rok matched the big alien's steady, angry gaze.

"Nice horn.” Rok twisted his head slightly, showing off his own set of horns.

"And I know how to use it.” The alien growled defiantly.

The air grew tense between them.

"As do I.” Rok's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Hmmph.” The alien turned back around, obviously unimpressed.

"What's the matter with this guy?” Kyle whispered over his shoulder to Rok. Jaric grabbed Kyle and Rok both by the shoulder. “Let's leave this alone, all right? I just want to get some lunch and then get back to Mother. In one piece, if you know what I mean." Kyle and Rok looked from Jaric up to the broad shoulders and back of the alien. Kyle shook his head.

“All right, I'm hungry too. I just wish this line would move faster." The line finally moved forward, but progress soon halted again as the new group were served food. Jaric stepped to the side again to see how much closer they were. The huge, muscular alien breathed deeply as he too surveyed the line ahead.

"I hate aliens,” the huge alien said—the words uttered to no one in particular.

"What do you mean?” Jaric asked incredulously.

The horned face turned and looked down at him with an angry glint in his red eyes. The big alien grunted and shrugged its massive shoulders.

"But you're an alien too!” Jaric pointed his finger up at him. “We're all aliens. So, how can you hate aliens?"

"I am not an alien. I am a Hammatt."

"Well, I'm a human. But we're both aliens, if you get right down to it. Everyone in the universe is an alien."

"I hate aliens,” he repeated with conviction. He bent his head closer to Jaric's face, the curved edge of his horn almost brushing the end of Jaric's nose. “And I especially hate little aliens who talk too much.”

The Hammatt sniffed noisily as a puzzled expression flashed across its leathery face.

"And I especially hate aliens that smell bad!"

Kyle stepped confidently beside Jaric. “Why don't you tell us how you really feel, bozo-boy?” Kyle's tone was half-challenge, half-mocking. He eyed the Hammatt carefully.

The Hammatt drew himself to his full height as the muscles in his towering body tightened. He glared down at the two humans for a moment. A massive growl erupted from his throat—a growl so powerful that every head in the room turned in shocked surprise.

The room went deathly silent.

Rok stepped forward and placed himself between the boys and the gargantuan Hammatt. The huge alien growled again, causing the flatware on his plate to rattle. He stood three meters tall and probably weighed as much as Rok, Jaric and Kyle combined.

"And I hate aliens...” he began.

A Mrad security officer suddenly appeared from between two other aliens.

"Too bad it's not Officer Veeio,” Jaric whispered quickly to Kyle as the stern looking Mrad walked up to them.

"Have we got a problem here, fellas?” he said to all of them.

A tense silence answered.

"Well, let me be real clear—I don't want any trouble here today.” He looked from the Hammatt to Jaric, Kyle and Rok. “And if we do have any trouble, I've got a warm jail cell just right for all of you. It sleeps four just fine—even oversized aliens.” He stared unflinching up at the big Hammatt. The Mrad suddenly looked farther down the line. “And that goes for you Harg as well. I've got my eye on you."

Kyle and Jaric followed the Mrad's gaze to where four short, burly aliens with thick necks stood. They glared sullenly back at him.

"Didn't I see them somewhere before?” Kyle asked.

"I dunno,” Jaric replied. “Maybe."

But a low, rumbling growl brought his attention back around.

Rok glared angrily up at the Hammatt who growled once again as he stared back down at him. Kyle reached out and pulled Rok back towards him and Jaric.

The Hammatt, seemingly satisfied the standoff was over, turned back around. The Mrad officer stayed close by until they finally reached the food servers several minutes later. Satisfied that the confrontation was over, he walked slowly away.

Jaric looked expectantly at the food being offered—three vegetable selections and one meat. Jaric, Kyle and Rok watched as their plates were filled with the exotic vegetables—first with curly tubers mixed with small beans of various colors and shapes, followed by blue rice and last with a tiny black vegetable covered with spikes that seemed as if it would be too dangerous to eat. Jaric stared in wonder at his plate. But his empty stomach eagerly anticipated the late afternoon meal. He hoped.

However, he looked questioningly at the meat selection. It looked too rare for his taste—anything still alive and crawling across the platter was way too rare for him.

"Don't you need to cook these a little more?” Jaric asked as he stared at the small, slithering forms that filled the large spoon poised over his plate. “I mean, they're still moving!"

"Taste better that way,” the server replied. “You don't want to ruin the flavor."

"Come on, it's just like sushi,” Kyle said with a twinkle in his eye to Jaric.

"Hey, man, this stuff is way beyond just raw!” Jaric moved on. “I'll skip meat today." Kyle looked closely at the pile of small, slithering forms offered to him as well, but refused it with a grimace.

"Just veggies today for me,” he said with a wave of his hands.

Only Rok took a wriggling portion and allowed it to be placed onto his plate, an eager smile on his face. Jaric and Kyle looked away, each coughing in disbelief, as they continued to the drink counter. The trio walked slowly around the rows of crowded tables looking for three chairs so they could sit together. Finally, they found three together near the back wall and sat down to eat, oblivious to everything around them.

The huge Hammatt passed them as they put their plates down on their table and sat down. Unknown to them all, he sat down in a chair directly behind them.

The noise level from the myriad of aliens was unbelievable—it seemed these meals were the social highlight of the day for the refugees. Raucous laughter and hearty shouts punctuated the constant chatter of a hundred simultaneous conversations—it was easy to discern that their everyday concerns were now pushed aside in order to enjoy a friendly meal.

Kyle picked up one of the spiky vegetables between his finger and thumb. He looked at it cautiously, turning it over repeatedly.

"Is this edible?” he finally asked.

Rok boldly took a handful and threw them into his mouth. He chewed slowly, then he nodded with appreciation.

"Not bad. Actually, quite tasty."

Kyle looked questioningly at it again, and then popped it into his mouth. The spikes stabbed momentarily, causing a pricking sensation against his tongue and the roof of his mouth. Suddenly, the sensation melted away. He bit down, feeling something squirt inside his mouth. He chewed appreciatively,

"Yeah, not bad at all."

Right across from them, the four burly Harg from the food line approached their table. Ominously, they stood over four tiny aliens eating quietly and minding their own business. As soon as the seated aliens realized who stood behind them, they quickly rose, spilling some of their food in their haste, and left. The Harg smiled savagely, laughing as the aliens beat a hasty retreat. Rok eyed them carefully, his face hard and expressionless. He continued to eat, although he kept a watchful eye on the newcomers.

Kyle eyed the Harg as well.

As the Harg began eating and joking with each other, an alarm seemed to go off inside Kyle's head. His eyes narrowed as they caught him watching them.

Two of the Harg laughed as they went back to eating their food.

"I don't like aliens who bully other aliens,” Rok said loud enough so everyone, including the Harg, could hear.

The four Harg stopped talking and eyed Rok and the two humans carefully. Kyle, Rok and Jaric stared defiantly back at them.

One of the stout Harg whispered something to the other three that drew a round of laughter. The four aliens returned to their food and their private conversation.

"I don't like those particular aliens,” Jaric whispered to his two friends.

"We'll keep an eye on them,” Rok said evenly, returning to his own plate of food. Kyle didn't like it either—he didn't like aliens bullying others, especially small, defenseless aliens. And somehow he felt he'd seen these Harg before, or others of their kind somewhere. Try as he might, he couldn't shake that nagging feeling.

Jaric suddenly looked up with a jerk of his head as if he had just remembered something. Jaric carefully searched the alien faces, looking slowly all around the great room—every direction except directly behind. With a quick glance, he looked to his right and left, and then he began his careful survey a second time.

Kyle and Rok stopped eating as they watched Jaric continue his slow survey. Jaric paused briefly on the Harg again, but he was obviously searching for something else.

The four Harg continued whispering among themselves, their black, beady eyes darting at the two humans and the Kraaqi as they spoke.

Two tables away, two reptilian aliens sat down with their own plates of food. But they did not eat. Instead, they peered steadily over at the Harg. The larger of the two whispered to the other, who nodded while the others seated at their table stopped their conversations and began to concentrate silently on their food—as if trying to ignore the newcomers.

But overall, the room echoed with talk and laughter and the sound of utensils striking plates. The majority did not yet feel the tension that began to fill the air around the tables at the far end of the room. It built quickly to an unstoppable climax.

Kyle, momentarily forgetting the Harg, stifled a laugh as he continued to watch his friend's comically intent look of concentration.

"What're you looking for, Jaric? Did you lose something?” Kyle asked, a smile on his face. Jaric shook his head, as if disappointed.

"I was wondering where that big, fat, ugly alien with the attitude went.” He stabbed a few of the spiky vegetables. He faced Kyle. “You know, the one with the big, ugly horn on its nose— the Hammatt. But I guess he left."

Jaric raised the fork to his mouth as a powerful growl shook the air.

Jaric and Kyle locked eyes.

"Don't tell me,” Jaric whispered in shock.

A second growl filled the air, the source obviously right behind them.

"I won't tell you. But get ready,” Kyle whispered back.

Slowly, Kyle put his hand underneath his plate.

Without warning, a mass of vegetables mixed with the living-meat rained down over Jaric's head. Jaric's eyes widened in panic as some of the crawling forms cascaded down near his mouth. He wiped them away quickly, shaking the squirming, worm-like things off his hands with a shudder. Jaric felt a huge form brush against his back as the mighty Hammatt stood. Jaric rolled his eyes at Kyle who looked back at him with a mixture of shock and suppressed mirth. A voice from somewhere above spoke.

"Stupid, fat, and ugly am I? Why, you little..."

At just that moment, Kyle threw his plateful of food up in the direction he figured the huge alien's face would be.

He missed.

Instead, the flying food drenched several aliens beside the huge Hammatt.

"What the?” they shouted as they all rose angrily.

Kyle lunged backward, swinging his elbow hard into the Hammatt's stomach. It felt like he struck a steel wall.

He froze and groaned, rubbing his elbow painfully.

Kyle and Jaric looked at each other again, shrugged with resignation, then slowly looked up. The Hammatt stared down at them, nostrils flared, his eyes burning blasters into them. Jaric began to laugh.

"You know, there's something funny in all—"

At that moment, the Hammatt reached down with both hands, lifted up two more plates of food from surprised aliens on either side of him, and flung them at the two humans. But Jaric and Kyle ducked just in time—falling down on their hands and knees. Behind them angry shouts grew in number.

All at once, the air filled with flying plates of food aimed like missiles.

"We've got to get out of here!” Jaric whispered urgently to Kyle as they hugged the floor.

"No kidding, Einstein."

A powerful hand locked on each of them with a vise-like grip.

"Uh-oh,” Jaric and Kyle said simultaneously.

Effortlessly, they rose into the air.

"I think time is running out,” Jaric said with resignation.

Kyle winced as he clenched his fists, eyes still shut.

"Just follow my lead."

"I knew you were going to say that,” Jaric shot back.

"I'm not the one who insulted the biggest alien in the room." Jaric groaned. “Well, if I'd known he was right behind me, I—"

Suddenly, Rok jumped up on the table and shouted a Kraaqi war-cry.

The entire room went deathly silent.

Reaching down, Rok grabbed a plate in each hand and flung them at the Hammatt's face. Rok leapt at the huge alien at the same time.

But the big Hammatt simply lowered his body and with a sudden upward motion sent the Kraaqi flying over his shoulder while still holding the hapless humans.

A fresh set of muffled shouts and the sound of new fighting indicated the airborne Kraaqi had landed. A new wave of missiles—more plates of food in addition to cups of liquid—flew through the air locked on target.

Shouts mixed with growls filled the room. Everyone in the room lashed out at the alien next to him. Food quickly covered everyone—some of it still squirming as it slid down their faces. The Hammatt held the two dangling humans like a statue—and with each passing second another plateful of food covered its head and shoulders. The huge alien growled ominously as its whole body shook with his mounting anger.

Kyle looked up at the mountain-like form and savagely kicked at its ribs. But nothing happened, except the faintest groan from the Hammatt.

They still hovered helplessly.

"Oh great,” Jaric shot at Kyle. “I think you've saved the day!" A mighty roar deafened them.

First, the Hammatt took Jaric and slung him headlong down one side of the table like a bartender flinging a glass of beer. Jaric yelled with abject horror as he sailed down the table toward the end and then flew out into the open air.

But his flight was short-lived.

He screamed again as he dropped among a group of wrestling aliens. Immediately, he felt their hooves stepping all over his body.

In the next instant, they all fell right on top of him

With another mighty heave, the Hammatt flung Kyle as if he were a rag doll. The few plates and glasses still left on the other end of the table shot away as Kyle's body sailed down the entire length of the table—and beyond.

Kyle launched into the air with such force that his personal flight took him square into a group of large, fur-covered aliens. His flailing body knocked them over as if they were bowling pins. They gathered themselves quickly, picked up his limp form, and began to buffet him with blows. In the next moment, the four Harg jumped these aliens while Kyle tried to defend himself from every direction with little effect. It felt like the air rained blows upon him from every side—and it wasn't a good feeling.

Kyle continued kicking and punching as he recoiled from several blows at once. In a flash, he found himself flat on the floor, a heavy body pinning him down.

He struggled, but to no avail.

With his arms pinned, he was lifted up—and just as suddenly lowered as an alien flew through the air just over him and barely missed colliding with him.

Kyle shook his head to clear his thoughts, although the rest of him was still held firmly. He looked around to get his bearings as he struggled vainly to free himself.

With a groan, he twisted his head to see who held him fast.

A savage Harg growled.

The stout alien smiled. “Let's go, human. Somebody wants to—"

The world suddenly spun upside down amid a Kraaqi war cry.

Rok's blow sent the Harg hard to the ground and Kyle fell away free—bruised and hurt, but free. Kyle rolled and jumped up—finding himself beside the Kraaqi warrior.

They were in the middle of eight or nine aliens flailing away with fists and claws.

"What do we do now?” Kyle asked as he ducked a flying plate.

Rok avoided a fist. Then he lashed out, sending the perpetrator down to the ground. He lowered his body, trying to watch every direction at once as the different fighters surged and faded.

"It's time we leave,” he grunted.

"No argument here,” Kyle replied breathlessly.

And then the other three Harg jumped them from behind.

Kicks and punches along with shouts and groans came from every direction. For the third time, Kyle found himself pinned motionless in a merciless grasp. He pushed his head over to get a view of Rok. He saw that his friend continued struggling on the floor with two Harg on top of him.

"I don't think these Harg like us,” Kyle grunted as he flinched from another blow. Rok lashed out, only to be pounded with fists.

The fourth Harg appeared out of nowhere and stood over Rok. He struck him with a mighty blow. Rok groaned as his body went still.

"This is one tough alien,” one of the Harg holding Rok said to his allies.

"No matter, we have bested him.” The Harg who appeared to be the leader looked over at Kyle. “Get the other human, the dark-skinned one. We must get to the ship.” He looked up as sirens began to wail.

“And be quick, Mrad Security will be here soon!"

Kyle's face was being mashed into the floor by a steel-like force on his neck while his wrists remained held fast behind his back. He struggled vainly to get free.

Unknown to Kyle, two large reptilian forms suddenly appeared out of the crowds, shoving and wrestling everyone out of their way.

Qirn looked at Jaan as they came upon the Harg.

Both nodded.

Like a flash of lightning, the two threw themselves at the Harg.

Kyle felt the vise-like grips release. Instantly, he tried to rise, but a blow from another alien sent him back down.

The food riot got into full swing as every alien attacked anything that moved. Aliens stepped all over Kyle now—punching him, kicking him and cursing him as he tried to lash back from his position on the floor—the worst place he could be in the middle of a riot. Kyle finally realized he couldn't defend himself from this position. He saw Rok's face appear between an alien's tree-like legs.

"Crawl under the table over there!” Rok pointed as he continued crawling among the forest of alien legs. Their frenzied movements propelled them toward the protective cover of the nearest table. With a supreme effort, they threw their bodies the last meter until they were beyond the legs, feet, hooves and claws of the countless combatants towering over them.

And once there, they found a long-lost friend.

"Jaric!” Kyle shouted with happy recognition.

But Jaric shook his head as he lay under the table.

"Just follow my lead,” he muttered sarcastically to Kyle.

"Well, who's the idiot that shouted loud enough so the entire universe could hear that the Hammatt is big, fat and stupid? While he sat just behind him!"

They locked eyes.

Suddenly, the table over their heads lifted and flew away.

"Oh no,” Jaric and Kyle said together.

Rok glanced up.

And immediately slapped his hand over his eyes as he groaned in disbelief. A huge growl reverberated above them.

But Kyle and Jaric continued to stare at each other with looks of utter despair. Finally, Jaric spoke.

"Aren't you going to look up?"

Kyle let his head fall with a thump to the floor in utter resignation.

"This can't be happening—not again!” Kyle said to the floor.

In another instant, they felt a familiar grip lift them easily into the air.

"Well, well, well. Look what I found!” The Hammatt shouted with joy. He laughed heartily.

But that's all he did.