Anlov Record

Book 01, Chapter 02

“How’s it treating ya?” Leonid asked from the navigator’s station

“Yeah, it’s similar to aircrafts on my sim,” Nuta called back from the pilot’s station. He turned back to the controls, “They had Scholar crafts on there, but I never used them.”

“Oh? Why not?”

“Many of the Anlov military class vehicles were unavailable, including many of the Scholar Program’s vehicles. Some of the older ones were available, including this model,” Nuta explained. “But they were all sluggish. They were usually with an escort fleet in real life, so that made sense. But this one never performed this well in the sims.”

“Sure enough,” Leonid replied. “This old clunker was allocated to me. With requisitions and lots of time, this turd got upgraded and refit to a level of performance on par with ships …70 years ago.”

“Why didn’t they give you a current ship? Is Anlov short on ship production?” Nuta asked.

“No, nothing like that,” Leonid replied while leaning back from his console. “It’ll all become apparent soon enough.”

Before Nuta could inquire further, Kazochi and Pip-is entered the bridge.

“You all unpacked?” Leonid asked as Pip-is stood next to the navigator’s station.

Pip-is looked at the sight presented of space from the wall to wall monitor sets. “Uh yeah.”

Leonid looked up to see his friend marveling at the heavens. He left him be and returned to plotting the course.

Kazochi stepped up to the navigation station. She leaned in to whisper to Leonid.

“What’s he doing?” she asked Leonid sternly.

Leonid shrugged slightly. “Just familiarizing himself with the controls I suppose,” he quietly answered.

“He’s not supposed to be on there. He doesn’t have the clearance,” she scolded while growing slightly louder.

She looked over to see if Nuta heard the conversation.

“We can’t allow him on there,” she declared in summation.

“I locked our course in and have control override,” Leonid replied in a regular volume. “He won’t be able to do anything anyway. Besides sims, which I unlocked for him.”

As Kazochi stepped back, Leonid leaned forward.

“And you don’t need my input. If you want or need to, drag him off of there,” he commented with a smile. “We’re Graduates now, remember? We don’t have to be passive.”

“But still responsible,” she smiled back. “Especially you.”

She stepped over to the pilot’s station but paused when she saw the monitor display.

“You… you’ve already completed all the sims for this craft?” she asked with amazement. She had only left the bridge for a few minutes.

“Huh?” Nuta asked turning to see what she was referring to. “Oh those. Yeah, I finished all the beginner sims. Where are the advanced ones?”

“Those were all of them…” she explained. She smiled. “Well we’ll be jumping soon, so you go unpack and I’ll try to set up some more difficult sims.”

“There’s our ride,” Leonid announced, stepping out from behind the navigation station.

Leonid walked over to the others. Even Pip-is wandered over, still watching the screens.

“Wha’ ride?” Pip-is asked as he looked about the 360 degree view of monitors.

“Right there,” Leonid pointed to a small moon of a planet in the system. 

As they circled the moon, the tip of a ship stuck out. The view opened wider to a larger Anlov military transport ship, the Rarbe. The side bay of the transport opened towards them. Inside the bay, large anchor claws reached out to hold the Cardboard Box secure.

“We’re docking with them? Why?” Nuta asked as he climbed out of the pilot seat at the insistence of Kazochi, who now took the seat.

“Can’t we do a Ring Jump? I thought all Anlov military and Scholar ships had a Ring Jump system,” Nuta continued.

“Don’t have a drive installed. We might be getting one later,” Leonid explained with restraint of details as he watched Kazochi cautiously dock the Cardboard Box inside the transport ship.

“For the next few days, hopefully shorter, this ship has been kindly assigned to drive us around.”

“I was really hoping to see a Ring Jump in action,” Nuta groaned.

“No whining. If you’re good, you might get to see one. Just deal with my evasive answers and cryptic agenda for now,” Leonid replied as he clapped his hand on Nuta’s shoulder.

The colossal shutters on the transport closed shut, and the Rarbe was quickly out of the galaxy within a few seconds.

————————————–

“Will this place suit your needs?” Kazochi asked.

Pip-is spun in his new chair in the cramped lab he set up in. He was surrounded by bristling consoles and illuminated displays.

“Yeah shou’be good,” he answered, his knee barely dodging a desk while spinning in his seat.   

He staggered up and quickly sat back down.

Kazochi raised her eyebrows a bit. “I need to program more difficult sims for our new pilot.”

“I can do tha’from ‘ere,” Pip-is responded, pulling a large metal band from a bag nearby. He slid it on his head to fit it to the tops and bottoms of his glasses. 

“I guess you could,” she said as she stood behind him.

Pip-is pressed a switch on the band he now wore. From the top of the band, the material shifted to cover the entire top of his head. In front of his glasses, the device deployed several small holographic HUD projections and glare shielding. Finally, the carapace like dome covering the top of his head split into several vents. Air started blowing up and out of the vents, creating an air-conditioned environment for his head. He opened a program on the holographic computer around him and proceeded to type away in a flurry of strokes. Kazochi could hardly keep up as he transitioned from screen to screen and finally resting on a screen with a list of new sims to select. Pip-is held up his hands and wiggled his fingers towards each other in a rapid fashion.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise this time. “So…you’re done?”

Pip-is stopped suddenly and dropped his hands, “Uh yeah. Sorry ’bout tha’. Ma’dozen or so.” He then stammered out in embarrassment, “Tha’ thing I do wit’my hands…I mean it’s jus’ when I get excited…”

“You still do that?” Leonid asked as he walked into the computer lab.

Pip-is remained quiet.

“Don’t worry about it,” Kazochi said to the new computer operator. “Just keep doing as well as you do.”

“We’re almost at our destination,” Leonid added.

“Where’re we goin’ an’way?” Pip-is asked rotating in one direction before going in the other direction to face them.

Kazochi pressed on a panel near the door.

“He-hello?” Nuta greeted through the speakers in a forced different voice.

“Yeah hello,” Leonid responded with a smile, “Figured I’d tell you what we’re doing here.”

“Anyway, we’re at the planet Nimojuv. It’s a gas giant that’s home to a research hub with numerous stations in its orbit. We’ll be going to their main station to find our next member of our crew,” Kazochi explained.

“Her name is Dr. Ayabegei Rugebov and will be our on staff medic and surgeon. She’s also an Anlov Scholar Graduate, as most of our crew will be. If we can’t, we’re to find any with exceptional skill and see if Anlov Home will allow them to serve. Luckily we have a list of several promising candidates,” Leonid continued. 

The comm switched channels and a new voice spoke up.

“We’re in range of the stations. We’ll wait here for you,” the voice reported from the Rarbe.

“Excellent. Kazochi, fly us in,” Leonid ordered. “Thank you comm officer.”

“Try not to take too long,” the captain of the Rarbe requested before switching off the comm.

Kazochi had already left the room, leaving Leonid and Pip-is.

“Pip-is,” Leonid began. “You’re not cleared to enter any of the Anlov Scholar or military systems, including this ship’s systems, so don’t even try to get in there. Understand?”

“Yeah. I’ll n’ get in those,” Pip-is replied while keeping eye contact. “Can I later?”

“Most likely, but until then, hands off. I’m trusting you. And for the general systems you do have access to, don’t do anything I wouldn’t. Okay?” Leonid continued, being very direct with an old friend who now had to restrain his abilities for the time being.

“Huh? Oh yeah, sure,” he answered while adjusting his seat up and down.

————————————–

“Y’ sure this’it?” asked Pip-is.

“Have some faith in me,” Kazochi answered over the comm.

“We’re off then,” Leonid replied.

“Right,” Kazochi acknowledged. “Give me a shout if you need anything.”

Pip-is, Leonid, and Nuta departed through the airlock into the station.

“Why isn’ she comin’ with us?” Pip-is asked. “Do’she really need t’ babysit th’ship with all’this security around?”

“It’s protocol to have one crew member aboard the ship at all times, even if the ship’s in a guarded environment,” Leonid explained.

Leonid turned around to face his friends.

“I was in such a hurry that I didn’t really get a chance to explain what joining me entails,” he stated with a calm piercing tone.

As they preceded through several thorough security checkpoints, Leonid explained how Anlov Scholar expeditions could be very dangerous. Anlov Scholars didn’t just need to be the brightest, but also experts in combat scenarios. He detailed how security was a prime concern for the Anlov Scholars and military. Protocol and stipulations abound. He told them of the two primary parameters they had to follow. The first was the need to remain invisible to civilizations that hadn’t had contact with other world life forms. Second, they were to maintain safe, dependable stewardship of any finds.

Leonid was unsure his friends would stay as he told them that they would even be expected to lay down their lives for the preservation of peace. His excitement had purged that awful realization, the weighted gravity of the decision, from his thoughts until he was recalling all of their responsibilities.

Nuta and Pip-is were silent as they let these new concerns flood them.

“Just think it over. Wait until after we try the review process at Anlov Home before you make your decision,” Leonid suggested as they stepped into the station’s medical bay.

They approached the main counter, which wasn’t far from a wall lined with beds. A few were even occupied.

“Yea, we were looking for…” Leonid started.

“Who the hell are you? Where are your papers?” the clerk interrupted.

“Damn, again? We’re with the Anlov Scholar Prog…” Leonid again attempted to start.

“Scholar Program?” shouted a woman from one of the cots. She had bolted straight up and facing them from her location.

“Are you Doctor. …” Pip-is began to ask.

“Dr. Ayabegei Rugebov. It is about ti…” the young women began to answer.

“In this station I guess it’s customary to not to let anyone finish their sentences,” Leonid blurted.

As everyone simply stared at him, he explained. “Well everyone else was doing it, I thought it was supposed to be fun.”

“Oh I hope it will always be this fun,” Ayabegei said as she raised herself up and motioned for them to follow. “I was mailed that I would be transferred to a new Anlov Scholar team. An expeditionary one this time.”

She quickly led them down a series of halls, passing large monitors rendered to look like one was looking out a window at the gas giant the station orbited. Of course there were no windows in space. With all of the light radiation and damage, it would be like having a mesh screen door on a submarine. They ended up in a large dorm room. The doctor started filling her arms with luggage. All three others quickly took some of the load. This entire experience was just another of the growing theme of being so sudden. Having an unknown person bolt up from a cot, lead them through winding halls, and require help moving luggage was rather unnerving.

“Sorry about all the stuff, and thanks for helping with everything,” Ayabegei responded.

As they started going through the agonizingly long and overly thorough security process again, Pip-is spoke.

“Why’s er’yone so worked up?” he asked.

“This is actually the supposed to be the normal level of security, which is actually rather low for a research hub like this. Research personnel had been slacking in their procedures despite my warnings and reprimands,” the doctor answered.

Ayabegei set some of her luggage down and pulled some stray strands of hair from her face. Her hair was a short, asymmetrical bob that cascaded in a solid sheet appearance just past the ears. On her right side, closest to the front, it reached low enough to touch her jaw. It was dark brown, but the hue could only be seen in ideal light. Fastened on either side of the bridge of her nose were round silver metallic devices.

She stood at about 175 centimeters and had a thin body with some muscle development. Her hips were a bit wider, but blended with her build. She wore an Anlov Scholars officer’s field uniform but wore a long white medical coat over it that reached down just past her knees.

“A researcher was killed by an accident in their lab,” Ayabegei continued. “I feel for the victim, I really do. It was carelessness though on their part, and I do dislike saying it but if they would have been following protocol like I told them, it would have been avoided. So we went back to stricter protocol, which includes the security that should be expected of a research facility. ”

Nuta turned around to see Leonid lagging behind. Leonid was moving at a slower pace and with his head lowered.

“Hey, are you okay?” Nuta whispered.

Leonid quickly looked up and hurried forward, “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

————————————–

The Cardboard Box floated free of the hangar doors of the transport ship. As soon as it was clear, the ship bolted in a flash across the expanse of space.

“So where are we landing?” Kazochi called over to Leonid.

“Let’s see, ah, here is the city, and this port will do. Sending you the coordinates,” Leonid replied from the navigation station.

The bridge’s wrapping monitors showed a perspective like those inside were floating in a suspended bubble in space around the ship. Screens on the bridge showed the descent onto the planet of Midin. Falling through the clouds, the fog parted to show a surface not too foreign in appearance. In reality, there are only so many types of planetary environments. Fiction’s notion that all worlds had to have a theme or singular unique culture was just that: fiction. Now there were planets with one ecosystem such as tundra or desert, just as there were planets with a single prevailing culture. But those kind were fairly few. Most worlds capable of sustaining common bases of life forms looked rather similar. This didn’t mean all worlds weren’t unique, just that not all are a completely novel concept.

Nuta sat at the midway point between Leonid and Kazochi. He looked back and forth between them.

“So, Kazochi?” Nuta finally asked. “What’s the story with you and Leonid?”

Kazochi stretched her arms outward, and tweaked her neck back and forth.

“Not much of a story really,” she replied with a yawn.

“She’s already setting it up to be a really thrilling tale,” Leonid added.

Resuming her stretching, Kazochi pulled her arms backward.

“Har har,” she dismissed. “We were just classmates in the same class at the Anlov Scholar Academy. I knew him a bit from class, but I took a shine to his open-minded nature. He was even receptive to things like tales, folklore, and myth, which I’m a big fan of. So when he got assigned to ship of his own for some new project, I volunteered to join.”

“So you guys dated?” Nuta asked.

Both Leonid and Kazochi laughed.

“If we had, it wouldn’t be ‘not much of a story’,” Leonid laughed.

“We were just classmates,” Kazochi clarified.

“What Nuta? A guy and gal can’t just be friends or classmates to want to fly around on expeditions together?” Leonid feigned accused. “Did you want to date her? Or me?”

Nuta got quickly flustered at what he took to be serious comments. He didn’t remember that Leonid would often jokingly put people in a dilemma that they didn’t actually have.

“No nothing like that! There is nothing wrong with that. And I don’t want to date you or her,” Nuta blabbered. “Not that there’s anything wrong with you, Kazochi, I just…”

Kazochi smiled and shook her head.

“I said I liked myths. I’d only be interested in someone mythical,” she commented. “Besides, relationships are discouraged amongst crew members.”

Nuta laughed nervously. He turned back to watch the monitors. A colossal building could be seen on the horizon.

“What’s that?” Nuta asked, pointing to it.

“Pip-is, bringing up a feed from the bridge screens for you too,” Leonid stated over the comm.

“Okay?” Pip-is responded, not entirely sure what he was looking at.

“This is cancer,” Leonid began ominously. “Our neighbor, the Opportunity of Sayr, construct these metroplexes, these super cities as giant markets, shipping hubs, space docks, and orbital elevators.”

“So?” Pip-is asked. “”Izn tha’ any city?”

“Not like this,” Kazochi answered.

“They’re an invasion,” Leonid added.

“This world is part of the Copalane Federation,” Kazochi continued. “It’s one of many smaller spheres that haven’t reached Ultra-Universal level. Like many, it’s effectively a vassal to Sayr. What you’re seeing is the leash.”

Leonid shook his head.

“They come in and just plant themselves,” he explained. “They say what they need to, bribe who they need to, preach to who they need to. Once they have consumed and dominated all local markets, they have created dependency. With Sayr, money is everything. The government comes with it.”

The city was a pale and sickly place. A drab mass of lifeless buildings surrounded the enormous space elevators in the middle. The city allined to resemble a triangular skyline. Indeed, the pyramid was the emblem of Sayr, and this flag was planted.

Along the edges of the city, where the skin met the infection, the old city of this world was dying. The crime was so intense, so visible, that they could watch it unfold on the monitors. The sickness that was Sayr had ravaged the lives of these people.

“And we’re headed right for the thick of it,” he announced as he highlighted a poorly maintained space dock and then a dotted trail to a large garage.

Nuta, who had been quietly contemplating what he was seeing, stirred when Leonid put his hand on his shoulder.

“Nuta, Pip-is, I want you both to watch the feed I’ll be transmitting as I go down,” Leonid requested.

“You’re going on your own?” Nuta asked.

“Yes. But I’ll have eyes on me. Not just you guys, but I asked the Rarbe to keep an eye on me too.”

“Watch and see what you might have to deal with.”

————————————–

“This looks like the place,” Leonid whispered aloud.

He checked his equipment to see if everything was recording and transmitting properly. He wore a uniform with micro cameras sewn in and a few directional microphones.

After a deep breath, he rapped on the large door leading into the garage. As he made impact, the door swung open, unlatched.

Poking his head around the edges of the door, he called out a greeting. He even knocked on the door frame, but no answer came.

Another steeling breath and he stepped inside. As he walked past old, rusted machinery, he kept scanning the area around him. Its darkened corners and blind spots made for a dangerous place even in a safer area.

Ahead, he saw what he assumed were the offices. A thin ray of light escaped from a cracked door.

“Are you lost?”

Leonid turned quickly, taking in all of his surroundings as he spun.

Only a few meters in front of him, a young Senguin girl stepped out from behind a pile of spare parts.

“I knocked and called but got no answer,” Leonid replied. “I’m looking for Tiwik Nargmen.”

There came a chattering over his comms, but a voice notably closer took his attention.

“Oh you’re definitely lost then.”

Turning carefully around, Leonid was greeted by another Senguin child. It was a young male in powered robotic legs. How he had managed to sneak up on the Scholar was a mystery. The chattering voices had seen it, but warned too late.

But what was the most pressing concern was that the Senguin boy had a rifle pointed right at his face.

Hands snaked right into Leonid’s jacket and seized his sidearm. He then felt the barrel of his own weapon jabbed into his lower back.

Leonid was led into a nearby office while his hands were being bound by the Senguin in the powered legs.

“Look, this is clearly a misunderstanding,” Leonid pleaded calmly while he stealthily positioned his arms at their widest under the ties.

“Don’t do that,” the Senguin girl warned with a press of her weapon against his back and a readjusting of this binding.

The door flew open and in strode an older Senguin. She marched over to the young girl and kicked her square in the chest. The younger girl smashed into the boy and toppled his power chair over along with him.

“Didn’t I tell you idiots to expect company?!” the young women yelled at the two children.

As he pulled himself free of his bindings, Leonid called over his comm to Kazochi and the others. He informed them to stand down even as they were already inbound. Even the Rarbe had started to send a team in route.

“These are your siblings?” he asked to the young woman.

————————————–

“I can’t leave them here,” Ocura Reezmin explained. “This city gets more and more dangerous every day. These little turds have become thugs, like I used to be, just to cope.”

Senguins were a species of bipedal avian hailing from the planet Crancor that lied within what was once the Anlov Sphere, now part of the Sayr Sphere. They had a mostly humanoid structure, except with legs being reverse jointed at about the knee level. Their bodies were thin and boney, but were covered in thin plumage throughout. Ocura’s height was about 158 centimeters which was average height for a Senguin. Her feathers were a combination of yellow and grey. Her skin, as seen around her face and her beak was a pale grey color. Her siblings weren’t yet fully grown. The young female stood at 122 centimeters and the young boy at 121 centimeters and 148 centimeters tall factoring in his powered legs. They both had deep red feathers and pale red skin.

“This is Sayr territory now,” Leonid replied. “There is nothing I can do. This would be an asylum matter.”

“I know that,” Ocura continued. “The previous owner of this shop, before he was taken away, had been an Anlov Scholar. He was going to be transferred to a ship at some point, but was vanished before we ever got word of his transfer. I just recently received notice that you were on your way, and I hoped I could fill his role.”

She looked around the dilapidated and nearly ruined shop.

“Mr. Nargmen taught me everything,” she continued, looking away into the past. “He also taught my brother and sister. That’s why I want to join you. And not just me. I want to do this for them too. They can be just as valuable as myself and Mr. Nargmen combined.”

Both the boy Teliar, and the girl Rio, sat silently. Leonid addressed them suddenly.

“If you two will be coming with, you won’t be continuing such delinquency. You’ll be held to the same expectations as everyone else. It’ll be hard and demanding. You also won’t be endangering anyone or the ship in general. Do you understand?”

They both nodded with reluctance, after looking to their older sister for their cue to respond.

“Are you sure?” Ocura asked with a hope she hadn’t had in a long while.

“Yes. Get only what you can carry and fit on a single cart,” Leonid answered, standing up.

As they rushed to collect what possessions would remain with them, Leonid rubbed the side of his head. He wasn’t looking forward to what was coming next.

————————————–

“Just what exactly are you doing?”

Her voice was quiet, but focused with guided intensity.

It wasn’t the reaction Leonid was expecting, but not any less aversive. He was almost wishing he had encountered the loud volume he feared would come from this vocal proponent of order.

“Uhm,” Leonid paused, undercutting his own authority. “They’re Nargmen’s apprentices. Since he’s absent, I figured we could take them in his place.”

Ayabegei’s face didn’t waver, her cold eyes still.

“We need to alert Home that Sayr has disappeared a Scholar,” Leonid continued. “An investigation is needed.”

“I am sure you are aware of the protocols and regulations we follow,” she reminded calmly.

“You will place them all within the brig and keep them monitored at all times. You will scan, inspect, and clear all of the items they brought with them.”

She spoke with all of the intent of a question with the certainty of a statement. Aside from this mix of intonations, she spoke like an Anlov Scholar was always supposed to. She never used contractions and annunciated each word fully. Her rhetoric was also remarkably devoid of colloquialisms or lingo.

“Yes. That’s how it’s going to be,” Leonid affirmed. “Even though our ship is pretty naked. No jump drive, no archives. Following protocol to protect those would just be practice.”

He instantly regretted his choice of words as he noticed the slightest twitch near Ayabegei’s eye.

“I have read your file, and this fits with observations made of your attitude,” she observed. “You have a bad habit of taking a lax approach to procedure. Following procedure now is not practice. It is maintaining a precedent that should not be relaxed for a moment.”

“There is the matter of having unauthorized persons monitor your progress. I am sure you realize how dangerous this could be. If they had relayed your position to an enemy force or led you into an ambush…”

“Do you think I’m too stupid to consider that?” Leonid interrupted.

“Protocols like these exist in case we become too trusting.” Ayabegei replied.

“Even if they led me into an ambush, I requested the Rarbe standby with any troops they could spare for a hot-drop,” Leonid explained.

Again, Leonid noticed his poor choice of argument method.

“So you find it perfectly acceptable to ask them to expend their resources, or if the worst case, their lives, to cover for you?”

“Look, I made the call, and I’d live with the consequences,” Leonid retorted, remembering that he was in command of the ship. “Part of this assignment included giving permission to Lyr and Odeylum to hone their skills with simulations that were very limited. That’s one of many reasons why the ship is so stripped down. It’s all in the mission dossier if you want to read that too.”

“I had them watch so that they can see what they might have to deal with so they could make an informed decision about if they wanted to stay,” he added.

Leonid had a lot of confidence in his response until he noticed Ayabegei’s gaze hadn’t shifted one iota. It was the same obliterating stare-down only the most fearsome could give. Whoever taught her such power must’ve been able to move rivers with their gaze.

“I will review all of the materials again,” she stated as she nodded towards the Senguins and their luggage. 

“You take care of this.”

As Leonid was turning around, one more statement came from his new foil.

“As you had said, you live with the consequences. If you are going to make a habit of skirting protocol, do the sensible thing and make sure you alone will face the consequences.”

————————————–

It was days later, in a different corner of the cosmos, one far away but all too close.

Leonid’s muscles tensed as the hatch on the dropship sealed behind him, Cloaked, the dropship was an invisible phantom awaiting his return.

He however, was very visible. He patted inconspicuously at the sidearm he had under his coat, checking to be sure it was still there. Hopefully, it would remain precisely there and there would be no surprises this time. 

Lke the past world, Pytruson was dangerous. Thanks to Anlov’s loss in the Third Sayr War, this section of space became a new frontline for the war between T.U.S.C. and Sayr. T.U.S.C. was scrambling to fortify this entire galaxy cluster and everyone was on edge.

Their visitation to a T.U.S.C. land didn’t go unannounced. As they had entered the system, the Rarbe quickly sent word to their hosts of their arrival and intent. T.U.S.C. told them they had a day to do their business and get the fuck out. Profanity was included, and anything but cute.

Stepping out into the streets, he felt eyes probe him. Across the faces were various looks of dirision, scorn, and snide cynicism. All justified. 

Making his way past small huddles of jeerng people, Leonid kept his wits about him as he carefully made his way to the tenement building ahead.

————————————–

“Should he really be sent out alone?”

Kazochi looked up from the book she had been trying to read.

Ocura, the elder Senguin, gestured in a random direction in her quarters.

“Should you really be sending that Leonid guy out on his own?”

Closing her book and sitting up, Kazochi shrugged her head a bit.

“He said he’d be able to handle it. And the T.U.S.C. themselves said they had no interest in what we’re doing as long as we don’t go starting trouble.”

“I know a little about the T.U.S.C.,” Ocura replied. “Aren’t they pretty pissed at Anlov right now?

“As much as they dislike us, they don’t want to fight two wars at once,” Kazochi added, hiding her concern. “We’re monitoring the situation anyway.” 

“Okay, I’m going to ask.”

Rio, the younger Senguin, lied back on the bed in the fabricated quarters. She rocked her feet in bored repetition.

“What’s the T.U.S.C.?” she asked, not taking her gaze from the ceiling.

She grimaced in pain as her sister punched her in her thigh.

“What was that for?!” she groaned and hissed.

“For skipping school!” Ocura barked. “If you went to school, you wouldn’t be asking!”

“The Trans-Universal Sapients Combine,” Kazochi answered. “Like their name suggests, they’re a confederacy of Spheres, but more centralized. It was formed in response to the growing state of Sayr. Sayr’s imperialistic expansion had consumed the spheres of the two founding sapients. They fled south and found four other Spheres in a forever war. In a rare moment of reason, all six sapients united to form T.U.S.C. Sayr and T.U.S.C. have been at war for generations, but T.U.S.C. stands unwavering.”

“Unlike Anlov,” Kazochi trailed. “Our loss in the war has shifted the map. T.U.S.C. was not prepared to gain a vast new flank. It’s why they don’t care for us.”

Rio stopped rocking her foot and winced as she felt a bruise forming on her thigh. “Better hope he doesn’t get jumped like he did when he came to our place.”

Kazochi frowned and opened her book, content to resume reading rather than speak further to this chump.

For her insolence, Ocura delivered another blow to her sister, adding a new bruise.

————————————–

Leaving the street, Leonid felt less eyes on him. Less whispers followed him. Less hands pointed to his uniform and its emblems before the arms delivered threatening or rude gestures.

He forced himself to be even more vigilant even after leaving the streets. It was certainly a bad habit of his to get too relaxed. He casually, yet thoroughly checked corners as he worked his way around to the main entrance. He wasn’t worried about most people, just the few who might want to take things further than jeers.

Before stepping out into the central courtyard, he stopped in his tracks. He scraped his foot against the ground. He lifted his boot and began picking at what had become stuck to the bottom.

His balanced waned and he begun to topple. As he regained his balance, he jumped and turned, landing on both feet.

No one was there.

It was a stupid old trick of his to look behind him without it making it too obvious he was checking. Anyone perusing would be so perplexed by what he was doing they would forget to duck away. It technically worked most of the time, but only by a few percentage points.

Turning back to his original path, he stepped into the courtyard. Tracking his eyes along the entire stretch, Leonid was thorough to absorb as much information as he could as quickly as he could.

For the most part it, the courtyard was empty. Flanking its perimeter were several floors of apartments overlooking the central courtyard. Some doors were boarded up. Others were completely off their hinges. Leonid made special note of these possible ingress points. He also paid particular attention to remember any corners or blind points.

On the second floor, an old man, a Cud, reclined on a plastic chair. His face turned sour as his gaze followed the Anlov coming up the stairs. His tanke top was covering in stains and his hair wasn’t groomed in the slightest. He spat whatever it was he was chewing on over the railing. When he reached the top of the landing, Leonid could see the man had a Sayr flag as his doormat.

Their eyes locked, and the man resumed his chewing and lounging. Leonid paused, taking in what he could about the only person he could see in this area. Matching, the old man stared right back. His eyes twitch slightly to the insignia on Leonid’s uniform. His chewing paused.

The old man smiled a big toothy grin. Or rather, it would be. Many of his teeth were rotted or missing.

“You like my doormat?” the old Cud asked.

“It seems appropriate,” Leonid answered calmly.

“I don’t have an Anlov one,” the old man said, his smile leaving.

Leonid tensed. He could tell this old man was someone who saw action in the past. A tattoo on his old muscled shoulder was symbol of a T.U.S.C. division.

“This will have to do for now,” the old man continued.

The old man spat his chew right on Leonid’s boots. Leonid didn’t bother to look down.; his eyes remained locked with the old man’s.

“Run along now, cowardly little monkey,” the Cud said with a tilt of his head, finding his smile return.
Considering this getting off easy, Leonid continued down the path.

He knocked on the door to the apartment labeled “Prof. Solko Wreeth” and was greeted by a large figure.

It was a petit Hifinif, which wasn’t saying much as its head was still just about hitting the ceiling. Its voice synthesizer under its head flickered.

“An Anlov? Quickly, enter,” came a deep voice from the synthesizer.

“I need to clean off my boots,” Leonid commented quietly.

“Take them off and bring them in,” the Hifinif ordered. “Get inside now.”

“You’re here for the Professor Wreeth?” the Hifinif asked quietly after being sure the door was closed completely.

Inside the small apartment, papers and documents littered corners and surfaces. A dark tarp was lined over the windows, and the only light came from a few electric lamps. There was a small computer aside covered in dust.

“Yes. And who are you?” Leonid asked as he took his boots to a bathroom the Hifinif signaled to.

“I’m his assistant. Rather, I was.” 

Shifting its body weight slightly, the Hifinif breathed out the vapors it used in communication. Its rigging on its body sucked in these special pheromones and translated them into their matching speech.

“He was killed during a riot we were caught in. Seven weeks ago, Sayr cells launched a number of terror attacks on the far side of the planet. All of the attackers weren’t a Six,” the Hifinif explained urgently. “Because of that, T.U.S.C. has been hyper vigilant, investigating everyone who isn’t a Six. Four weeks ago, there was another bomb that went off, and the people lost their sense and started attacking anyone not a Six. The professor was killed by the mob.”

“My name is Wits Huhoff-Ye. As stated, I was Solko Wreeth’s assistant,” Wits used one of its tentacles to hand Leonid a glass of water as he sat down. “I was placed on house arrest after the riots.”

Leonid looked up in the face of the Hifinif. They were expressionless, and used pheromones to communicate. It was difficult to discern if they were being truthful or not.

“I know you came to take the professor with you, but I’m all that remains,” Wits continued.

“Did he teach you all of his techniques?” Leonid inquired.

“Yes. He trained me as his apprentice. He knew he was to be transferred soon, so he taught me so I could take over his work here,” Wits answered after a pause.

Leonid peeked out from under the curtained windows. He rubbed the side of his head as he estimated the width of the courtyard. Returning the curtain back to its place, Leonid checked his watch.

“What’re your thoughts?” Wits asked, curious to the behavior of the Anlov.

“How many people are there on house arrest?” Leonid began a string of questions. “Are you being monitored? If so, how heavily?”

“Entire blocks are under house arrest,” Wits answered after the natural delay in her translation system.

“We’re barely monitored with one or two of their soldiers responsible for watching an entire street. But they’ve scared us so well that no one is willing to exploit this obvious weakness.”

Wits leaned forward, a subconscious habit for their species when confused, much like tilting the head.

“What’re you planning?”

“We just dealt with a similar circumstance. My choice was received so well, why not do it again?” Leonid rambled to himself.

Wits simply stared on in confusion as to what the Anlov was talking about.

Leonid turned towards the door.

“Do you want to go in Wreeth’s place? You won’t be able to come back here.”

“I do. Nothing keeps me here.”

“Get your things together. Only what you can carry. I’ll be back in about fifteen minutes. The dropship will be cloaked, so watch for the hatch to open and get aboard quickly.”

This brash Scholar wasn’t even out the door before the Hifinif was up and collecting what it couldn’t do without.

————————————–

Closing back shut, the hangar doors of the Cardboard Box sealed an empty a hangar.

Cascading downward like wet ink on your good pants, the cloaking system’s illusion faded away. Now revealed was the dropship taken to the surface.

Kazochi strode over to the main hatch that was now hissing open. Leonid stepped right out to greet her, a box of various items in his arms.

“So no problems coming up?” she asked.

“Strangely, absolutely none.”

“You’re about to get another lecture,” Kazochi noted as she turned to see Ayabegei approaching.

Leonid was really hoping it wouldn’t be like this forever. He even wondered, jokingly to himself, if he just throw himself off the ship now as opposed to when he would want to later just to save time.

“Not quite just like before,” Leonid called out, explaining as he heard the doctor near. “This one isn’t just the apprentice, but also a witness to the death of our colleague, Professor Wreeth.”

“I watched your sortie this time,” Ayabegei replied calmly, never raising her voice above a soft yet firm lever.

“It was important we bring the apprentice aboard.”

Leonid set the luggage down and turned to Ayabegei.

“What is it then?”

“There is the matter of the T.U.S.C. themselves,” Ayabegei explained. “We were not permitted to extract any prisoners. They saw your uniform. They know we are here. And they will know you extracted a prisoner on house arrest.”

“She is a witness to the death of an Anlov Scholar from a frenzied mob,” Leonid retorted. “It is a political fiasco either way.”

Ayabegei’s brow lowered.

“There are procedures for these things,” Ayabegei explained, again. “It is the purpose of those mechanisms that we can accomplish goals while maintain diplomatic standing.”

“I should have asked if they could postpone the next murderous mob until after those mechanisms resolved,” Leonid retorted.

Before Ayabegei could respond, Kazochi stepped forward.

“We extracted a witness to the death of one of our own, and that if they wanted to help in the investigation, we’d love to listen,” Kazochi suggested. “That’ll get them to shut up since there is no chance they’d want to be seen as involved in Wreeth’s death.”

“Perhaps,” Ayabegei conceded. “Nothing to be done about it now. Try to be stealthy in the future, if you think you can manage it.”

Her condescending tone wasn’t lost, even on someone as dense as Leonid.

“They could just not care,” Leonid retorted. “They’ve so many people under arrest that they can’t even hold them all. I doubt they’ll care if one is missing.”

Ayabegei’s eyebrows raised. Leonid chose poorly in his rhetoric.

“You are hoping they will have laziness and apathy?” she asked rhetorically. “It is not always wise to assume they have one’s own traits.”

Leonid’s lips reflexively cringed in disgust.

Perhaps content with herself, Ayabegei took herself and her attitude away.

“Did I create a problem?”

Kazochi and Leonid turned to face the ship’s newest guest.

Hifinifs were large creatures standing usually around 240 centimeters. There were also wide and long in dimension. However, this was misleading. Hifinif’s were light as gas sacs compose most of their bodies. They used pheromones to communicate and had no mouths or other speaking orifices. They stood upon two large legs on either side of their body. These legs went up to almost their complete height. Between them was their large sideways oval like body. On the rear end, the body widened and bent downward. In the front, their bodies tapered to what would be considered a face. They didn’t really have a neck, so the face was locked more or less looking forward. It had several small eyes on the top half of its face, and large nostril like vents on the lower half. There were these same vents throughout its body.

Along the edges of the face and all along the front of their bodies, several thin tentacles moved about. The Hifinif didn’t have outwardly distinguishable gender, and their skin was a tannish color. Often they wouldn’t really wear clothing, as there was largely no need for it to preserve modesty and it actually hindered their communication.

“Well, introduce yourself,” Leonid ordered with a smile and smacking one of the Hifinif’s massive legs.

“Hello, I am Wits Huhoff-Ye,” Wits greeted.

“Nice to meet you Wits,” Kazochi replied cheerfully. “I am Scholar Kazochi Edesium. And that wonderful lass you heard was our doctor, Ayabegei Rugebov.”

“She speaks painful truth,” Wits replied, the speech translator popping and hissing. “I too am worried for those who the T.U.S.C. might set their eyes on. And I’m sorry that you lost one of your own.”

“Yes, from what we heard, he was a good man,” Kazochi replied, her eyes turning aside.

“Very. To a fault even,” Wits added, tendrils drooping in a matching reaction to Kazochi’s averted gaze.

“We’ll need to have you testify about what you’ve seen when we reach Anlov Home,” Leonid stated.

“Of course,” Wits replied

“Until then, we’ll have to keep you sequestered away. For your protection and ours of course,” Leonid explained.

“I understand completely.”

“Can I help with any of the other items?” Kazochi offered as she headed for the ramp to the dropship.

“That was everything.”

“Just the one box?”

“My entire life fits in a box,” Wits replied. “With plenty of room to spare.”

————————————–

“They’ve been hauling us around and our recent recruits have necessitated more security in their hangar,” Leonid commented. “Good thinking to make the offer.”

“Seemed fair,” Kazochi replied. “Should we get the supplies for them or move to collect our new linguist?”

“Let’s get the Rarbe’s supplies first,” Leonid answered as he reviewed the shopping list of parts and equipment that had been sent to them. 

The Cardboard Box drifted through the still skies of Chizotoniust. It was primarily a farming planet and had plots outlined over every bit of the surface, resembling a patchwork quilt with its interlocking blocks of various colors.

“You entered too early,” Leonid said in a feign whine.

“I see that,” Kazochi replied. “We’ll just have to cruise at allowed air speed.”

“Why not just leave the planet, then dash there and enter correctly?” Nuta asked.

He and Pip-is sat at the other side of the bridge. Pip-is kept himself occupied with a portable game while Nuta showed all the signs of restless boredom.

“We could,” Kazochi replied, plotting out a course at the pilot’s station she sat in.

Like most ultra-universal ships in general, the Cardboard Box was able to move at speeds that wouldn’t seem physically possible. It could accelerate instantly and change course in such a rapid fashion that a ship would rip itself apart at those gravitational forces. Such a problem was solved by the use of anti-physics shielding. This provided a cocoon around the ship that enabled it to fly at such extreme degrees without causing any stress to the ship itself.

“Why not enjoy the view and the ride?” Leonid answered. “We’ve been in such a hurry that you and the others haven’t even gotten to enjoy the whole ‘traveling to new planets’ sightseeing. We can spare a bit of time to—“

Leonid didn’t finish his sentence as the monitors reflected a sharp banking turn. With no outside gravity forces, the crew wasn’t violently tossed to the side of the bridge. Regardless, stomachs churned roughly as the ground occupied the entire view of the left side of the bridge’s monitors. Kazochi re-aligned the ship and brought it back under control.

“There! Right there,” Nuta called, pointing to a faint flicker on the surrounding monitors.

It was already distant and miniscule giving the sheer speed they were traveling at. A zoomed up cut-away came up on the monitors. Leonid put the defensive weapon controls he brought up on standby.

In the zoomed in window was a small high altitude balloon. A single figure stood in its basket, their head just poking up over the edge.

“Getting a transmission from it,” Kazochi reported as she brought up the feed on a projection at the pilot’s stations.

“Hey-“ the voice barely got off before Nuta interrupted.

“Smart thinking flying that thing this high up. You hoping to get killed?”

“Rude. Anyway, I climbed a bit higher than I had planned,” the voice, with the softer tone of a woman, called back.

“I got caught in the wrong direction by these currents,” continued the voice. “I don’t have enough fuel to go on, so I’ll have to set down short. Could you please be a gentleman and give me a lift?”

Before any answer could be given, she increased her plea.

“I could pay for the trip, and I don’t mind losing the balloon. I build them myself. If you guys could scoop me up or use a pull arc, that would be swell.”

“Is your situation an emergency?” Ayabegei asked over the comm, patching through to the basket occupant.

On the other end of the comm was silence.

“Not an emergency per say…” the voice conceded.

“Then we need not pick you up,” Ayabegei interjected.

“Nonsense, I’m a glutton for punishment,” Leonid countered. “Let’s get some practice and retrieve her.”

“No,” Ayabegei replied. “We do not need more unscreened personnel aboard this ship.”

“We can keep her in the hangar under watch,” Leonid planned. “It’s right on the way, we’ll just drop her off.”

“Did our mission change?” Ayabegei quipped. “Are we a taxi now? Is that what the Anlov Scholars are? Is that what you are in charge of? Running a delivery service?”

Her raised voice preceded a thick silence from all. Even Leonid lost his visible cheer. He rubbed the side of his head.

“Person in the balloon,” Leonid called over the comm.

“Yes?”

“We won’t be able to retrieve you.”

“Yeah… I kind of figured.”

Leonid leaned over and pressed a switch, opening a second comm channel.

“Is this the Chizotoniust emergency response?”

“That’s correct,” a stern voice answered. “State your emergency.”

“It’s a non-emergency,” Leonid answered. “It’s a request if you have the resources and time to spare.”

“You’re that Anlov ship above. What do you need? We can send a non-emergency team to assist.”

“We have a high altitude balloon in the vicinity. Could you please send someone to retrieve it? It’s going way off course.”

“We aren’t a taxi service.”

“I understand that,” Leonid replied, sighing at the response that matched what Ayabegei had noted. “I’ll send a taxi to meet the person. Can you please make sure she landed okay?”

“We’ll send someone when we get the chance,” the stern voice replied before closing the comm.

“Alright traveler,” Leonid called back to the balloon. “Someone will make sure you set down safely. I’ll send a taxi to meet you, since neither we nor the emergency team have our taxi license.”

“Thank you very much,” the young voice responded. “Sorry again for causing you trouble.”

Departing onward, Leonid sat silently at his seat.

————————————–

Everything went according to plan. Retrieving the requested supplies, The Cardboard Box delivered them back to the Rarbe. No others asked for rides. No other unscreened personnel were brought aboard. Everything went gloriously, boringly, according to plan.

Morning was coming again. Its amber rays spilling over the landscape of crops, the sun begun again its residence in the sky. Meeting the arrival, the people were already beginning their day. Farming equipment grazed across the grounds. These large beasts were older and not automated. Skillful hands still piloted these colossal rigs.

Chizotoniust’s people were traditional and practical. They saw no need for advancement that left them idle. The land was worked manually, or close to manually, by the same generations that had worked it since its beginning. There is an allure of the simpler life. Somehow, getting your hands dirty instead of using labor saving technology is so rewarding. Perhaps it’s because you see, first hand, what you’ve accomplished.

There were no landing pads or bays, but they were directed to a sizable field that had been marked for ship landings. Landing gear set down on tough ground; soil just as hardy as those who worked it. A small plume of dirt shot out as the hangar bay doors opened. A small vehicle drove out, turning sharply as it hit the bottom of the ramp.

Ayabegei leaned away from the tilt and folded her arms as the car stabilized from its harsh turn. Leonid drove down the dirt road, not finding it within him to talk with his passenger. Surely Ayabegei didn’t mind this either.

It was already so warm and the sun had yet to fully reveal itself. To either side, tall crops competed for access to the sky. These walls made turns blind, so Leonid often missed turns in the maze of fields. Ayabegei couldn’t shake the feeling that he was driving this way on purpose.

A grinding halt and Ayabegei was forced to undergo a seatbelt test. She smacked back into her seat as the seatbelt pulled her back.

“Would you please do me a huge favor and not kill me?” Ayabegei snidely quipped.

“Sorry, really,” Leonid replied as he put the vehicle in reverse and backed up rapidly.

It was understandable how it was hard to miss. A narrow, stout manor came into view between two walls of crop line. It stood as a monument to rugged age. Its bricks were faded. Its pillars had cracks. But these weren’t the signs of decay, but the signs of a long life.

Yard and home were pristine in its care with hardly a blade of grass longer than another. The driveway, despite having many cracks and folds, held not a single weed or plant within. Parking the car, the two Scholars made their way to the large wooden doors. Its varnish was a dark red, burning and welcoming as the sun that now cast fewer shadows from its rise.

————————————–

“Our parents will be right with you. They have been expecting you.” 

A younger man, tanned by a few decades of work in the sun, handed two glasses of cold refreshment to the Scholars. He excused himself to return to his work leaving Ayabegei and Leonid in a modest sitting room.

On every wall and about every surface, framed pictures showed large family shots. It was a journey through the ages. Clothing styles, hair styles, even posture styles changed from one picture to the next. Just as many constants were present though. Each family wore a stern visage. Child and parent alike shared the eyes, the brow, and the mouth of determination. There were a few exceptions. The occasional child wore a smile or had eyes carrying a different luster.

One photo sat on a mantle. In it was the young man they had just met. He stood with his parents behind him and his seven siblings around him. A face on the far side was obscured, the corner of the picture turned over.

A tall, muscular man, skin darkened and creased by a lifetime of work, strode swiftly into the sitting room. Following behind was a demure woman.

They were all Gyedth. Both these parents, the young man, and everyone in the picture. Gyedth were an instance of convergant evolution. They were simian sapients like Anlov, and almost resembled them aside from some striking differences. They had long eyebrows. They could reach such lengths that it wasn’t uncommon for them to be braided back and worn back with the rest of the hair. Pupils in the eye were very small, which gave the appearance of a solid iris.

And they were normally two-thirds the height of the average Anlov.

Leonid and Ayabegei both stood to meet their hosts, both extending their hands to shake. Leonid’s hand was shook, and almost crushed by a worker’s grip. Ayabegei was simply nodded at, eliciting a confused look from her.

“I’m very happy to meet you,” the man greeted. “Welcome to the Denayer home.”

“Please, sit, we have much to discuss,” he requested, waiting for no returned greeting. “You’ve come to collect my daughter.”

It almost sounded like he was the father of one you were courting.

“That’s correct,” Leonid answered meekly. “We’re here to collect Scholar Heq Denayer for her her assignment.” 

The Denayer patriarch’s eyes were deep brown, dark like his leathered skin. His eyes traveled briefly to the photo on the mantle and went right back to Leonid’s eyes.

“I’m afraid that’ll be impossible.”

Again his eyes wandered. This time in the direction of his presumed wife.

“It seems Heq has chosen another path.”

He paused, searching for the words or perhaps the resolve to say them.

“Heq has decided to reject the path we all worked so hard for her to accomplish. She’s gone a path of her own, inspired by foolishness.”

Ayabegei tilted her head.

“Do you know where we might find her? Perhaps we could convince her to change her mind.”

The father’s gaze met with Leonid’s.

“We don’t know where she’s gone, and frankly, we don’t care.”

“We have a replacement though,” he continued. “Her sister, Mahie. She is gifted with navigation. Though she isn’t a linguist, she will still be of use.”

Ayabegei cleared her throat and leaned over to meet the father’s glance.

“As much as we appreciate it,” she started. “It is not allowed to accept anyone other than a graduated Anlov Scholar.”

She made sure to stress her words so Leonid sitting next to her would pick up on the not-so-subtle message she was saying.

Again the father turned his gaze to Leonid, not even holding his glance on Ayabegei for a second.

“I’m not the one talking here,” Leonid informed the Denayer father. “Doctor Rugebov is speaking.”

Confounded, the man looked back and forth between the two.

“You’re the one wearing the markings of the commander. Why don’t you speak?” he asked of Leonid.

Shrugging, Leonid replied, “She’s absolutely correct. Besides, she has a better way with words.”

Looking to the man, and to his wife with her downward gaze, and around the room at the photos around her, Ayabegei realized what was going on. They were that kind of traditional. She really had to work to stifle a dismissive sigh.

“In any event,” Mr. Denayer continued. “We enrolled our daughter Mahie in the Anlov Scholar Academy. We told them about our wayward daughter and they sent this yesterday.”

He pulled from his jacket, a small grey envelope with green trim. It bore a special seal on its corner along with instructions to deliver to them.

Leonid pulled back the seal on the flap, marking it hadn’t been tampered with. Not that it would matter too much. The symbol on the letter indicated to the Scholars that what was inside wasn’t confidential information. In fact it even stated on the letter that the Denayers could open it and read it.

As Leonid read the contents he couldn’t help but smile, but was careful to only smile on the corner of his mouth that his detractor couldn’t see. He couldn’t help but be a bit childish and enjoy Ayabegei’s face when she read through the letter after he handed it to her.

Sadly for him though, no juvenile glee could be found as she simply folded the document back up with not a change on her expression.

The Denayer father was unsure who to look at.

“What is it?” he asked.

“We have been requested to transport Mahie Denayer with us to Anlov Home for further action regarding her enrollment status,” Ayabegei explained, opening the letter again to read some of the precise wording.

“Excellent.”

Leaning backward, the father nodded at the silent wife. She nodded in exchange and left the room.

She returned with a younger woman Gyedth. She wore a modest attire like her mother and like her mother also kept her eyes cast downward.

“This is her. This is Mahie Denayer,” the father introduced, never really looking at her. “She’ll replace the honor that her sister forsook.”

Standing up to meet her, Leonid extended his hand.

“I’m thrilled to meet you.”

Mahie nodded solemnly. Her eyebrows, braided back to meet her flowing golden hair, twitched slightly. She raised her gaze slightly, revealing the expression of a mind connecting dots.

“I’ll have my sons bring her luggage to your vehicle?”  

“Yes. We should leave as soon as possible,” Ayabegei answered, possibly to some chagrin.

“We can help with loading the car so you can say your goodbyes,” she offered to the assembled family.

“There is nothing more to say,” Denayer Patriarch responded before the others could speak.

He turned to his daughter, his face not showing the pain of separation. Was it because he hid it well?

“Go and do not shame us.”

In the foyer, Mahie received a more personal farewell. Her mother hugged her tight, a tear dislodging from her eye.

Mahie wiped away tears of her own with the back of her sleeve.

Both Scholars followed her to the car, which had already been loaded with her luggage. The siblings who had loaded the effects were nowhere to be seen.

Sitting in the back seat, Mahie Denayer didn’t turn back to look at her home as the vehicle pulled away. 

————————————–

“Is that her?” Nuta asked, leaning over towards Kazochi to whisper more effectively.

“No,” she answered above a whisper. “They sent word that we have another stand-in.”

“Hilarious,” he chuckled. “We’re getting more and more of those.”

In the hangar, past the window, he saw Leonid motion for them to come on in and help.

“She’s just a kid,” Nuta noted as he and Kazochi stepped inside.

“Sure looks like it,” Kazochi dismissed.

Nuta didn’t like to look down on people, but this time, he actually had to.

She was only 121 centimeters tall.

Her attire was very modest with barely any skin showing. A long skirt wrapped down to the ground, giving the appearance of her melting into the floor. Her hair and head were covered by a cowl.

“Welcome aboard The Cardboard Box,” Leonid announced to their new guest. “Why don’t you introduce yourself?”

Her reaction was beyond unexpected. She pulled away her cowl and threw aside her obscuring robes. It was an elaborate shot of cascading gilded hair and fluttering clothing. Her outfit beneath was still modest, but you could actually tell where her limbs were instead of being a featureless mound of cloth.

Her honey-blond hair fell past her wide shoulders, with intricate braids on either side of her head. Her long yebrows were braided too, and clipped backward into the hair on her head.

Pale blue eyes gazed through huge pupils, framed by orange sclera. They were filled with a life not seen when she was back on her home.

Striking a dramatic pose, she proclaimed with a confident voice.

“So nice to be out of the house,” she opened. “I’m Mahie Denayer, daughter of Hosok Denayer, and I’m very happy to be here and to make your acquaintance.”

She then quickly whipped around to face back at Leonid and Ayabegei.

“I’ve heard you guys before,” she stated.

“You were the guys who flew past me when I was in that balloon!”

Ayabegei’s eyebrows dropped while Leonid’s rose.

“You cannot be serious,” Ayabegei stated as she rested her face in her palm.

“This is all a prank,” she scoffed as she strode away.

Mahie’s still stood in her dynamic pose.

“Is something wrong? Will she be alright?” Mahie asked.

“She’ll be fine,” Leonid answered quickly.

“Say, you’re not like how you were when we just picked up at that homestead,” he commented.

Mahie nodded.

“My father demands a certain way. But this is who I’ve always been.” “Now,” she opened, jumping to stand in front of the other assembled crew with a beaming smile on her face. “My new friends, tell me who you are.”

————————————–

Another unscreened guest, and another room turned into a makeshift cell. Another explanation that it wasn’t meant to be prison, but to be a safety precaution. This guest however, was seemingly very happy to finally have her own room.

Nuta and Kazochi were helping Mahie settle in when Nuta could contain his curiosity no further.

“So are you some prodigy kid?” he blurted out.

Mahie dropped the box she had been holding.

“Kid?” she asked softly before quickly turning on her heel.

“KID?!”

Nuta froze, unsure of what he just released.

“How old are you?” she asked accusingly.

“I’m twenty-seven,” Nuta answered.

“You’re the kid,” Mahie retorted. “I’m twenty-eight!”

“Wait, how?” Nuta stammered.

“She’s a Gyedth,” Kazochi answered. “Don’t you know about them?”

Clearly he didn’t. Kazochi and Mahie took turns explaining it, with the latter being a bit more loud than the former.

“Oh damn,” Nuta muttered in shock. “That’s… that’s something. You evolved to be minia—””

He noticed Mahie still had her angry face at maximum.

“I’m sorry, really,” he apologized. “I had no idea.”

Dynamically, acrobatically, Mahie’s expression switched from fury. Instead now she had that air of excitement.

“Don’t let it happen again, big-head!” Mahie replied.  

————————————–

“So now where are we headed?” Nuta asked as he leaned over Leonid’s shoulder at the map projection screen.

“Why are you always hovering around us in the bridge?” Kazochi asked from the pilot’s seat.

“Just in case I get the chance to pilot,” Nuta replied.

“We’re heading back to Anlov Home,” Leonid answered Nuta. “We should make it back in a little over a week.”

“We’re done?” Nuta asked with excitement.

“All we have left are candidates that have confirmed locations back in Miraizu University on Anlov Home. We’re picking them up before we go for our clearance.”

Leonid then displayed an exaggerated yawn and arm stretch.

“Then you can pilot. Maybe. Depends on if I’m in a good mood.”

————————————–

“Are you guys ready to see something spectacular?” Kazochi asked of the crew.

The Rarbe’s hangar doors opened, releasing their guest. After reaching a safe distance, the Cardboard Box bolted through the vast emptiness. It wasn’t empty for long. A faint glow of a light flickered regularly in the distance.

As the ship continued, the stars beside the flickering sun could be seen moving and spinning. These bands of stars spun and wove against each other as a night sky churning. Finally the sun glinted just right over the bands of stars to show them to be lights along the side of a wall.

The sun pushed out from behind the dark wall to finally show itself. In doing so, it revealed what had concealed it. Enormous interlocking rings orbited the sun; their orbits and the sun’s position invoking the image of the atom. Scale was so disorientating in space. While the rings looked so thin, they were actually over 15,000 kilometers wide. They stretched so far past the sun that they were almost lost against the curtain of stars that were in the space beyond the solar system. Between the rings and the sun, inner rings ran just above the main ones. These inner rings, the Day Rings, were lined with gradual openings.

Between the rings and the sun, inner rings ran just above the main ones. They were perforated, blocking the sun to give night and day to the surface below. One such surface came into view as the Cardboard Box passed the Living Ring. While the sides and outer edge of the Living Rings were a dark metal grey, the inner side blazed with vibrant color. Oceans and land masses covered the recessed surface with clouds and weather patterns wisping over the encapsulated world.

Turning toward the surface of the Living Ring, the Cardboard Box shifted to fly in parallel to the ring and its slow, unperceivable spin. One’s sense of gravity and relation was enough to give on vertigo. While you saw the sun above you, and the land beneath, you still felt like you were on your side since that’s how the rings spun. You felt like you were walking on the inside of a ball, and impossibly going up the side diagonally.

This was Anlov Home.

This unfathomable structure was the work of over a millennium of sheer Anlov determination, and still continued today. The speed at which such a massive structure was built is a testament to what led the Anlov off of their home world: the Emerald Revolution.  

<<<Beginning by Diasuke Inoue>>>

There once was a great war. Anlov Cradle drowned in the blood of great grandfathers, grandfathers, fathers, and grandsons. The Generation War. It was the ultimate conflict between ideals and materials. The ideals of glory and faith fought with the material of gunpowder and lives.

Despair and vanity was the Anlov Nature.

However, nature is defined. A Paragon stepped forth to define it anew. He was a man of opulence who was hidden in exile, and returned with a new nature, a new idea.

He tore down his gilded curtains, and brought light. He tore down the castle walls, and built roads. He tore down his thrown, and raised a future.

He and his wife of a distant sea brought together the lost and the hopeless. Those seeds planted in the soil of death sprang anew in life. The armies of Ideals and the armies of Materials turned to fight against this Emerald Revolution. Anlov was reborne in this twin-flamed furnace.

And so the war ended. In the hands of the Paragon were the two most powerful weapons, the spoils of war, Ideals and Materials. As the people had won, the direction of the future was in their hands. Because it was all they knew, they entrusted this to their new king. But he refused. There would be no kings. There would be nothing beyond the united will of the people.

But what future would that be for those who had pushed themselves so close to extinction? How would it not happen again? How would they never forget their revolutionary spirit?

His bride, the moon of a distant sea, was wise beyond measure. As she had enlightened him, so they enlightened Anlov together. Out of Anlov, came scholarship. The words for “person” and for “student” were changed to be the same word. Nature was redefined.

Anlov rebuilt. They washed the mud from their faces with their sweat. They were the Anlov Idea. They carried the definition of Anlov Nature. They Walked in Truth. They were the Emerald Revolution.

The Paragon and his Guiding Star, having traded so much of their life for the Revolution, were close to death in such young age. They were content with the new Anlov, its schools birthing many new Paragons, its minds unpolluted by the ignorance of the past.

As they were near parting, the Anlov people begged them, on their knees until the Paragon demanded they stand, to know what they could do personally for him and her as thanks. He refused, but she was wise.

He relented to her council and told his one wish before they passed away.

“Leave the cradle and inherit the stars.”

With this objective in mind, the Anlov people, driven by such intense vigor, were able to accomplish the unthinkable. Within only a few decades, the Anlov people had perfected their space travel. Within years of that, they perfected their warp abilities. They invented the Ring Jump. Hundreds of years later in the Fourth Era, the Era of Mountain Formation, they had begun construction on a new structure that would be Anlov Home. After two centuries all of Anlov had left its cradle, which remains unpopulated to this day.

With little effort due to its shielding systems, the Cardboard Box breached the atmosphere into the ring. Within the living surface of Anlov Home, the view again took a surreal turn. On a planet there was a horizon to set an end to your view. Here, the closer horizons slowly arched upward, as the inside surface was concave, until it ended abruptly on the sides. In the other directions, the other two horizons bent upwards until they faded from your view. How mystifying it was seeing the world just vanish in the distance. The curve wasn’t so pronounced that you immediately recognized you were in a large ring, which was insane in its own way.

On a planet, you have an innate sense of seclusion because one can’t see your distant neighbors past the horizon. Here, one could see distant cities by looking upwards along the ring. In a way, it formed a unique sense of community to look up and see everyone, though not literally.

It was on this ever reaching horizon that a sprawling city sat in the center of a large plateau in the middle of a mountainous continent. Other cities could be seen near this central metropolis, but were all a distance away.

As they closed in, they saw it was really a city built around a university as the hub. It was a sprawling sight of tall and expansive buildings. There were railways and even suburbs. This was Miraizu University, the fourth largest college on Anlov Home. Here, students from all across Anlov Home went for secondary schooling for all manner of subjects. Anlov citizens were entitled to formal secondary education by law. In the new Anlov culture sparked by the First Paragon and his Brilliant Star, education and refinement was the norm. Constant education and honing was the Anlov way.

As they flew overhead, the crew aboard looked down to see the flow of life in this city. People came and went between buildings with a constant pace. But it wasn’t a hurried or frantic pace. Rather it was like gentle currents of people.

The Cardboard Box set down in a large space dock amid several other ships coming and going. Docking in a special military space, circular shutters closed overhead upon their entry. Before the airlock hatches were even completely open, Anlov military personnel were coming aboard. They escorted the entire crew off the ship and into the hangar while remaining military personnel stayed aboard the ship and readied it for transport back to Anlov Scholar Academy’s military base. Here was one case where there was the exception to always having a crew member aboard the ship. If it was within the presence of military or Scholar headquarters, it could be occupied or flown by cleared pilots and personnel. However, in this case, they would be riding with the crew back to Anlov Scholar Academy military base while providing security.

Pip-is continued to ask whys all throughout the crew’s trip to exit the space dock.

“They are joining us because we have a rather large number of passengers that are not cleared to serve aboard an Anlov Scholar ship. They are adding some security.” Ayabegei explained patiently.

“Why’do we all ‘ave t’ go? Can’t some ‘f us stay here?” Pip-is followed up.

“They want us all off-board so they can set up and restock the ship after a scan of it,” Ayabegei replied.

“You ask too many questions,” Rio commented, grumbling.

“I get confused,” Pip-is replied, growing slightly flustered.

Leonid placed his hand on Pip-is’ shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it, Pip-is. Your asking questions, while only slightly annoying in how fast they’re leaving your head, is a trait encouraged of Scholars.”

A clear sunny day greeted the crew of ten at the Miraizu University campus. All along the street in front of them, citizens walked about. It was the same pace they observed from the air. No frantic scurrying, only tides of placid traffic.

The crew stayed together as they followed Leonid and Kazochi up a wide staircase to a train platform. Various Anlov people paused occasionally to gaze upon Wits, Mahie, or the Senguin siblings.

There wasn’t a lot of species diversity on Anlov Home, but it wasn’t due to any bias or predisposition. Why there were so few different species was due to Anlov’s philosophy of interacting with new worlds. When Anlov found a populated universe, they would narrow down to which galaxies the sentient organisms were in. They would avoid direct contact with any groups they stumbled upon in their voyages. In fact, any areas with life were marked as no-fly zones to keep the culture in its own state without interference. They would observe from afar the worlds they found. By afar, it was truly afar. They would often observe a single inhabited planet from outside its galaxy.

Whenever a society happened to stumble upon the eye that looked at them through the telescope, the Anlov would often go ahead and reveal themselves carefully. They would offer the society a place within its growing culture, but would require them to live by rules. There were societies that wanted their own ways, and Anlov honored them. Anlov would declare those people a protected culture and prohibit any contact or flight through the area.

The Anlov Sphere, while ostensibly covering the second largest expanse of known universes compared to its neighbors, the space was actually riddled with innumerable holes that were protected areas where no travel or interference was allowed.

When you have a society that purposely hides itself from you, and offers membership with strict rules attached when you just happen to stumble on it, there will simply not be a great deal of diversity.

“We’re splitting up into three groups,” Leonid informed the crew as they all huddled together in the train car.

“We’re looking for these people.”

He, Kazochi, and Ayabegei each held up a packet.

“We’ll find them, bring them and luggage back to the dock we just came from,” Leonid continued.

He saw that Pip-is had questions so he nodded to him and preemptively answered.

“Everything you need to know, from station numbers, train schedules, building locations, and the person’s schedule are included in the packet,” Leonid detailed.

“Ocura and Rio, you’re with me,” Kazochi declared. “Nuta and Wits, you’re going with Ayabegei. Mahie, Teliar, and Pip-is are with Leonid.”

“Now we aren’t doing any sightseeing or lollygagging. Get done as quickly as possible. Any more questions, ask one of us, in person or on personal comm.”

“ALRIGHT! LET’S GO TEAM EVENT HORIZON! FIND OUR GUY BEFORE THE OTHER TEAMS!” Mahie cheered in excitement.

The other passengers on the train turned to look at the young lady posing heroically.

————————————–

“C’mon, this isn’t the place,” Mahie said as she ran back to Pip-is, Leonid, and Teliar.

“Yeah it is,” Pip-is retorted as he looked at the packet contents.

“He’s right,” Teliar added as he looked over Pip-is’ shoulder. “This is where he’s supposed to be now, not where he usually is.”

“Oh,” Mahie simply acknowledged as she stood up to try and see the page Pip-is and Teliar were looking at.

“You were already half way to the building he normally is in huh?” Leonid laughed.

Mahie laughed nervously.

Before them stood a large building, with an equally large greenhouse coming out the side. A group of students entered alongside the four, all stepping into a large empty hall. Signing in at the reception area, Team Event Horizon entered the greenhouse.

Heat greeted them as they opened the doors to an isolated verdant oasis. While the sounds were a buzz of activity in the city and a quiet hum in the campus center, it was a special kind of silent in the greenhouse. It could be described as a living silent. While there were no discernable sounds beyond the occasional sprinkle of automated water systems, there still felt as though there was sound all around. In a garden or greenhouse, one feels like they can hear something even when there is nothing to hear. Perhaps it was the sound of growth. We don’t have the capacity to hear the growth of a single plant, nor could it be detected well with sensors. But maybe several plants growing at once created sound that barely touched one’s threshold to perceive it.

It was in every sense a museum with the collection of different plant forms found throughout Anlov space and beyond. There were iconic plant life specimens, including the Weeping Oracle, which was an attempt to bring back a version of a plant lost to Anlov Cradle’s war. The Weeping Oracle was described in some of the myths before Anlov Cradle’s war, and when this kind of tree started growing naturally on Anlov Home, it was cultivated to be a successor to that fabled plant. It was a about half the size of an average person, and was much like a cactus. Its limbs sagged and sunk downward and swayed lightly in the breeze. The plant’s “posture” and use in ancient scrying led to the name of Weeping Oracle.

Ash Root was present too, far from its native world in the heart of T.U.S.C. territory. Ash Root was used by the T.U.S.C. in almost all of their military rations leading them to propagate it wherever they went. It was a very ordinary looking root vegetable that was distinct in its unique speckles that looked like sprinkled ash. While the plant’s speckles were normally white in color, when they were grey, it was considered ripe.

Team Event Horizon walked through, unknowingly lollygagging as they marveled at all the different plants. They strolled slowly past rows of the unique and common alike. Even the plain ones, since there was only a single pot or so of them, looked rare enough out of context from their common proliferation. Even when next to more bright and exotic plants, the plain ones looked special in their own right.

Mahie stopped to look at one particular flower. It was plainly colored and had a large, flat head. Along the edges of the flower, glittering filaments circled around the edge. Mahie was almost mesmerized by and moved in closer, even extended her hand to touch it.

“Don’t touch that one,” a commanding voice ordered.

Mahie, Pip-is, and Teliar just about jumped into the air.

Leonid laughed as he turned to the muscular Teseg that stood nearby.

“I was hoping he’d give you a good scare. I heard him the second we walked in,” Leonid chuckled.

The Teseg’s eyes moved to the left, in the direction that Leonid was standing, the quills on its face twitched subtly. He didn’t turn his head to sync with his eyes but spoke as though he faced Leonid.

“You didn’t think to supervise these children?” the Teseg asked in a sharp, yet quiet voice.

“CHILDREN?!” Mahie shouted.

————————————–

Ocura, Rio, and Kazochi waited in the hall outside a large classroom. From the schedule in the packet, the class should be ending soon, and then they would be able to find their candidate. They could hear inside as one voice continued to speak almost without end. It was this voice that kept the class in past the time listed on the schedule, so the three waited as patiently as they could.

Rio shifted about the most. She leaned against the wall, leering at the many students traversing the hall. She would occasionally look away and scoff quietly to herself. Kazochi looked over at Rio and then to Ocura. Ocura met her gaze and just shrugged.

“Will that guy in there ever shut up?” Rio blurted.

Both Kazochi and Ocura nodded in agreement.

“Can’t we just go in?” Rio suggested with a scowl.

“Give them a few more minutes,” Kazochi compromised.

So they continued waited. Students started lining up around the door for the next class to be in that room. Rio grew visibly nervous as people crowded around. Even the instructor of the next class came up to the door, saw the crowd, and looked at her watch. She knocked on the door and gestured through the window.

Inside, the voice got louder as they summarized their ramble over the sound of the students leaving the classroom. The students waiting slowly parted for the mass coming out. Rio fidgeted and shuffled nervously. Ocura reached down and gripped her sister’s arm. Rio looked up to her resolute faced sister and gained some comfort. As soon as the instructor and his assistant left the classroom, the waiting students and instructor funneled in.

“There goes our candidate,” Kazochi announced to Ocura and Rio.

As the three slowly waded through the students, the instructor and assistant were heads lost amongst the crowd. Ocura kept her grip on her sister, but even that wasn’t enough to reduce Rio’s anxiety entirely. Rio found herself pushing people away. Finally the three broke free of the crowd. Rio escaped Ocura’s grasp. Rio walked in a small circle as she flicked her arms about like she was trying to get webs or insects off of her.

She continued this little stress relief as Ocura and Kazochi approached the leaving instructor, an Anlov, and assistant, a Yebolm.

“Dogot Rib Chieuch?” Kazochi asked of the two.

“That would be my grad assistant here,” the instructor said as he gestured to the Yebolm.

“Where you the one doing all the yapping?” Rio asked rather curtly as she walked up next to Ocura and Kazochi.

“He’s a talker,” the instructor said while patting the back of the graduate assistant. “Great thing is that he usually knows what he’s talking about.”

Dogot pulled at the drooping flaps on the side of his head. “So how can I help you?”

“Your assignment to an Anlov Scholar ship,” Kazochi answered, handing over documentation for his transfer.

“Oh wonderful! I’d almost forgot I was waiting on my assignment,” Dogot chirped as he gestured for the three to follow him while simultaneously waving goodbye to the instructor.

“I packed up already so we should be on our way shortly.”

Dogot continued to regale Kazochi, Ocura, and Rio the whole way back to his apartment.

————————————–

Nuta, Wits, and Ayabegei stood clear of the torrent of items being pushed or thrown out of the way. They constantly had to move to avoid a new direction the items were being moved towards. This was the apartment of Cisimi La-Naraz, an Ilyahok serving as a junior instructor at Miraizu University.

“I just need to find this last thing,” explained Cisimi, crouched over in a pile of books, papers and other materials. “Sorry again about the mess and my not being entirely ready.”

“It is fine,” Ayabegei replied, as she looked around and out in the hall, unsure which items were to be taken with them.

“I suppose I shouldn’t have started cleaning my home on the same day I started packing,” Cisimi sighed through her speech processor.

“So you don’t normally take all this stuff with you,” Nuta observed.

“Of course not. I’m only a little disorganized. The class I’m instructing has its final exams soon,” Cisimi explained.

She stood up and looked around the piles. Then she darted to the door and picked up a small box from the various articles she strewn in the hall. Chirping excitedly, she placed it in a larger luggage container in the hall. Finished, she started pushing all the stray items back into the apartment. After Wits, Nuta, and Ayabegei exited, Cisimi closed the door. Behind, the sounds of crunching and a few falls were heard as different objects were shoved inside with the closing door.

“Was that the class you just left before it started?” Nuta asked as he and the others started picking up the luggage.

Cisimi tilted her head slightly and twitched her mandibles.

“Yes. I’m so excited to be doing new research, I’ve completely forgotten to get them a substitute,” Cisimi replied as she searched her person.

“That same excitement has me a complete mess,” she continued as she opened her apartment door.

“I need to find my phone. I need to get my class a substitute,” Cisimi stated.

Ayabegei, Nuta, and Wits stood aside to let the torrents of objects fly past them.

————————————–

“How’much longer?” Pip-is asked.

He and his team had just loaded the last of their target candidate’s luggage into a truck that would take it all to customs for screening.

Suge Vihili, the Teseg the group encountered earlier, stood next to them. He kept completely still and simply watched everything around him.

“No clue what’s keeping Kazochi, Ocura, and Rio so long,” Leonid commented.

Those three rounded the corner as soon as this was said. All three were putting along slowly as a shorter Yebolm merrily chatted away. As they neared Leonid and the others, the Yebolm suddenly stopped his yammering.

“Oh, please don’t stop,” Rio stated sarcastically. “It was just getting good.”

“Upper-classman Vihili… What, what’re you doing here?” Dogot stuttered.

Suge turned only his head down to see Dogot.

“I was in the same class as you. We were both on the same roster for deployment. What makes you surprised?”

Dogot stammered slightly, “I guess I just didn’t expect, uh, so many from our large graduating class together. I mean, I didn’t even recognize Kazochi Edesium here.”

Kazochi was unsure why she wasn’t also called upper-classman, even though she too had higher grades than him.

“Ayabegei Rugebov and Cisimi La-Naraz are joining us too,” she added.

Dogot looked away and pulled at the flaps on the side of his head nervously.

“Can’t say I recognize the names. Maybe the faces.”

“I’m standing right here too,” Leonid spoke up. “I was in the same class too.”

“Were you?” Dogot asked in embarrassment.

————————————–

“I’m really sorry about delaying us so. I kept forgetting things, but…” Cisimi apologized.

“Don’t worry about it. Everyone is too nervous and apologizing all over themselves. Relax everybody,” Leonid replied as he signaled to the truck’s driver to take the luggage in for screening.

He turned back around to face the group.

“Let’s do some introductions shall we? Starting with our three new members,” he suggested with a smile. “Let’s do this like we were in school: name and our area of expertise.”

“It’s been a while since I introduced myself from that way,” Dogot noted as he cleared his throat.

“I am Dogot Rib Chieuch,” he announced. “I’m an expert linguistics and communications… uh… person. Ok. I’m the linguistics and communications expert. Like I said, been a while since I did such an introduction.”

As stated, Dogot was a slightly diminutive Yebolm. Normally they stood around 180 centimeters, but Dogot stood at around 173. Yebolm were reptilian. They had small, non-reflective scales covering their bodies with Dogot’s ranging from brown to green in color. Their heads were wider on the top half and their faces were a flat wedge. They had large eyes, with pupils that ran vertically. Their pupils were narrow and slit like. Their nostrils were also narrow, running under each eye. Their mouths were very wide and their lips looked naturally dried and chipping. On the sides of their heads hung long membranes that reached down past the jaw. Yebolm could deploy these membranes into large concave frills to be used as enhanced outer ears. Their digits, limbs, and joints were the basic bipedal design that could be found in most sapients though the hips were slightly wider.

“Suge Vihili. Anthropology and Botany. Combat and tactical security,” Suge offered in a short sound bite.

Suge’s species, the Teseg, were a bipedal mammalian species. He stood at the same height as Nuta at 190 centimeters as was average for Teseg. The Teseg had thick leathery skin much like the Hifinif, but differed in that the Teseg they were capable of facial expressions. The skull of the Teseg was very unique, being tall, with a pointed top. The jaw narrowed to a chin that protruded far out from the rest of the skull. Above it, a large rectangular like nose jutted out from the skull reaching about the same length as the chin. Along its bottom edge where two nostrils. In the recess between the protrusions that would become the nose and chin was a small lipless mouth. Above the nose, back near the rest of the skull the Teseg had two eyes in two fairly recessed sockets. Each side of the head had a simple hole in a mound as an ear.

It looked almost like a crude caricature drawing of someone who had a long chin and nose. But what stuck out the most was a series of quills along the face and head. They grew symmetrically on either side of the jaw, temples, and cheeks, with a few on the top of the head. They were a little over a centimeter wide in diameter and around 11 centimeters long. They could be flexed to point straight back or at an acute angle from the skin. These quills were also regularly on their shoulders, upper side of the torso and upper back.

“That leaves me,” Cisimi chimed in. “I’m Cisimi La-Naraz. I’m a physics and mathematics expert and professor. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”

The Ilyahok were a species of pseudo bipedal arthropods. They typically moved about on their rear two legs, but would also spend stretches at a time on all six of their limbs, typically in comfortable places such as the home. They stood at an almost universal 179 centimeters, but since they hunched as part of their posture, on all six limbs, they’re about 207 centimeters long. They had lost some of their arthropod features through evolution, while many core features remained. They didn’t have an exoskeleton that encased their entire body. Instead, they had a hybrid skeleton system that shifted from endo to exo. Around the upper torso, lower back, and thighs, an exoskeleton shell flowed up out of the surrounding skin to cover those areas.

For the most part, the Ilyahok looked like the work of a lazy artist. Their oval heads, with large compound eyes, antenna, and mandibles looked exactly from what you would see on an enlarged head of an insect. Its skin, covered with course bristles and ridges, and their segmented arms also looked like what you would see on a smaller insect. It seemed implausible that a species of insect would change so little in its gradual evolution into a larger pseudo-bipedal that it merely looked like it grew in proportion to its original dimensions and features. In fact, only its ability to stand on two legs for long durations and its hybrid skeleton stood out as unique.

The other members of the crew each introduced themselves to the new crew. After the greetings were exchanged, they went through an arduous security process to gain entry to their particular hangar bay. After nearly a half hour, the thirteen stood in the hangar with the Cardboard Box.

“It’s a bit older, isn’t it?” Dogot commented.

“We’re going to pick up the rest of our crew?” Cisimi asked as they all started making their way to the main hatch.

“We aren’t. This is it,” Leonid declared.

Dogot, Suge, Cisimi, and Ayabegei immediately turned around to face him. The rest, except Kazochi, stopped to look at Leonid because everyone else had.

“You can’t be serious,” Ayabegei said with almost no tone or inflection in her voice.

“This can’t be the entire crew,” Cisimi protested.

“We should have at least twice as many as we have now,” Dogot commented.

“We’ll be a special crew. This is all we’re bringing with us,” Leonid replied nonchalantly. “I’ll explain later.”

“Ok, enough of this,” Ayabegei blurted. “What is this special assignment? What could we be doing with someone like you leading it?”

Leonid stepped back from the hatch and sighed.

“I said I’d explain later. Maybe the Paragon will tell you all personally at the Academy,” he answered.

“Now come on. This will be explained soon enough.”

The modest crew of only thirteen entered the Cardboard Box, with the hatch sealed behind them.