The most trending topic on Nycakor, the ship that kidnapped Igetis to this faraway world, had now been flying through space at five times the speed of light back towards the unknown planet for over an hour.  There had been very little communication between the two passengers. She was the pilot and seemed to know very well how to fly the ship, which was a hopeful conversational starter by Igetis, but without prevail.  Since she was not talking, he wandered the ship looking for clues on whose ship this was and hoping something would jog a memory of the recent events.  He had found a few interesting gadgets that had sparked his interest but after a few stern warnings not to touch anything from the pilot, he thought it best to finally heed her warnings to gain her trust.

Besides the fact that he could not do his favorite thing, which was talking, Igetis was doing quite well. Even after being attacked and injured, being possessed by a spirit or creature, and being forced to fly around the Universe searching for someone that he had no idea who this someone was, Igetis was quite content. His strength had returned, and he was hearing no voices in his head or seeing any images that frighten him of future events. The only thing that worried him was his friends. He only hoped nothing horrible had happened to them.

He tried to fall asleep, which he thought he easily would with all the past events, but the excitement about finding someone who knew about this unknown planet would not allow him. So, he tried to engage her again in conversation. He could sense she was very stubborn, but there was something else there that made her not want to talk. It being fear or guilt, he was not sure.  It could even be both.

“When was the last time that you have been to this unknown planet?” Igetis asked. 

No response. 

“Well, telling me will not give away any huge secret.  You have been there if you know how to navigate the Skonis Nebula.  Why don’t you tell me if I am close by guessing how many years?” 

Still, no response.

“Less than 10 years?”

Nothing.

“More than 20 years?”

Zilch.

“How about 50 years?”

Nothing.

Igetis was starting to sense she was getting aggravated, but he thought he would try one more time. “I am getting the feeling that the answer will greatly surprise me.” The amphibian creature paused for effect.  “How about over 500 years?”

She shifted a little in her pilot chair and he could sense that this question made her nervous.

“Wow! I did not know humans lived that long.” She turned and looked at Igetis with her eyes narrowed.  “You are human, yes? Not many of you are found in the parts of the Universe I have been.  Many think that you are extinct.” His sly smile appeared once again. She only rolled her eyes and looked back towards her console, determining how much longer until they arrived hoping they would arrive sooner than expected.

Now, he had another question that he hoped shocked her into talking.  “I also remember when exploring that large, gigantic building, a face in those hologram displays that was unique to yours. Now maybe not an exact match on the face but I know I have seen your eyes before. Do you find that odd?”

She moved again in her chair and began to check something on the console again.

“I can sense that I am making you uneasy. Why not just tell me and get it all out? You will feel better. I may even be able to help.”

She rolled her eyes again and chortled at his last reply. “I think you have helped enough,” she finally said.

“Oh, I see,” he remarked. “You blame me for this. I know whatever has happened has scared you enough to immediately jump in a ship and fly across the Universe to a planet you have not been to for a while. But I promise you that if I could have, I would have stopped whatever possessed my mind. I do not want to harm anyone. I know you can sense that from me.”

She gave a small sigh, and she knew that he was right. She could sense good from this creature. “Listen, all your questions will be answered after I find out what has happened. Let me find that out first and then we can discuss as many details as you want. Deal?”

“At least tell me your name and then I will stop talking.”

“Just call me, Rose.”

“I take it because of your red hair?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“Ok, Rose. You will hear nothing else from me. Unless of course, you want to talk of something else?” 

She shook her head. 

“Ok then. I will try catching some insects.”

 She looked behind her and gave him a confused stare. 

“Sorry. A saying my people say when we are trying to go to sleep. Others I have found say, ‘Counting sheep’, or ‘Eating mice’ or ‘Watching the sky’.” 

She gave him a nod, and he then leaned back and began to “catch insects”.

 

 

Many hours later, Igetis was startled awake and found Rose standing over him, smiling with a cup of something that smelled intoxicating. “Sorry to wake you,” she said. “I thought you would like something to drink. Still have many hours left before we arrive.”

Igetis took the cup and gave her a nod. He then smelt what was inside the cup. “Smells great, but how do I know you are not trying to poison me,” he said with his sly smile.

“If I wanted to kill you, you would already be dead,” she said with her crooked smile, leaning up against the wall of the ship. 

“Ahh…well, that is nice to hear,” he replied in a half sarcastic tone, sitting up in his chair. “May I ask what this is?”

“It is a blend of fruits, plants, and dark cocoa powder from the planet Nycakor,” she said after taking a sip from her cup. “I promise you it is wonderful. It is a little hot, so careful.”

He took a small sip. “Wow, that is good!” He took another sip and then looked at Rose. “You have questions for me.” He could sense her wanting to explore more in detail what had happened. “That is why you are being so nice.” He tilted his head and raised his eyebrows ready for her questions.

She rolled her eyes, looked in the direction of the pilot chair to verify that the autopilot was still engaged but also as an excuse to look away so he could not tell that he was right. She then leaned herself back against the wall and looked at him directly and said, “When he was in your head, what did you see?”

They locked eyes for a long moment. “I can sense great fear in you about him. Is he truly that dangerous?”

“Please,” she requested gently, “tell me what you saw. The more details the better.”

“I saw visions of war,” Igetis said sternly. “Hundreds of thousands, maybe hundreds of millions of dead creatures from many different planets. I could feel that he wanted revenge, but he also wanted peace.  What I was sensing was conflicting, to say the least.” He then took another sip and stood up from his chair and looked out the ship’s windows and saw the vortex tunnel formed around the ship as it continued flying faster than the speed of light towards their destination. “This ship is quite incredible.  The amazing technology that this unknown planet has is quite remarkable. Must have been hard to leave it.”

Rose gave him no response but continued to stare at him suggesting that she wanted more details to her first question.

Realizing that she was not going to budge he continued, “He felt betrayed, but he thought how he was betrayed was ‘clever’ is what I remember hearing.” He paused to see if she would respond but seeing her continuing to stare without blinking or moving, he kept on speaking, “He thought that the only way to save everyone was to take revenge on those who betrayed him. He felt they were the enemy, but he also felt…what is the best way to describe it…jealously.”

She tilted her head at that comment and took a sip of her drink.

“That surprises you?”

She smiled, “At first, but now that I think about it, I can see why.”

“You won’t elaborate?”

“No. Continue.”

“It seemed that he was learning everything for the first time from what I can recall. He saw something familiar to him and said, ‘That is who I am.’ He would go one direction in that big building, then recall something and then start heading somewhere else. I am only seeing bits and pieces now. Things are starting to come back, but I do not think I will remember everything that he did.”

“Interesting,” she said as she pondered about what she had just heard.

“You won’t elaborate on that either?”

She smiled and that clued him on what the answer was.

“The scariest thing for me was how powerful he felt. I can remember how the power surged through me.” She tilted her head and gave her full attention to what he was saying. “There was no way to keep him out of my mind. I was under his full control. But there was a part of me that wanted that power to never leave. It was so…exhilarating.”

She took a sip of the drink again and Igetis could tell her mind was racing with the information she was hearing.

“I take it that he has done this before?” Igetis said looking at her with his large eyes that seemed to look directly into her soul.

She smiled at him again, “You know that little sensing trick of yours is going to get you into a ton of trouble.”

His sly smile returned, “It already has.”

She took another sip, and she was beginning to trust Igetis. She could see the good in him. He may be a “know-it-all”, but he genially cared for others. A trait not found much in the Universe anymore from her vast experience. “You never told me why you crashed on this unknown planet.”

He gave her a stern look. “All nine of us were escaping our enemy.”

She stared back showing that she already knew the enemy of which he was speaking.

“It appears you have heard of the Kraken.”

“Yes. Too many know of their fury.”

“I sense there is something else.”

Her eyes grew big, and she could tell that he knew there was fear in her eyes.

Suddenly there was an alarm from the console by the pilot’s chair. She immediately ran to her seat and checked the alarm.

“Speaking of the Kraken looks like they have a waiting party for us,” she informed him as she grabbed the controls and prepared the ship for battle.

“Why would they be waiting for this ship?” Igetis queried, confused about his enemy’s motives.

“Hard to say with the Kraken,” she answered as she calculated how long until they were intercepted.  “They must have seen the ship come out of the nebula and guessed correctly that it would be returning.  Nonetheless, we will be intercepted by them in less than five minutes.”

“How far are we from the nebula?”

“Less than ten minutes. So, we will have to fight our way through.”

Igetis returned to his seat and buckled in knowing it will be a rough ride. “What are our chances?”

“With me at the helm, I say pretty darn good.” She turned and smiled at him.

Igetis gave her a nod and of course his sly smile.

 

 

As their ship dropped out of light speed, the Warships advanced on their position, with weapons hot.  The pilot of this advanced vessel knew that they would fire first and ask questions later, so she began to target the approaching Warships. She counted how many there were on the scanners and saw two approaching and three holding back knowing that this would be a hard fight. As soon as their ship was in range, the Warships began firing with their large laser cannons. 

“Hold on!” she yelled to Igetis. “This is going to get rough!”

Large explosions that were blue and then faded white began going off all around. She avoided direct hits but the shockwaves from the blasts rattled the ship which made Igetis clutch his chair. He was a good pilot, but not a good passenger. He liked to be in control.

She weaved in and out of the laser blasts and Igetis could tell that this ship was built to maneuver quickly. It seemed to easily avoid all incoming fire. When there was an opening for a clear shot, Rose pressed the fire button and all six laser cannons on the wings began firing. Igetis could see blue lights flashing outside the ship’s windows. The first two Warships were hit with multiple blasts that rattle their vessels and stunned their crew, not realizing the impact that they would feel. She then flipped a switch on the right control and then pressed the fire button again. A plasma rocket fired from below their vessel and headed quickly towards the two attacking vessels. The closest Warship received the full force of the rocket, and a large bright orange blast was seen which turned that ship from its current course into the path of the other Warship, which quickly avoided impact by veering out of the way.

Rose pushed the throttle forward, blue fire exhausted from all engines giving their ship more speed. She then maneuvered downward, passing under the first two Warships with incredible quickness. Igetis knew that these Kraken vessels were quite powerful when they could go toe to toe, but with a ship that maneuvers so quickly around their attacks and a pilot that he could tell already was an expert, they were way out of their league.

The three other Warships had seen this ship’s capabilities and had maneuvered their vessels to box the approaching ship in by attacking from three different directions. Already knowing this would be the Kraken’s next maneuver, Rose turned hard right and with a barrel roll avoided all incoming fire from all three ships. It took everything that Igetis had, not to vomit out the drink that he was previously given.  The Warships tried to match her maneuver and began firing rockets of their own. She increased the throttle and ascended quickly and then turned left and downward performing another barrel roll in the process. The rockets flew by extremely close which rattled their ship and Igetis’s nerves. 

Their ship was now behind all three of the attacking vessels. The other two that were first hit had decided to sit out and let the other three handle this ship. Rose now turned her ship towards the nebula.  One Warship advanced quickly ahead hoping to cut them off before reaching their destination. Another Warship advanced as well but was behind the first. The third Warship was still trying to turn its vessel around to match their vessel's trajectory. Rose saw what they were planning and made a bold move by turning towards the middle vessel and punching the throttle, giving their ship more power in the thrusters. This Warship’s crew was caught off guard. Rose fired all six cannons quickly, but the Warship was able to fire as well. The Warship took quite a beating. Rose maneuvered around most of the incoming fire but did take a couple of hits which shook the ship hard. No damage seemed to be reported which meant the shields held nicely. She fired a plasma rocket, and another bright orange explosion was seen as their ship passed over the attacking Warship. 

The first Warship that was attempting to cut off their ship from the nebula, was able to match their ship’s maneuver when it doubled back. It was now in firing range behind them as it passed over the second Warship. The first Warship fired. This surprised Rose but she dodged some of the incoming fire, but not all. The ship shook again, and sensors indicated damage. She launched a plasma rocket back towards the approaching Warship which stopped the attacking vessel from approaching any further.  The third Warship broke off its pursuit not willing to take the risk. 

“They are breaking off the attack,” Rose yelled to Igetis. “I guess they have had enough.” 

Igetis gave a large sigh and looked back towards all five of the Warships. “Where was this ship when the Kraken was taking over his planet,” he thought to himself.

Rose checked the console for damage to their vessel. “Small damage on the port side but not significant.  We should be free and clear for the rest of the flight. Still, many hours to go so buckle in.”

“As long as there are no more maneuvers like what you just flew, I am fine with however long the flight is.” 

Rose turned towards the nebula and seconds later the ship was out of view.