Chapter 1 - rough landing 

My over achieving older brother had it all, it was 2039 and my brother, Adam, had just received his pilot license and a shiny new corporate work certificate from NASA. 

Thanks to his service in the Air Force, He was to be the captain of a new form of experimental spacecraft, designed by NASA and mass produced by the United States Government. 

I couldn’t say I wasn’t envious of my brother but I obviously didn’t vocalize how I felt. He had my dream job, my dream life and graduated from my dream university all in one and I hated it but still I was proud of him nonetheless and he’d been exceptionally good to me. 

You see both of us are orphans and Adam had taken care of me well into my late teens and still to this day he let me live with him, provided me with food, care and the comfort of family. Some of you might say this is to be expected of an older brother but I disagree. 

Adam had worked hard his entire life and he could have easily left me in the dust to fend for myself, but instead he chose to delay his education and career in favor of caring for his younger brother much like a father would.

Adam was 9 years older than me, making him close to 31 years old, because of the age difference we really didn’t have much in common. This led to many awkwardly silent nights, after his work was done and I was home from school, he’d often cook dinner for the two of us and occasionally for three when his girlfriend slash coworker visited. 

Tonight was much like any other night except I couldn’t keep silent.

“So you leave tomorrow?” I asked while taking a bite of my food.

Adam simply nodded, his focus split between the tablet display in front of him and his dinner plate. 

“And I can come see you take off right?” I asked in a hopeful tone although I already knew the answer.

“I already told you it’s not safe near the launch pad and you aren’t allowed in the viewing tower.” Adam said with a shake of his head.

The viewing tower was reserved for military and government officials, they needed to watch the first launch of NASA’s new spacecraft to determine whether it was worth investing more money into the project. 

The first launch was going to be a trip to a newly discovered dwarf planet orbiting around Jupiter. 

The newest telescopes had only been able to detect the planet in the last decade and according to scientific experts, the planet had very high potential for colonization and terraforming. 

With earths limited terraforming technology, the planet would be a perfect test to see if humans could successfully terraform a planet and with NASA’s new spacecraft technology the travel time would only be a day whereas the old rockets humans used for 60 years probably wouldn’t even make it to the dwarf planet. 

All of this excited me to no end and I had a plan forming in my head, all I had to do was keep Adam out of the loop and maybe I’d be able to see this new planet with my own eyes. 

~~~~~~~~~

I looked on in awe at the ship Adam would soon be piloting, it was massive, covered in chrome plating and resembled a large shiny fighter jet. Luckily for me, my plan was going exceptionally well. 

I’d convinced Adam to let me see the launch, from there I’d sneak into the cargo bay of the ship and wait till we were too far away from earth to turn around. 

I knew what I was doing was incredibly reckless but I didn’t care, I wanted to see the stars like I’d always dreamed of doing ever since I was little. 

Adam escorted me into the building and we made our way to the launch pad, he instructed me to stay behind the closed safety doors and that I could view the launch through the little safety glass windows. 

I agreed and told him I’d stay put although I’m pretty sure he could tell I was lying through my teeth. 

He pushed open the heavy doors and walked through, warning me once again to stay put till the launch was over. 

I waited till he climbed the ladder into the starship then as soon as I was sure he was inside and wouldn’t see me I quickly pushed open the large metal doors and ran after my brothers path, I followed suit and climbed the ladder, carefully opening the hatch and climbing inside, I locked the hatch behind me and scanned the room I was in, there was no one in the spacious room so as I spotted a hallway that had a sign reading ‘CARGO BAY’ I sprinted down the hallway, following the guiding, glowing arrows painted on the floor for directions. 

Finally I reached the dimly lit room filled with crates and equipment. I found a comfortable space to hide and as soon as I was tucked away into my little hidden corner I was dozing off, daydreaming of the stars and planets I’d soon see.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I awoke to red flashing lights and a loud pre recorded voice saying ‘approaching destination’ over and over again on the ships loud speakers. Slowly I got up and made my way out of the Cargo bay, once again I followed the little glowing arrows till I was standing in the command room, which unfortunately for me, All the crew and of course my brother were currently inhabiting, working on carefully landing the ship onto the dwarf planets surface. 

No one had noticed me yet but I couldn’t help myself as I gazed at the dwarf planet and the beautiful galaxy surrounding us. 

“HOLY SHIT THIS IS AMAZING!” I practically screamed, causing my brother to nearly jump out of his skin and the rest of the crew to look behind them.

I knew I’d fucked up when my brother spun around in his captains chair and gave me one of the scariest death glares I’d ever witnessed.

“What the actual fuck are you doing on this ship!?” Adam screamed at me as he got up and quickly stormed over to where I was standing. 

I thought my brother was about to hit me, he looked so angry and I bit my lip trying not to cry. His look softened as he noticed my frightened expression but he was still angry I could tell. 

“Captain you should really be focused on landing, we can deal with our stowaway later, one simple mistake could cause the ship to cra-“ one of my brothers coworkers begin frantically trying to get Adam to come back to the ships controls but before she could finish her sentence the ship violently shook and Adam and I stumbled and fell face first against the ships windshield as the front of the ship tilted down towards the planet, the engines died as another violent tremor ran through the entire ship, the crew begin to panic as the little planet’s atmosphere begin to quickly pull the ship towards the surface. 

It all happened in a flash, the ship crash landed on it’s side, taking out one of the vital propulsion engines and causing a shockwave of force to propel Adam and I forward, the ships glass window broke as my brother and I impacted and we were sent flying out of the ship onto the planets rocky, rough surface.

I felt my side being skinned by the rocks and patches of rough grass, I felt myself hit the side of a strange tree, stopping my momentum and causing the breathe to quickly leave my lungs momentarily, Adam landed beside me in much better condition, he was quickly up and panicking as he looked down at me. 

“Fuck fuck FUCK!!” He screamed as he quickly ripped a first aid kit off his utility belt and knelt down beside me. 

“It’s okay Luke, just breath, I’m going to patch you up.” My brother said in a calm voice although I could tell he was close to breaking down at the sight of me being wounded so badly. 

I took a shaky breath and I realized several of my ribs must be broken, my mouth was filling with blood. I wasn’t a medical expert but I knew enough about the human body to understand that one of my broken bones must have punctured my lungs. 

As I lay there with my consciousness going in and out, my brother almost to the point of tears as he too realized my lungs were quickly filling with blood, I looked up at the strange tree that had stopped my free fall flight. 

It had onyx black lines of bark, surrounding the tree were intricate patterns of white bark. I noticed the tree begin to drip black goo from several branches, the goo seemed to be alive and my brother was startled as he jumped away from the stuff. 

The goo slowly crawled across my chest and up to my mouth, moving much like a snake would. I was close to blacking out at this point and when the goo moved down my throat I almost did. 

I felt the goo surround my organs inside as well and my entire body outside, soon I was completely encased, the goo hardened as I heard my brother scream my name and several heavy footsteps running towards us. I felt myself slip into a peaceful dreamless sleep that I thought at the time was my untimely death. ‘At least I saw the stars..’ I thought to myself before I slipped away into darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When consciousness returned to me I felt a refreshing breath of air fill my lungs, I gasped and tried to sit up but I couldn’t. Everything was still dark although I came to the conclusion that I was laying on something very soft. 

After several moments of laying wherever I was, a soft warm light came into view. I realized I must be in one of the living chambers inside my brothers ruined ship. 

I felt a pang of guilt as I thought how this entire situation was my fault. I squinted as my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw that I was laying in a soft, luxurious circular bed. I looked at the plain white walls and then to my left at the automatic door. 

Unsurprisingly the door slid open and my brother, accompanied by what looked to be a woman wearing a medical uniform rushed inside. 

My brother quickly wrapped me in a tight bear hug, causing me to gasp. I felt a single tear fall from his normally stoic face and land on my shoulder as he held me tightly. 

“I can’t believe you could be so stupid.. you idiot.” He whispered to me in a gentle tone. 

“Still I’m so thankful you’re alive and safe.” He continued. Eventually he let go of me and just stared at me for several long moments. I tried to speak but my mouth and throat was far to dry and what I tried to say came out sounding like a rough, unintelligible,squeaky croak. 

“Jenna! Get.. get Luke some fluids. Please” my brother hesitantly commanded the ships apparent doctor. 

She did as she was asked and returned with a few supplemental capsules and a large glass of anti dehydration juice. For some reason the women wouldn’t look me in the eyes. In fact my brother was also obviously avoiding looking at me and I couldn’t figure out why. 

After I drank my juice and swallowed my capsules, Jenna helped me sit up and propped a few pillows behind my back, I felt a strange weight on my chest as I sat up but promptly ignored the sensation, then with my brothers approval Jenna quickly left the room, seeming to want to be around me as little as necessary. 

My brother sat there awkwardly in silence for several moments before he decided to speak up. 

“Now.. please don’t panic but there’s something I need to tell you.” He said hesitantly.

I gave him an odd look and cocked my head to the side.

“Why would I panic? I’m alive and safe?” I said in an unfamiliar high pitched voice. I cleared my throat and tried to speak again but for some reason my pitch and tone were just as high as before. I grabbed my throat and looked up at My brother.

“Adam.. what’s wrong with my voice..?” I asked in that girly pitch again making myself cringe internally. 

He awkwardly looked to the side and stared at the white plastic looking walls of the cabin.

“That’s what I need to talk to you about..” he said as he sighed.

“Whatever that shit that came from the tree was.. well it saved your life, there was nothing our equipment or medicine could do to save you.. but whatever that goo was seemed to do a pretty damn good job with what we failed at.. although it came with a price.. I’m not exactly sure how to explain it, I don’t really even understand it myself.” He continued as he looked over me.

“What price.. what are you talking about Adam?” I asked in a shaky voice.

“I think it’d be easier if I just showed you.” He said as he retrieved his tablet, he tapped on the screen a few times and a large, thin mirror descended from the ceiling in front of the bed I was laying in. 

My mouth dropped as I got a look at my reflection, I got up from the bed and moved closer to the mirror, hardly believing what I was witnessing was real. 

In my reflection, a shortish although average height busty brunette teen stared back at me. Her features were entirely human except for the snake like slitted red eyes, the long onyx black, white tipped fox ears flattened against the top of her head, and most importantly the three fluffy black fox tails, jutting out from the end of her spine, nervously flicking back and forth on their own accord. 

I reached out to touch the mirror and the strange alien girl in my reflection did the same. My lip trembled and I looked up at my brother who now towered over me with his superior height.

“Don’t panic..” my brother whispered as he saw the expression on my face, but he already knew it was too late. 

I started to hyperventilate as I continued to stare in the mirror, my brain spaced out a few times and my vision blurred as I realized I was sobbing. I collapsed onto the floor and continued to stare at the small pale, black haired fox girl in the mirror. 

My new ears flattened against my head and my tails wrapped themselves around my slim waist. 

I opened my mouth and realized I had a large set of pointy canines, no wonder Jenna didn’t want to look at me. I was a freak and although I admired how pretty and exotic looking the girl in the mirror was I didn’t want to actually be the girl in my reflection. 

I looked up at Adam and let a small whimper escape my lips. He had a concerned expression as my panic attack kicked into high drive and I puked all over the floor, I was visibly shaking as he picked me up and gently placed me back into the bed, he turned to leave but I was gripping his arm tightly with my small pale hands. He sighed and sat down on the bed with me, he picked up his tablet and called someone although I wasn’t listening. 

Soon Jenna came back into the room with an irritated look on her face, although as soon as she saw the state I was in her medical professional side took over and a look of concern and compassion replaced the obvious annoyance she’d been feeling. 

She produced a syringe from her medical supplies and filled it was a clear liquid, I squirmed a bit as she injected the syringe into my arm.

“That should help her calm down, although with your permission Captain Adam I would advise assigning someone to watch over her till she’s mentally stable.. something like this situation can be quite traumatic.” Jenna said in a professional manner. 

I cringed at being referred to as she and her but whatever The doctor injected me with was already quickly working and I felt my panicked state fade and my eyelids droop as the tranquilizer took effect. 

“I think it’d be best if I stayed and watched her.” I heard my brother sigh. 

“She doesn’t know the rest of the crew, she’d be more comfortable being with family I think.. besides it’s mostly my fault all of this happened, I should’ve left Luke at home..” Adam continued with a somber shake of his head. 

“Understandable Captain.. but we really do need your guidance repairing the ship, please make sure she recovers quickly otherwise we might be stuck on this planet for awhile.” Jenna replied irritability. 

I opened my eyes again and watched as Jenna  gathered her medical supplies, jotted something down on her tablet then swiftly left the room. 

I looked up at Adam and blinked sleepily. He smiled a me briefly before pulling the blankets over my small body and retrieving a chair from across the room, he pulled it to the side of my bed and sat down, he took out his tablet and started typing something, I tried to lean over and see what he was doing but I was simply too exhausted from the tranquilizer.

“Get some sleep, I’ve got work to do but I promise I’m not going anywhere.” He said as I started to drift off into dreamland.