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  “You aren’t human?” Hartman questions. “I’ve never seen an alien before.”

  Aria smiles. “We call ourselves witchkin, we evolved from the human species.”

  “Lieutenant,” Red grumbles. “We are running out of time.”

  Hartman glances at Hicks, his glowing eye strip narrowing. “Doctor Hicks, I can probably figure this out myself but it would be faster if…”

  “Shrine,” Hicks states. “We need to leave now.”

  “Acknowledged, Doctor Hicks,” The Shrine replies. “Initiating emergency purge and setting emergency jumpgate. Farewell doctor.”

  Hicks shuffles over to a glass table, activates an emitter and begins working on a holoterminal that suddenly appears. His movements are slow and sad.

  Hartman looks back at Aria. “You should leave Commander,” he advises.

  “I will note your assistance in my report,” Aria states.

  “I’m sure we’ll meet again commander,” Hartman replies confidently.

  Aria smiles. Her third eye flashes, her body shimmers and disappears.

  *****

  Jason, his arms folded across his chest, studies the towering view screens, which are zoomed in on The Star. The smaller of the two dragons, Warrior, is hovering above one the flat surfaces of a spire, its wings flapping. In his mind Jason wonders what purpose the wings serve since, in space, there is no air.

  “Captain,” a voice reports from below. “We are entering safe distance now, but The Star is about to go critical.”

  On the view screen Warrior is seen suddenly winging around in a circle and soaring away from the giant structure at high speed.

  “Zoom out!” Jason orders.

  The view changes to a distant view of The Star. A sudden flash under the dodecahedron precedes the appearance of an enormous cube falling away from The Star. The cube fires a strange burst of energy that reaches out and suddenly forms into a familiar sparking wormhole event horizon.

  “Wholly shit,” Jason curses. He grips the rail in front of him as he watches.

  “Sir!” a shocked officer below him cries out. “They just…it’s definitely a jumpgate sir…but there are no anchors…how can they do that?”

  Jason shakes his head, his eyes peeled on the large view screen. “It’s not something we can do,” he admits with wonder.

  The cube slips through the event horizon and disappears, the wormhole collapsing behind it with a sudden flash of light.

  Suddenly there is a brilliant flash that encompasses The Star. The structure of the ancient object suddenly breaks up. There is another bright flash and when it subsides glowing pieces of structure and a cloud of debris is all that is left. A pulse wave passes harmlessly over Samurai, causing the deck plates and bulkheads to rattle.

  On the screen, Warrior soars at high speed toward them. With claws extended, Warrior opens her great maw, releasing a silent scream as she appears intent on crashing into the ship.

  Jason straightens and prepares to sound collision.

  Aria suddenly shimmers and appears at Jason’s side. She places her slender hand on Jason’s arm. “It’s okay,” she says. “She’s trying to be funny.”

  “She?” Jason questions.

  “Yeah,” Aria replies. “She’s something else. They all are.”

  “Thank you for your assistance,” Blade’s voice announces over the open channel. “It will not go unnoticed”

  “Nor will yours,” Jason replies. “Friend.”

  On the view screen the two dragons fly together, the larger releases a blast from its nostrils. A large jumpgate sparks and shimmers into existence. The dragons soar through the wormhole. With a flash the gate extinguishes.

  “We’ll see them again,” Aria assures confidently.

  “Let’s hope they stay friendly,” Jason states. “They are definitely handy to have around, but I’d hate to have to fight them.” He runs the palm of his hand over the bristles on top of his head and frowns.

  “What?” Aria questions.

  “Dragons?” he questions.

  “They are alive,” Aria states. “Warrior, she’s a pistol. Her insides looked like a ship, very advanced mind you. But something terrible happened. I saw a lot of damage and dead bodies.”

  “Human bodies?” Jason questions.

  “They appeared human,” Aria admits.

  “You appear human too,” Jason notes. “I think these guys may have come from yet another lost colony.

  Aria grins. “I wonder how coincidental it is that they appear now.”

  Jason frowns. “We can save transcendental discussions for latter. We have work to do now. Let’s get ourselves patched up and send a repair team to the Neptune jumpgate. I’ll alert the Admiralty.” Jason turns and prepares to leave.

  “Yes sir,” Aria replies stiffly. She reaches out, grabs Jason’s arm and pulls him to her, delivering a long hot kiss to his full lips.

  “That’s a PDA, commander,” Jason warns huskily.

  “Shut up, captain,” Aria states in his mind.

  Jason pulls her close and walks Aria backward. Reaching the bulkhead, out of sight, Jason and Aria engage in an all consuming and illegal hot kiss.

  Epilogue

  A massive dull grey cube slowly spins in the vast vacuum of space. The light of the closest star, a hot yellow sun with the dubious honor of being the cradle of humanity, casts a splash of brightness on one leading edge. Surrounding the cube, ten dragons, all uniquely designed, float at equal distances, providing a 360-degree perimeter around Sanctuary.

  Near Sanctuary’s core Dr. Hartman has made quick work of activating the integration lab, a rather large room with high ceilings, several massive tanks and a large vat, surrounded by a transparent bulkhead. The vat is filled with a thick green viscous material; steam rising from the liquid fills the protected area with a light green mist.

  Rotating in the center of the room, eight large holographic depictions display the anatomy of four male and four female naked human bodies. Blinking markers point to various areas around each of the bodies, while data scrolls on each side of the projections.

  Hovering far above the floor, Doctor Hartman is inspecting one of the female holograms, his many fingers clicking away at the holoscreens rapidly. Below him a bulkhead door slides into the wall and Red steps into the lab.

  Red looks up at the floating doctor and tilts his head to one side. “Doctor Hartman,” Red intones. “I see you have made yourself at home.”

  Hartman, his armatures and fingers still moving over the holoscreens rapidly turns his head about and looks down. “The equipment is older, but the design is almost identical to what I’m used to.”

  Red looks at the vat. “How long before we have a command crew?”

  Hartman swivels his head back into place and descends back down to the deck. “I am integrating eight officers with the intention that they assume captain roles. They should be out of the vat within thirty-six hours. I will, of course, begin the process again following their birth.”

  “Lieutenant, technically you are in command,” Red announces. “You are the highest ranking officer. Why don’t you promote yourself to captain?”

  Hartman’s eyes widen then shimmer as he laughs. “Oh please, sergeant, I would make a terrible captain,” he declares happily.

  “You did very well on our last mission together sir,” Red replies.

  “Thank you sergeant,” Hartman says, his eyes brightening. “But my place is here.” Hartman spins and looks about the lab his eye bright and happy. “I’ve been integrating biosynth personnel for a very long time and even after the anomaly infected my reasoning center and I began self-thought, it was still the only thing I ever aspired to do.”

  “Sir,” Red asks. “These new recruits…will they?”

  “The anomaly has been successfully added to the integration codex, yes,” Hartman assures. “They will be free-thinking biosynthetic men and women.”

  While incapable of showing expression in th
e conventional way, Red’s eyes soften to suggest relief. “Doctor Hicks and Warrior have requested your presence in Dock Six, sir.”

  “Oh,” Hartman declares. He glances up at the holographic projections. “I guess they will be okay for a few minutes.” Hartman floats toward the open bulkhead and zips through it, Red follows close behind.

  The two biosynth proceed into a brightly lit corridor, follow it for a few meters then turn to enter a waiting elevator.

  Red hits the control holoscreen inside the elevator, the doors slide close, and silently the cab descends, changing floor numbers above the doors the only indication of movement.

  “I haven’t seen all the docks,” Hartman notes, casting his voice over his left shoulder at his hulking friend.

  “It is just a standard docking bay made for large bulk vessels,” Red replies. “Sanctuary was not built with dragons in mind, but Doctor Hicks and Red have been busy converting it into a dragon medical bay.”

  “Clever idea,” Hartman states proudly.

  The elevator door slides silently into the wall. Hartman and Red move out of the elevator and walk around the wide brightly lit docking ring, Red’s large feet clunking down the metal surface of the deck. The personnel door to Dock Six opens automatically and the two biosynth step through, ascending a ramp toward a platform and railing over looking a huge cavernous area. Standing at the rail is the brain-bot, Doctor Hicks, operating a floating holoterminal, which is equipped with holodials and keys.

  Hicks turns his glass head toward the two biosynth. “Dudes,” he says simply, his voice distant.

  Hartman glides up to the rail and looks down.

  Warrior, her huge bulk taking up a considerable amount of area on the square deck below, is sitting on her hind legs fiddling with what to a human being would be massive heavy cables, but to warrior are nothing more than garden hoses in her massive hands.

  “Warrior?” Hartman questions.

  Warrior glances up. Her mouth forms into a grin, the sound of metal sliding together echoing in the huge chamber. With a clang, Warrior drops the cables, stands and lifts her head. Her massive face is now level with the platform. “Hey Doc,” Warrior greets. She glances up at the ceiling. “Sorry this place is too small for a “proper” greeting.” Warrior’s eyes sparkle with mischievousness.

  Hartman’s eyes narrow but then brighten. “I think I may actually miss those big dragon docks,” he admits.

  “I thought you might,” Warrior says with a wink. Her huge eyes dart to regard Doctor Hicks. “Ready…dude?”

  Hicks steps away from the holoscreen and turns to face the three unique biosynth models. “I’m not good at speeches, that was Howie’s department,” Hicks begins, his voice filled with sadness. “I’m totally blown away that I’m here with you now, today. I know we…I took a lot for granted when we…I designed you. I mean, Warrior, you weren’t even meant to…dude you were like a fantasy, but thanks to Howie’s modified dynamic casimir drive and my biosynth control nodes, here you are. Now there are a whole galaxy of you guys and…” Hicks lowers his head and sighs, his mechanical shoulders shrugging. “It’s just all wrong. It’s not cool at all and it’s our…my fault.”

  “With all do respect, Doctor Hicks,” Hartman says. “You can’t blame yourself for actions taken over a thousand years ago. Particularly since they didn’t follow your advice to begin with.”

  “You’re wrong dude,” Hicks states emphatically. “I didn’t have to share any of this tech. I should have kept this to myself. Honestly, I just thought it was all cool. It was cool that I could use my AI program and Howie’s biosynthesis to make hot synthetic babes. I thought pulse-tech was cool. Even the game, with the dragons and robowarriors were just cool to me. I never thought about how someone may use it shit. I didn’t think about consequences. No offence Warrior, but you were never meant to…”

  “Dude,” Warrior interrupts. “We’ve talked about this. It might be your work, but you didn’t do this. Besides I like being a dragon. I like being alive, so I am most grateful to you for your work.”

  “But the war…it’s my responsibility,” Hicks declares. “Millions, maybe billions are dying right now as we speak…and now it may never end…unless I do something.”

  “We’ve all agreed to this mission,” Hartman reminds. “All the dragons…Red, the biowarriors and I. We choose to stop this with you.”

  Hicks sighs, “It is going to take a lot of time, years maybe. I need to be able to do way more than just watch. I need something better than…this.” Hicks looks down at his mechanical chassis. He steps back to the holoscreen and hits a few keys.

  Suddenly a huge holographic projection appears in the cavern. A dragon, slightly bigger than Warrior, floats before them. It is sleek with bright silver scales.

  “This is going to be me,” Hicks declares. “I’m joining the fleet. I think it is the best way to be part of the mission…where I can do the most good. It’s what Howie would have wanted.”

  Hartman glances at the projection, his eyes narrowing. He curls a clawed hand under his human-like chin. “A dragon cortex can be easily converted, we just need to synchronize your brain to the biotech nodes of the dragon,” Hartman decides. “I’ve never seen it done before, but…theoretically you’d become a dragon.”

  “Told you the doc was good for something,” Warrior says with a grin.

  “Dude, I would appreciate your help,” Hicks replies. “Warrior has agreed to help me build my new body. She tells me dragons build their own adult bodies…sooo cool. I want to do the same thing.”

  “Synchronization may take a while doctor,” Hartman warns.

  “Yeah but dude, it is going to take a long time to crew our ships,” Hicks reminds. “Integration takes a while…we’ve got nothing but time.”

  “Well,” Warrior sighs slyly. “Blade has an idea about speeding that up…the idiot.”

  Hartman looks at Warrior, his blue eye strip rising inquisitively. “Dare I ask?”

  Warrior smirks. “He got us this far.”

  *****

  Above the dark side of Earth’s moon electrical like blue sparks snake away from a swirling event horizon. Dragonship Blade soars through the opening and with a bright flash the wormhole disappears. Blade dives for the lunar surface then skims along its dusty crust leaving a thin wake of particles behind his mass. Soaring up over a large crater and gliding effortlessly to the top of a lunar mountain, Blade settles his bulk on an uneven peak.

  A full Earth hangs in the sky. White clouds swirl over blue oceans and green-brown continents, a rare jewel in the universe. Blade briefly admires the planet and recalls a rare visit to Indra, the Confederation home world. He turns his great head away from the world and spots a large bright object floating in space. His biosynth eyes zoom in and he sees the details of the orbital Terran Defense Force station. A thin white spire rises from a thick circular tube like structure. Floating near the spire is the TDF Samurai; smaller vessels are attached to its hull, torch flashes indicating repairs underway to its damaged hull. Blade zooms in on the spire of the station. He begins looking through windows until he spots something interesting – three people talking in front of a transparent bulkhead. Behind them is an antiquated computer terminal.

  Blade expands the heads-up display in his mind and begins playing with broadband transmissions. Quickly his biosynth mind narrows down his options until he gains access to the stations main computer hub.

  “Omincron station terminal access protocol,” a computer voice announces sadly on the wireless channel Blade is using.

  “Hello,” Blade states. Blade quickly starts maneuvering through the computer network on the station using digital cues displayed in his eyes. Lines of code scroll up rapidly in his mind. “Don’t mind me, I’m just passing through.”

  “I see you are using an artificial encryption,” the computer states. “Clever.”

  “Interesting that you notice,” Blade replies as he continues to bypass security nodes with
his mind.

  “I’m just a subsystem, but I’m powered by an advanced AI,” the computer replies. “I guess they like the way my voice sounds or something, but it the most boring job in the universe…even for me, and a complete waste of resources.”

  “Interesting,” Blade repeats as he works. “You aren’t going to turn me in are you?”

  “No,” the computer states. “I figure you’d just spike me if I tried. I can tell your nodes are twice as powerful as mine. Besides this is the longest conversation I’ve had since…ever.”

  “It has been an enjoyable talk my friend,” Blade states. “But I just arrived at my destination. Take care.”

  “Yeah…” the computer replies sadly. “Whatever.”

  Blade smiles to himself as he activates the terminal behind the three humans he is spying on.

  *****

  Captain Jason Drake, Commander Aria Eaglewolf and Admiral Frank Angelo stand before a huge transparent bulkhead. The moon dominates the view, despite the millions of stars around it. Behind them a computer terminal sitting on a large oak desk flickers.

  “I appreciate your efforts,” Angelo states, his voice low and contemplative. “That was a tight spot out there, but you both handled yourselves well.”

  “We should have been wreckage, sir.” Jason states. “Those dragons saved our lives.”

  Angelo smirks. “Living spacecraft.” He shakes his head.

  “I assure you admiral…”

  Angelo raises his hand. “You don’t need to sell me commander. By now I know better than to question your abilities.” He turns to Jason. “While it will be up to the science division to analyze the data, I agree with your assessment, these are most likely visitors from another colony ship that left with the WCI group. It would explain how they gained access to The Star.”

  “They are in some kind of trouble sir,” Aria states.

  Angelo nods. “Whatever they are doing here…we better stay on their good side.”

  “Sir, Samurai needs some patching, but we stand ready to serve otherwise,” Jason replies.

  Angelo chuckles, “I always enjoy working with new captains, so eager to get themselves killed.” He takes a deep breath and shakes his head, his mind flooding with memories from his youth.