Chapter 58 The Oeve LEVIR. I thought my guys were going to crap their pants when a massive oeve ran out of the grasses right at us… We knew that was going to be an oeve, the duhis warned us of its arrival. We just could not help but drown in the primal fear this dangerous predator instilled in all of us. So this thing, like a black ghost, approaches us in one large jump. The creature has a resemblance of a four legged ani...

Chapter 57 A Pleasant Landing “My name is Fern, and from now on you work for me, and you belong to me!” Aha, what does that tell me? This Fern guy is handsome, graceful, but rude. Is he also “dangerously confused”? That remains to be seen. We walk to a huge craft, parked on the beach, half-way in the water. There is a ramp stretched from the door to the sandy soil. I feel a tickling on my right hand. There is a ribbon of...

Chapter 56 Twenty Years Later LEVIR. My name is Levir, I am originally from the planet of Crumbling Rose of Andromeda Galaxy, forced into exile with the rest of my Duhi order, or, rather those, who survived. We have moved to the planet of Lira to escape the persecution for breaking the Law. Twenty years ago Izumrud (Zumi), the de-facto leader of Crumbling Rose who helped to overthrow the unfair Law, was killed by a rival...

Chapter 11 By Kari and Rascal (Note; Rascal has now taken Jason's role) Jason's grin faded when he got to his empty cabin. Sive had changed her mind, that was clear. The situation was snarled good. He'd made a fool of himself, no doubt. He'd have to suck it up and keep the brightest light he could about it. She was young, and might have cold feet about an old guy like himself. He went to the common room for coffee, then b...

Romero looked at me and said, “This is my bitch to slap. Get to your lifepod. I’ll buy the time you all need.” I waited a moment. “Ensign, get your ass out of here and kiss my girl for me when you get planet-side.” I asked him, “Which planet?” “Any, sir! I have a girlfriend on every one!” Just like a jarhead to have a woman on every planet and station. He was a brave man. We both knew if he remained, he wouldn’t be leavin...

Romero must have noticed my nervousness, because he said, “Don’t worry ensign, you’ll do fine.” I asked, “Aren’t you going to bolster my bravery with some fictional Klingonese battle cry like ‘Today is a good day to die!’then give an evil laugh or something?” He shook his head and replied, “No sir, I’m not. The only Klingon I know of are on my hairy ass. In the deep black, there is only life and death, and death comes qui...

Chapter 10 By Kari and Khadaj When Jason asked about cancer risks, Sive's heart beat a little faster, she finally got the courage to look him straight in the eyes. To her vast relief there was no abhorrence or disgust on his face, just curiosity. She had feared that there was a real possibility that he would kick her off the 'Angel' and never want to lay eyes on her again. She smiled slightly before beginning, “Of course,...

After my conversation with Ibanez and reviewing the computer defense programming , I considered the Captain’s conclusions while walking to my next destination. I contacted the gunnery chief. A standard sized freighter like the BharatBenz carries very little armament and no armor or shielding. Our turrets are the equivalent to a laser pistol against a Bolo class AI tank; give us enough time with our target at close range a...

Then it hit me and I said, “This isn’t a tadar ghost. It’s a ship or probe and it’s getting closer. Is it an EA vessel?” “This is nothing like I’ve ever seen and I thought I had seen everything built, until now. Maybe it’s a prototype or built from scratch. This type of equipment isn’t sold to civilian ships.” I gasped, “You mean pirates?” She said, “I don’t know and remember they’re called bandits now, but they are very...

Chapter 9 By Kari and Khadaj The last two days had Sive on edge, wondering where this attraction she felt for Jason was heading. Should she just let it happen? Or should they sit down and really find out what each was thinking and wanted. If they did get involved, how would that impact their working relationship? These and many more thoughts kept on swirling around in her head. There was one real concern, were the nanites...

Chapter 55 The Measure of Love Kallitris leans to me, hugs me with his wing and kisses in the lips. The pale light from the windshield hits his webbed wings and they light up dark amethyst-purple. What a magnificent creature he is. I would love just to be with him. I wish it was that simple. So many thoughts, so little time. “It’s all good” My boyfriend says. “Take me to Leot, I’m not going to hurt him. I just need to tal...

All the way down the passageway, I heard the laughter and comments yelled after me from the crew’s mess. Today is just getting better and better. As I walked towards the tadar equipment compartment, I heard an announcement on the ships intercom for me to contact the CO. I quickly changed direction and hustled forward to the old man’s stateroom. She doesn’t like to be kept waiting. Captain Leopard was old for the spacefare...

Chapter 54 A Tough Decision The diamond in my hand is as heavy as his love. I would carry it around for my sake, but now it seems like the whole Universe is getting aggravated and tired of carrying Kallitris the sheirer. “I dare you to try and break it. You will realize that it is impossible.” With that he takes my hand, and leads me away. We go downstairs to the hangar. I look at the huge hall, filled with flying spacecr...

I said, “It appears to be a tadar transmission, but it can’t be.” Pointing at the contradictory information I continued, “See here, the tachyon wave pattern is way off norm. This pattern is completely inefficient. The prototype tadars installed almost eighty years ago operated better than this. The power readings are crinkled too.” As Denton evaluated my findings, my concentration wandered to Carmen. She was attractive, b...

Chapter 8 By Kari and Khadaj Once Sive entered the bridge, Zlanta got right down to business, showing her the various stations to her new crew-mate. Since most of them looked very much like her scout ship, only much more grand, Sive had no trouble absorbing all the information from Zlanta.  “I think I have the basics down now Zlanta, unless we come across some real bad storms or pirates I shouldn't have to bother anyone o...