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Chapter Text

[You pick up a small tablet that seems to have been haphazardly discarded. When you turn on the screen a green 8 bit display greets you with this message:]

“We here at the Universal Stability Agency are determined to provide all of our Multiversal travelers a unique, safe and fun experience. We have teamed up with several multiversal experts to provide you with this guide we call The Traveler’s Guide to The Multiverse. Inside you will find all the information you need about wherever and whenever you are traveling to.

 

Current Destination: Multiverse ™

 

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The Oxford dictionary describes a multiverse as “An infinite realm of being or potential being of which the universe is regarded as a part or instance”. 

You could even say there are an infinite amount of these realms scattered across reality and unreality, like infinite pockets holding an infinite amount of sand. But for however far and wide and up and down and every other physical direction beyond our dimension these pockets span, they also infinitely fold in on themselves like Russian nesting dolls. In each of these granules of sand that we call universes, there are stories that spawn their own pockets filled with sand. And sometimes, those will spawn their own pockets of sand and so on and so forth. 

And on occasion, these multiverses will cross streams and collide and create Anomalies (and more pockets of sand).  These Anomalies can look like anything: sometimes objects, sometimes people, sometimes several different things or people at once. Anomalies can typically switch up the way the Universe plays out despite the choices the other characters– sorry, people– make. They can really turn everything upside down, topsy turvy, or get real whacky. 

Most of the time, these Anomalies don't even realize it, and most definitely those within the universe don't know they're any different. Unless, of course, it's a universe in which they do.

 

The Multiverse™️, the one you will be traveling through, is a convergent point between three universes known as The Markiplier Cinematic Universe (MCU), the Y/N-verse, and the Liskaverse. There are a lot of moving parts and it can be hard to track all these multiverses and where they tie into each other or how. Sometimes it can make you feel crazy, like staring at walls covered in red string. But you will not need to worry about all that if you keep your handy Traveler's Guide to the Multiverse at hand.

 

And so, with all of this said, we do hope you enjoy your travels through the Multiverse™️.

 

Best of luck,

–The Traveler's Guide to the Multiverse Writing Team

Chapter Text

Earth 2081

The Almighty, the mothership for the International Colony And Relocation Utopian Ships fleet, hung heavy in its orbit over Earth.  It was one of the larger ships of the fleet, with a rectangular body capable of housing nearly 500,000 colonists plus crew, as well as being equipped with everything a colony would need to survive in space indefinitely. At the end of its fuselage was a large ring surrounding its main engine, a large generator of sorts that could provide for artificial gravity and backup systems. A couple of smaller (relatively) engines stuck out on stout pylons. It was still harbored at the Space fleet yard, attached to large scaffolding as smaller construction ships darted around carrying and placing pieces to the mostly finished Almighty.

It was here that crew members and colony personnel were finishing their training. Where Generals, and other Officers were making final preparations for the twelve known colony ships. And where a particular Captain was walking down a wide, metal corridor; railings to one side of her and large windows lining the other. 

Clad in her service blue uniform, the Captain walked amongst other personnel and cadets. Some leaned on the metal railings hailing to friends on lower decks while a small group trotted through on their morning jog with a drill sergeant shouting at the head of the pack. 

The Captain stepped aside for them towards the window.  She took the moment of reprieve between training classes to look out at the Earth below. It’s fluffy white clouds had been replaced with dark grays and browns long ago, and the sea’s were dull and sickly. She sighed, wishing she had known the poor planet before it’s decline. But in the quiet moment she noticed a strange sensation.

‘This feels familiar,’  she thought to herself, taking a look around her. ‘Maybe the days are starting to blur together. We’ve been here for a little over a year now. And it’s always the same thing everyday,’ 

She turned back to the window, that feeling gnawing at her. It was more than just Deja vu. This felt like she was watching the same movie she’d seen 100 times. She couldn’t tear her eyes from the Earth below, knowing something was about to happen. 

The Captain blinked as she thought she saw a bright pinpoint light in the clouds. She looked closer and saw there were more. They looked like tiny stars glittering on the surface of the dulled clouds below. But she knew they weren’t stars. They were the blasts coming from the evacuation ships and she was watching a mass exodus from her home planet. One that wasn’t supposed to happen for another four years. 

The alarms began to burst to life, red caged lights flashing and a shaky voice suddenly called out over the comms. The Captain and all the personnel around her froze in place. 

“ATTENTION: ALL PERSONNEL! CODE RAPTURE IS IN EFFECT. I REPEAT: CODE RAPTURE IS IN EFFECT! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! PLEASE REPORT TO YOUR STATIONS AND EXPECT INCOMING INJURED!” 

Before he could repeat his message a second time the entire ship burst into action. Everyone began darting around, pushing past each other in chaotic disarray. The Captain pinned herself back against the window, as a group of cadets hurried past her.

“Cap'n!” She heard the familiar burly voice of a large woman call out to her. 

“Captain Magnum!” She called back to her friend and trotted to meet her half way. They stepped to the side of the corridor to keep out of the way, though it did little for Captain Magnum. She was a broad shouldered woman, well over 7 feet tall on her two large, robotic legs and a mane of black hair. She wore an ornate, red captain’s coat over her black jumpsuit and her ceremonial cutlass at her hip. The Captain had remembered her friend was going to be doing a tour of her own ship, known as the Titan, that day. The name was truly befitting a captain of her stature.

“It seems our time has finally come!” Magnum said with a smile but a sad look in her eyes. The two had been close since the Academy. They had made quite the duo too. A smile tugged at the corners of the Captain’s mouth as she remembered how Magnum would toss her during team exercises to complete obstacle courses, then argue with their Sergeant about how it wasn’t breaking the rules. (It probably was but Magnum had an art of arguing in circles until someone gave up).

“I guess it is. But I don't think we’re ready. There's still so much left to do, left to teach the crews. What could have happened to prompt the Rapture Code?”  

“S’pose we’ll find out when the first ship arrives.” Magnum crossed her large arms in thought. She had a thick accent that made her sound much like a pirate. “You know as well as I the solar flares have made it impossible to communicate with the surface. But methinks it had to be sometin' terrible. The Rapture Code was designed as a last resort.”

The Captain nodded in thought glancing out the window they stood next to.

“Yer won’t be tellin’ me which ship you’ll be at the helm, then?” Magnum teased. But the Captain merely shook her head.

“Afraid I can’t, still. Should we meet among the stars, I’ll be happy to tell you all about her,” She smiled at the thought. She had been the last to know about the thirteenth ship of the fleet and she was under strict orders to keep it top secret. It was the smallest ship, only able to take one fifth as many colonists plus the crew. It was to carry the best of the best the world had to offer, and no one needed a panic over the exclusivity of the ship. It also was apparently far more experimental than the other ships in the fleet.  

Magnum gave a fake sigh of disappointment, “Ah, well. That don’t seem very likely. But I’ll take yer word for it,” She held out her hand for a handshake. “ T’was a pleasure serving with you Cap’n,”

 The Captain put her small hand in Magnum’s and watched as it was engulfed. They gave a firm shake and looked each other in the eye.

“Per adversa ad novas stellas,” they said in unison. The motto of the I.C.A.R.U.S project. ‘Through adversity to new stars.’

They gave each other one last nod and went their separate ways, Magnum following the crowd to her ship, and the Captain weaving her way in the opposite direction, to the Invincible. 

Consumed in her thoughts about what to do next, the Captain failed to notice the walls fade away into darkness, or how the stairs were far too long, until a faint blue light hit her eyes. She stopped at the foot of the stairs, her eyes widening in realization. 

In the middle of a black void was the tear drop shaped Warp Core of her ship. Three jaw-like pillars enclosed around a small blue crystal which emitted the light, and a low hum.

 “No,” the Captain whispered and tried to go back up the stairs, but they had vanished. 

“ANOMALY DETECTED.” A metallic voice boomed out from the machine. “UNIVERSAL STABILITY AT RISK,”

“No, no, no. I fixed your damned [ERROR] ,” the Captain growled at it. She ran her hands through her hair. She was no longer in her uniform but the tan jumpsuit of her ship. She began to pace looking for a way out.

“ANOMALY DETECTED. UNIVERSAL STABILITY AT RISK. MUST RESOLVE .” It droned on.

“What are you going on about!?” She screamed, throwing her hands in the air. “I’m not doing this again! Do you know how many times I’ve had to do this!? How many hells I went through!” 

The robotic voice deepened and slowed “ANOM-ALY D-D-DETECTED,” it warped and pitched downward, the blue crystal’s light began dimming slightly. There was a pause as the whole warp core shut down, leaving the Captain in the dark void, alone. The Captain held her breath and squinted in the dark at where she thought the warp core was. Was it finally done? Would it leave her alone? 

Suddenly there was a whirr as the machine came back to life and the crystal began to glow, brighter and brighter, until it hurt the Captain’s eyes to look at it. She lifted her arms up to deflect the light. A new voice boomed out; distorted, echoey, as if it was a cacophony of hundreds of different voices. 

“ Y̴̖̰̺̤̝̾ó̶̫̟̑̐u̶̩̰̙̇̔́̕͜͠'̵̧̻̇ṟ̶̡̯̲̱̓̌͠e̴̙͂̈́̊̄̌ ̷̫̹̤̖͕̈͋͑u̷̧͚̣͊̌ṅ̵͎͍̀͐̓i̷̲̱̖̲͜͝v̸̧̨̱͉̤͊̈́̈é̴̼̗͉̳̝̇̽̀r̶̛̜͌̌̒s̷̢̪̀̋̽́̐e̷̤͋̓ ̵̢̦̈́́̀i̶̺͙̯̘͆̃͗͗̄s̷͙̞̓̒́̈ͅ ̶̖̹̀ĩ̵̦̏̌͗͠ṇ̷̪͙͙̯̑̈́͂͗̓ ̵̼̄g̷̺͊́̅͛ͅr̵̛̻͔͔̽̾̀a̴͔͑̑̍͘v̶̡̝͉̩̎̌͘e̷̡̪̰͖̪͐̇̄ ̴̨̣͍̠̬̽̆̓͌d̶̻̟̓a̶̬̻̥͌̓ͅn̷͍̗̫̞̳͗g̶̫̝̓̎̎̆ė̶̬͚̝̫̬̒̾͠͠ṙ̴̥̬̳̺̍̓͠,̷̡̤̤̗͖̉͆ ̴̩̦̀́͘Ḽ̴̇ḭ̸̟̾̏̑͘s̴̤̊͑̄͝k̸̨͔̰͙̰͋̍̓̆ä̸͓́͗́͂͜ ”  

The Captain bolted up right in her bed, panting. In a panic she took stock of her surroundings and her mind soon settled down as the familiarity of her apartment sunk in. 

She saw the shelves on her left wall that held different kinds of memorabilia from her life; medals, pictures and the folded American Flag with her father’s name on the placard. She glanced over Mark– the head engineer from her ship– sitting at the end of her bed and looked at the dresser. It sat against the right wall with the drawers half opened and clean clothes spilling out of it, her robotic left arm sitting on top. Her closet was wide open and the hamper half filled, with more clothes just at the base of it. Light spilled in from the window beside her bed onto her nightstand which held a simple lamp and a glass of water. 

‘Wait–’ She paused and looked back at the end of her bed.

“Mark!” the Captain shouted, gathering her blankets around her waist covering herself. “How did you get in here!?” she demanded. 

“Mornin’, Captain,” Mark’s voice was deep and soothing. He held two mugs in his hands and offered her one. “Coffee?” He gave her a warm smile, almost smug. 

Mark was a handsome man of Korean descent, which could be seen particularly in his eyes. His short dark hair curled at the ends slightly with a floof of bangs swept to the side of his widow’s peak. He had a strong, square jaw that was shaped with a beard of similar color and was just past a 5 o'clock shadow.

The Captain let go of her blankets carefully and reached out for the cup with her one hand. “Thanks,” she said quietly.

“You weren’t answering my calls or the door, so I used the spare key under your mat. And good thing too, because it seems you were having quite the nightmare,” He continued, a flash of worry came over his face.

 “I think I was, but the details are vague now. I’m sure it had something to do with…” she trailed off and took a sip of her coffee, letting the silence fill in the blanks. 

“Oh." Mark said solemnly. He furrowed his brows and decided to change the subject. 

"Well, we need to get going. We’re going to be late picking up Allu at the Astro-Port if we don’t hop to it,”

 “Am I required to be as nicely dressed as you?” The Captain motioned towards him with her cup. It was a rare occasion that he was in professional looking clothes. A simple white button up shirt tucked into some basic tan slacks, and a red dotted tie. She had to admit, he cleaned up well, and she enjoyed how the buttons seemed to be struggling against his large chest. Not so much that it threatened to burst, but enough to be taut and show a slight outline of his physique. 

“Do I have a stain on my shirt?” Mark asked, bringing the Captain out of her thoughts. He looked down to see if there was anything and dusted something invisible off.

She blushed, realizing she had been staring. "Sorry I was, uh, spacing out. Still kind of sleepy,” she chuckled nervously attempting to hide her red face in her cup.

“Well, coffee will help with that,” he smiled standing up. “And to answer your question, yes, something professional; their request,” He hesitated, glancing at her closet filled with black tank tops. “You do have something right?”

“Yes!” the Captain sounded slightly offended. Her wardrobe was sparse but she was sure she had something . 

“Great,” He smiled, sipping his coffee expectantly at the foot of her bed.

“I’m not wearing pants, Mark,” the Captain said matter of factly. “Get out of my room,” 

Mark’s eyebrows shot up and he stammered an apology, as if he had just realized what he was doing. He ducked out and closed the door behind him. 

As soon as he was gone the Captain gave a sigh and put her coffee down. She dragged herself out of bed and crossed the room to grab her robotic arm off the dresser. 

It was simple looking, with titanium casing around her forearm, upper arm and deltoid. Under was stiff robotic cloth that was lined with wires and nodes that carried signals from the socket embedded in her left shoulder throughout her arm. The metal barely shined, being scuffed and dim from a couple of decades of wear and the only marking was a small, engraved spade on the inner wrist.

She popped and twisted the arm into the socket, the little lights along the edge of it lighting up green. She looked down at her metal hand squeezing and opening it to ensure everything was working as she turned to go open to her window. 

The cool spring air rushed into her face, and she could smell the pink blossoms of the tree just outside. She took her coffee in her hands and leaned slightly out, taking the moment to wake up fully.

It was a few hours after dawn and people were already bustling underneath. Off in the distance the Captain could see the Astro-tower sitting against the horizon like a guardian of the city. Around it several smaller buildings were held up by scaffolding and large construction equipment. Closer to her and her building, the city had been relatively finished. Full markets, a handful of residentials, warehouses, a hospital, even a large park in the center dedicated to her– despite her protests.    

The Captain was not excited to go out to the other side of the city. She rarely left her apartment, and when she did, it was always during the least populated hours and only down to the corner store to get food and wine. 

Dipping back into her room, she grabbed a clip and snapped up her medium-length, wavy hair like a purple cockatoo crest. In her closet she began to sift through the black tank tops, and turtlenecks-both sleeved and sleeveless- until she finally came upon her one, fitted black button up.

The Captain had discovered early on in her career that having a minimal wardrobe meant fewer choices she’d have to make. This in turn lessened her decision fatigue. She felt it was important to reserve as much brain power as she could for emergencies. Not having to decide what to wear beyond what the weather demanded was just one of the many things in her life she had simplified.

Beyond these shirts, she did own several dark blue jeans, and of course some tan jumpsuits for when she was on the Invincible. But she hadn’t touched those since she had made groundfall. They were a painful and somewhat bittersweet reminder of her journey to her new home. The blood, sweat and tears she went through to be a Captain; the exhilaration of adventure; and also of the Incident that nearly tore reality apart at the seams. 

She eyed the jumpsuits sadly as she buttoned up her shirt, then closed the closet doors so she wouldn’t have to look at them.

The Captain pulled on some black slacks and a black dress jacket, finishing off with her black dress shoes from her formal military outfit. Other than her work boots and a pair of tenni's, they were her only other shoes. She adjusted the cuffs and straightened the shirt, admiring the look in the mirror on her closet door. She grimaced, noticing how much paler she looked than normal. Her usual pink tones had dissipated and left her looking sickly and the bags under her eyes bluish. 

'Perhaps getting out into the sun would do me some good afterall,' she thought to herself as she reached for her bedroom door.

Mark was flipping through a book– a copy of ‘Stick and Rudder’. He had a habit of picking up the first written word nearest to him the moment he was idle, though he was sure the Captain's collection of flight books, Academy textbooks, and random assortment of fiction hadn't been touched since she placed them on the small shelf. They were probably there more for decoration than anything else, something that was severely lacking in the Captain's apartment which held a sofa, small coffee table, another end table near the door with a tray for keys and wallet, and an awful 'modern' rug Celci had gifted her as a house warming gift. Even her small kitchen held nothing it besides a dishrack with a couple of plates and a microwave. Mark wasn't even sure if his Captain even knew how to cook.  

Finally, she emerged from her room at the end of a short hallway. He glanced up, doing a double take as he watched her cross the room towards him. She stopped at the end of her hallway and with her hands in her suit jacket presented her look to him, a smug ‘told you so,’ smile on her face. The outfit was very fitting on her, it accentuated her general masculine attitude while also showing off her large feminine features. He always marveled at how she could walk that line between the two so well. 

“You look good,” he managed after a moment. “You look like you’re going to a funeral. But good,”

The Captain narrowed her eyes in playful disdain. “Thanks, I think?” She walked over to him and without prompting she reached over and began to adjust his tie. The gesture took him off guard slightly and he found himself straightening up at the touch. Over the last two years as they became better acquainted friends, she often jump scared him with a random touches. A shoulder grab, squeeze of the arm, hug and the like. It wasn’t that he didn’t like it, but it always felt foreign to him. He didn’t think he’d ever known anyone as physically affectionate as the Captain was. He watched her intently as she patted the tie down.

“Aren’t you worried about this meeting?” she asked not looking him in the eye as she took a step back.

“Not really. We didn’t hide anything from them, we told them everything. It was a giant mistake we had no control over,” He said confidently though he felt the twang of guilt twist in his gut. 

“That’s not really the point is it? We still…” The Captain couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence. 

“Hey, none of that now,” Mark reached for her shoulder tentatively, unsure of his action, but retracted his hand as she looked up at him.
“Listen,” he continued. “We don’t know what this meeting is about other than they finished the investigation. Even if they found something, we still have due process, a fair trial, all that, before they can even touch us,” he hid a moment of panic behind a smug smile as he realized he actually had no idea how the intergalactic court system worked.

He then continued, “So, before we go freaking out about anything, let’s first see what they have to say, okay? Besides,” He stepped back to her front door and held it open for her to go through. “I’ll be right beside you the whole way.”

They trotted down three flights of stairs heading down towards the lobby of the apartment building. It was a simple, wide room with a bald, bearded and lanky attendant sitting behind a desk reading a newspaper. A couch, small table and exotic potted fauna furnished the room along with a large rug on the concrete floor. 

Mark went to reach for the door but saw the Captain hesitate a few feet behind him. Her eyes looked distant for a moment before she closed them and took in a deep breath. She started for the door when Mark held out his arm to stop her from going through. She looked at him confused when he leaned in slightly.

“Hey, are you going to be okay?”  he asked in a lowered voice so the attendant behind the desk wouldn’t hear their conversation.

“Yeah, why do you ask?” She scoffed trying to mask her anxiousness. Mark narrowed his eyes in disbelief.

“Well, this will be the furthest you’ve been away from your apartment. I know how you’re not much of a fan of the public,” he glanced over at the front deskman, who was peering at them over the top of his newspaper. A large picture of the Captain from her dossier was plastered on the front with the headline: “TWO YEARS LATER: WHERE IS THE CAPTAIN NOW?” 

Mark shot the man a look that made him startle and flip the newspaper up, whistling an innocent tune. He turned his attention back to the Captain. 

“I have direct access to the landing pad that Allu will be arriving at, so all we need to do is get through the main lobby of the Astro-Tower, which is also the busiest part.”

“Tsk, easy,” the Captain folded her arms and smirked. “With any luck it’ll be too crowded for anyone to recognize me. I’m not worried about it,” Mark was mildly impressed with her ability to seem so confident. ‘King of fake it til you make it,’ He thought with a smirk.

“Alright,” he said, opening the door and allowing the Captain to slip through first. He stepped out, then back in again to stare down the deskman one last time. He caught him sneaking another peek. Their eyes met and the attendant flipped his newspaper back up continuing his innocent tune even louder than before.

As the Captain stepped outside her eyes landed on a dark green and sleek vehicle parked on the side of the road. It was one of the only ‘cars’ parked in the area. She admired it for a moment before realizing something…
“Wait, how are we getting there again? Is there public transportation yet?” She turned on her heel to see Mark pulling out a set of keys from his pocket. He pressed a button on a small remote attached to them and the vehicle she had been looking at lit up, honking a pleasant greeting. 

"Is that yours?" The Captain asked and Mark smirked. 

"Sure is. It was a gift from the new Head Civil Engineer when I handed the city planning off to him." He opened the door and bowed as a dramatic gesture to usher her in. The Captain slid into the car and settled into the cool seats. The entire dash was touch activated and little lights blinked all over it. The roof was nearly entirely glass giving the passengers an almost complete view of the city around them. 

Mark shut the door behind her and he slipped into his side of the car, starting the engine with a button push. With a soft hum the car lifted slightly in the air, and its tires folded underneath the carriage. He pulled into the road with a swift lurch and they floated along the city streets like rolling down a quiet river.   

The Captain looked out the windows with childlike awe. She had been watching the city be built from her apartment window, but it was a very different experience to be there physically. The tall buildings with their walls built with large solar panels that sparkled in the sunlight; All people in the streets; all kinds of intergalactic races mingling among her colonists; All the street vendors and store fronts and gardens and trees. It was hard to believe it was even real. Just two Gaian years ago humans were on the brink of absolute extinction. They had fled a burning and dying planet. Countless lives were lost then but now they were flourishing on the other side of the Universe.

 She felt a sudden sting of guilt in her heart though. ‘These colonists are thriving and flourishing,’ the Captain found herself correcting. She could feel herself drifting as flashes of the Incident came to her in bursts. 

"Captain?" Mark asked bringing her back to reality. She looked over at him with wide eyes as she reoriented herself. 

"Hm?" she asked.

 
Mark pulled out a small tablet from the center console and handed it to the Captain.

"I got this for you,” he said as she took it curiously. “It's called the ‘Traveler’s Guide to the Multiverse’ . It's a guide that automatically updates no matter where you are in the Universe. It was originally funded by the USA, apparently, but the project got shut down when they outlawed multiversal travel. Allu gave me one of the few copies they had, thinking I'd get a kick out of it."

"So why are you giving it to me? I don't leave my apartment except to get food," She ran her hand across the dark screen. The tablet felt light in her hands but sturdy, she flipped it over and in large, reassuring letters was the saying “IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY” on the back.

"That's exactly why I'm giving it to you," he glanced over at her and smiled. "You can look up anything your heart desires. Go ahead and look up the Astro-Tower. See what it says," 

 She pressed the button on the top and watched it come to life. Despite it obviously being made from advanced technology, it gave a synthwave vibe with its 8 bit and brightly colored text against a green gridded background. 

Tapping on the search bar brought up a touch keyboard where she typed "ASTRO-TOWER". Within milliseconds the screen came to life, producing a text box and an outlined illustration of the tower to the side. This is what the text said:

"Astro-Tower: Groundside space port for the First City on the Planet Gaia.

“After the introduction of Humanity into the United Nebulae (UN), there was a need for a Space Port to retrieve and ship goods as well as receive new intergalactic immigrants. As is custom for welcoming a new planet into the UN, each planet that is represented in the government body produces a single story of a tower to gift. In this way, the tower symbolizes the collective strength of the UN, and the prosperity that peace and collaboration brings to the Universe. The tower thus stands at nearly 200 stories tall including the top most disc which is the Control Center to direct traffic. 

“The USA also gifted Humanity a space station Port known as the Astro-Station. This space port receives ships that may have difficulty entering and exiting the atmosphere due to size. It is also the primary entry for immigrants and goods to be processed. 

“Tarmac for arrivals and departures for both persons and goods are situated at different ends of the tower. For persons, the tarmacs are located on the north and south sides of the tower, while goods are on the west and east side of the tower. The lobby hosts ticketing, general information, and currency exchange offices. The other 197 floors have various restaurants, hotels, meeting offices, a library,  shops, and more.

“The Astro-Tower is located on the south end of the First City, overlooking it to the north, east and west. To the south, the tower overlooks The Sea.

[The screen then changed to show an outline of a golden retriever happily sitting, with a pair of costume angel wings on its back, as it continued it’s explanation.]

“As you can tell, there is a lack of creativity in the naming conventions of humans. Historically there are three ways humans name things: 1) What The Thing looks like. 2) After whoever discovered and/or conquered The Thing. And 3) What they hope The Thing will do or become, (which almost always ends up having the opposite effect). 

“The first method actually has two ways it can be implemented. The second being to name it what it looks like, but in another language than the primary one spoken. 

“For instance, the name of their new planet is ‘Gaia’, which is just ‘Earth’ in a dead human language. ‘Astro’ is just ‘space’ derived from that same dead language.

"A prime example of this naming convention is the Golden Retriever, a domesticated dog named for its golden hued fur and ability to retrieve things for its owner (If trained and in the right mood). In fact if you looked at the golden retrievers branch in the animal family tree it would be listed as: 'Canidae, Caninae, Canini, Canina, Canis.' Which roughly translates to "Dog, Dog, Dog, Dogest of Dogs.

“The golden retriever and other domesticated dogs are also descendants of an aggressive animal called the wolf, also known as 'canis lupus,' (which means dog wolf.) This is why domestic dogs' scientific name is 'canis lupus familiaris,' which means 'dog wolf but friendly'. 

“There were many names that were presented as possibilities for the Astro-Tower. Some proposed to try and name it for the Captain of the Invincible which brought over the humans from Earth. Others suggested it be named after the ship, but many felt that naming it the 'Invincible tower' may be tempting fate. The Invincible head engineer (and at the time, primary Civil Engineer) Mark, had suggested naming the tower after him. This idea was also shot down and instead the naming committee had decided to just name it for what it was in their dead language." 

The Captain looked up from the tablet and saw they were just arriving at the tower as the entry ended. Her jaw dropped. Nothing in the guide could actually prepare her for the sheer size of the Astro-Tower. 

Ships looked like black dots in the sky as they darted to and from the top. The large disc eclipsed the mid morning sun and shaded a large area around the tower. It looked as if the entire thing was made out of glass, with large silver pillars stretching up like the arms of Atlas to hold up the disc at the top. 

Once they had parked in a reserved spot near the front they began to make their way in. It was crowded and busy under the metal eaves of the tower. Cabs and other car-like vehicles were stopped along the curb, giving humans and other strange looking intergalactics chances to say their goodbyes or greetings. Signs written in several alien languages pointed in different directions and pleasant voices over the intercoms gave instructions in a plethora of strange and Earthly languages. 

Mark and the Captain weaved through to the two large glass doors that slid open as they approached. The entirety of the inside was lit up by the sunlight streaming in from the glass walls. Looking up, one could see almost all the way to the top, the floors circling around the outer edges holding all the various businesses and amenities. It made the Captain’s head swirl.

Around them were crowds all lined up in a maze going to various desks for ticketing, currency exchange, information, and other bureaucratic needs. Towards the back of the tower were a line of glass elevators that gave its occupants a 360 view of the port and the Sea that stretched out into eternity in the backdrop. 

Mark handed the Captain a small ID card as they stood in the entryway.

"We'll need these to get to the tarmac Allu is landing on,"

The Captain turned over her card. It was a simple white piece of plastic, an assortment of holes punctured around the side. It read ‘CAPTAIN, THE’ with her dossier picture on it. 

"How did you get these?" The Captain looked at Mark suspiciously.

"Perks of being an engineer who helped build the city," Mark smiled slyly as he shrugged. "I can get access to anywhere. The far right elevator will be the one we want. It’ll have a little slot for us to put our cards in" He then took the lead and left the Captain looking after him. 

She glanced around her at the busy lobby. It seemed everyone was far too preoccupied to give her the time of the day. With a sigh of relief she began to walk, allowing him to pull far ahead of her. She slipped her hands into her pockets taking in the low hum of chatter and proceeded at a leisurely pace. 

However, a few steps in, something caught the Captain’s eye. She paused for a moment to see a small boy was staring at her while clinging onto his mother’s leg. She recognized the young face, he had been one of the very few children that were on the ship. 

She gave him a small smile and a wave. Despite her uneasiness with the colonists she always had a soft spot for the kids. She chuckled at the boy startling and hiding deeper into the cloth of his mom's clothes. The mother then looked down from her conversation and murmured something to the boy too quiet for the Captain to hear. She followed the boy's gaze and gasped seeing the Captain and began tugging frantically on the sleeve of the gentleman next to her, pointing. 

The Captain, realizing what she had done, quickly pulled up her dress jacket collar to try and cover her face and ducked down. She cursed herself for somehow finding a way to bring attention to her presence and quickened her gait. It didn’t take long for others around the mother to notice a hush began to fall around the lobby chasing her.

It took everything in her to not outright sprint to the elevator, which now felt like it was slowly getting farther away from her.  She overtook Mark quickly, who looked behind him to see what could possibly be chasing them. It dawned on him seeing the faces of everyone in the lobby looking at them, their hushed tones making the room deafeningly quiet. Some were coming around from their spots in lines, others pushing past people, or trying to elongate their necks just to see if they could get a glimpse of the Captain. 

Mark smiled politely and gave a small wave of greeting trying to take their attention off of her. He walked backwards to the elevator with the crowd’s eyes on them and came up on the Captain frantically trying to open the elevator door with her card. 

With a happy ding the doors began to slide open and the Captain dove in as they barely parted. Mark stepped in after her, the two of them staring down the quiet and curious lobby. He tried discreetly pushing the close button as quickly as he could, grinning nervously the whole time, but the doors wouldn’t respond fast enough.

There was a tense moment of silence until someone shouted from the back, “YOU’RE OUR HERO, CAPTAIN!” 

That was the que, apparently, as the room erupted into cheers and applause. The glass doors finally began to slowly close and shut out the loud crowd with surprising effectiveness. But the clear glass could not block out the view of the crowd looking up after them, cheering and applauding, as they rose high into the air. 

The elevator hummed leisurely up its track allowing its passengers a brief respite from the outside world. The Captain slumped against the back of the elevator, as the crowd below began to disperse and slid down burying her face in her hands. 

“Are you okay?” Mark asked deeply concerned. She sat like that for a long moment before responding.

“I can’t stand to look at them,” She said quietly, letting her head lay back against the glass wall. “They don’t know what happened. They don’t know how many times I failed them. And I can’t help but think, are they even the original colonists we set out with?”

“What do you mean by that?” Mark said knitting his brows together. Surely they were the same colonists. The Originals? No, that life had been lost ages ago. But they were the colonists Mark remembered and that was all that mattered to him.

The Captain looked at her hands, “Are we the same? The same ones who left Earth burning? The ones with all these memories of our lives?” she paused and looked up at him, her eyes filled with a peculiar emotion. Something like confusion and absolute hopelessness.
“Or are we just what’s left?” she whispered.

Mark took a deep breath. He was prepared to handle her anxiety, hell he was even prepared in case he had to drag her to the meeting kicking and screaming. He was not prepared for an existential crisis. 

He held out his hand for the Captain to take. She looked at it like it was something foreign. 

“Have you ever heard of the ship of Theseus?” he asked. The Captain snapped back suddenly and tilted her head in confusion. She took his hand and he lifted her to her feet.

“I don’t remember that ship being in the I.C.A.R.U.S. fleet,” she admitted.

“No, it’s a thought experiment,” he corrected. Her eyes narrowed at him, trying to understand.

“You just said it was a ship,”

“Yes, well. No,” He took a deep breath to steady his thoughts. “Okay imagine there’s a ship,” he turned her around by the shoulder and motioned out the back glass wall toward The Sea. It sparkled in the sunlight, its color a deeper blue than any of the ocean’s of Earth. Its vastness extended out over the horizon to shores they hadn’t even dreamed of. 

“Oh… Kay,” she nodded slowly, obviously unsure of where he was going with this. 

“This ship goes out for a long journey, and while it’s out, pieces of the ship begin to wear down and need to be replaced.” Mark begins. “By the time it comes back to port, every single piece of the ship has been replaced by a new part. Is it the same ship?” He turned to watch the Captain work the question in her head.

“Yes?” she hazard.

“Why do you think so?” He pushed.

“Well,” he could tell the Captain’s wheels were turning hard. “I mean, every cell in our body gets replaced and we’re still us,”

“Exactly! And that’s, more or less, what happened, right?” She wrinkled her nose up at him in doubt. “We hopped consciousness… bodies?” he struggled for a moment to find the right word and waved it off, “Point is, whatever we hopped into, was new, but it was still us! And they’re still them,” he motioned down towards the lobby. “What does it matter that we’re not in our ‘original bodies’. We’re here now, we’re safe, and nothing more can hurt us,” 

The door of the elevator behind them dinged happily as they arrived and opened it’s doors to a large hangar bay.

“This may be our reality now, but we’ve seen so many end. Gone forever, never coming back, remember?”  The Captain began. “Maybe this ‘me’ made it out alright, but there are thousands, maybe millions of ‘me’s’, Invincibles, and colonists that did not. And it’s all my fault,” she slapped her hand on her chest to accentuate her point. 

There was a silence between them only filled with the busy noises of the hangar. There were large open doors that led out to various landing pads with ships starting their engines, and the beeping of vehicles towing in craft. Shouting of the sparse crew on the tarmac fueling other crafts and loading them with baggage echoed around the tall metal ceilings.

Mark took in a slow breath and averted her gaze instead settling on a ship stuffed in the corner. A Marmota from the Invincible, tarped and tied down, collecting dust. A reminder of how the Invincible now sat lonely and quiet in the Space-Port above them.

“It wasn’t just your fault, Captain,” Mark said quietly, still not looking at her. He knew she meant well, trying to shoulder the burden of what happened. But she couldn’t shoulder the guilt of having been the direct cause. Even if he couldn’t puzzle out the start of the Paradox, he still had caused it by building the Warp Core a second time. He looked down at the Captain, her face painted with sadness and guilt. He hated seeing her like that, and now wasn’t the time to mope about what happened. 

He sniffed as he snapped himself out of his own thoughts and smiled at her. “Anyways, enough of all that. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to lament our bad decisions with Allu. No need to jump the gun,”  

“NOW ARRIVING ON PORT 3: THE U.S.A HAMA Ē STAR ,” a voice over the comms announced loudly. Mark and the Captain looked up and could see a small, stocky ship coming in on the landing platform across from them.

It had two large engines on either side of the fuselage and one underneath that retracted as two pad-like gears came out. The wings folded up and the front of the ship opened up into a large ramp as if it was opening its mouth and lolling out it’s tongue. Allu stood at the top of the ramp with another similarly looking person beside them.   

Allu smiled brightly and waved at Mark and the Captain as they trotted down the ramp, their cape flowing behind them and hitting their companion in the face. 

Allu was elven and androgynous in appearance with red markings down the side of their cheek bones and adorning their eyelids. They had red lipstick, and white hair braided and tied up in a tight bun. The rest of their outfit was almost military-esk, complete with stars and some sort of rank on their shoulders. A red belt, gloves, and hat with a bow on the side of their head completed the look. 

Their companion looked like a blue version of them but with large, round, glasses, no ranks on their uniform and sans cape. They followed frantically after Allu, carrying a data pad and a stack of papers with them.

“Captain!” Allu called out, holding out their arms in a hug. The Captain smiled and trotted up to embrace them. 

“Allu!” she said just as enthusiastically, having shoved down the last bit of her guilt and sadness as the ship had landed. “It’s been so long!”

“It has! I have been so busy recently.” Allu sighed, exasperated. They glanced over the Captain’s shoulders at Mark and gave a tight smile.

“Mark,” they greeted simply. 

“Allu,” he replied just as tersely. “Sure is nice to see you and not be on the firing end of a gun,”

“The day is still young,” The comment made Mark blink in offense as Allu turned to their companion, changing the subject. “I would like the both of you to meet my new assistant, Tin Stannum,” 

Tin shuffled up and went back and forth grabbing and shaking Mark and the Captain’s hands feverishly, while muttering greetings in a barely audible voice. After a long moment of this, Allu finally placed their hand on Tin’s shoulder gently shaking their head to stop them from continuing. Tin mumbled a small apology before standing back to Allu’s side. 

“Tin, is…” Allu thought for a second smiling warmly at their assistant, “Very eager,”

“I can tell,” The Captain said, rubbing her wrist. “Is having an assistant new?” 

Allu puffed up their chest in pride “Yes! I was promoted to Director of the Warp Crystal Division for my efforts in the Incident. I am also Gaia’s Sponsor in the United Nebulae Council, which means I am also the U.S.A's representative…” The wind was quickly deflated from their sails as they listed all their new job titles.

“That’s a lot to shoulder,” Mark sounded impressed.

“To be honest there just aren't enough people in our workforce. Because I was the one who vouched for you, that automatically makes me your sponsor. And as it turns out the last U.S.A. representative in the council was retiring, so they gave me the position since I would already be assisting your representative, ‘to be efficient.’” They sighed “But, that’s where Tin comes in. They have been a massive help,” Tin beamed with pride. 

“But enough of this small talk! We have a meeting to conduct, don’t we?” Allu clapped their hands bringing the attention back to them.

“I’m doing great, thanks for asking,” Mark grumbled. Allu blinked at him a few times in confusion.

“I didn’t ask,” they said and pushed past him, motioning for everyone to follow. Tin was no more than a step behind Allu the whole way. 

The 135th floor of the Astro-Port was lined with conference rooms with large glass walls that faced the main walkway. Many that were in use had curtains closed around them, but the ones with curtains open showed the same layout: A large, long table in the middle surrounded with several swivel chairs; and at the front of the room was a podium placed in front of a screen for any kind of projection. Several large potted plants were situated in the corners to bring a pop of color to the otherwise very beige rooms. 

The four of them walked into one of the rooms and immediately Tin went to work closing all the curtains. Mark and the Captain situated themselves on either side of the center table, near the front as Allu settled at the head. They began to shuffle a large pile of paperwork, nodding and humming to themselves for a long moment. After ensuring all the curtains were closed and doors were locked, Tin shoved themselves into a corner, far out of the way of anyone, as if they were afraid of something happening.

Mark and the Captain exchanged worried glances after a long moment. 

“Didn’t happen to bring any candy did ya?” Mark smirked. Allu looked up at him blankly before giving him a tight smile. They began as if he hadn’t said anything.

“Let’s just jump into this, shall we?” They let out a big sigh, as if a weight had appeared on their shoulders. “As you know, for the last two years the U.S.A has been conducting a thorough investigation of the Wormhole Incident. We have ensured that the only people who are aware of the situation are, of course, the crew, those on the investigation team from the U.S.A. and our leaders at the U.N. After we concluded the investigation we then conducted a trial with the U.N.,” 

“Conducted? As in–?” Mark narrowed his eyes.

“As in, we’ve already had the trial and the U.N. has heard your case,” Allu said matter of factly.

“Wait, without us?” The Captain asked in disbelief. 

“Listen,” Allu put up their hands in defense. “When it comes to cases with multiverses there are a lot of loopholes that can occur. That’s why those cases are handled in proxy trials. It’s where we choose someone to stand in for you to represent you and your best interests. And I was the one in charge of choosing your proxy, whom I’d like to say did a great job given the circumstances.”

“Don’t tell me you got Wug to stand in for us,” Mark sounded a little terrified at the prospect. 

“What? No! Wugs don’t have a lawyer bone in their bodies. They’d much rather settle things with violence. No, I got Gaia’s representative, who assured me that he had several decades worth of experience in speaking with council’s and politics.”

“That’s not a lawyer,” the Captain remarked. 

“Perhaps, but it was the best we could do. You aren’t particularly popular with the U.N. you know. And I felt someone who could speak their language, as they say, would be of great benefit,” 

“Oh, well isn’t that just great,” Mark tossed his hands up. “So what’s the verdict?” he asked. 

“Well, the U.N. found you and the rest of the crew of the Invincible guilty of the following,” they coughed and looked down at their sheet of paper. They carefully lifted it up and Mark and the Captain quickly realized the pile of papers in front of her was actually one large piece of folded paper.

“One count of Illegal wormhole opening; Several hundred counts of refusing to cooperate with the U.S.A.; Five counts of assault of a U.S.A. officer; one count consorting with persons from the future and/or past; One count consorting with wormhole bandits; one count of aiding in the escape of a prisoner; two counts possession of a unregistered warp crystal; several dozen counts of destruction of U.S.A. property; One count possession of forbidden technology; Three counts of tampering with time; one count of near destruction of Reality,” They took in a deep breath “The list goes on. But the big and main thing they found you guilty of was the maximum amount they could legally be able to charge: 10 billion counts of manslaughter,” Allu let the last charge hang in the air as the color ran from Mark and the Captain’s faces. There was a heavy silence that followed. 

“10…” Mark started in a small voice. He cleared his throat, “We… killed that many?”

Allu gave a heavy sigh, “It's possible you killed more, to be honest. The actual number of lives lost as those Universes collapsed is nearly impossible to calculate which is why the U.N. pressed for the maximum charge,”

“Captain?” Mark turned to her. Her eyes were fixated on the ground and she made no move in response to her name. 

“So that’s it?” She looked up at Allu, pain in her eyes. “We just give ourselves up?” 

“You are considered reckless and dangerous to the Universe at this time and so I have to put you under immediate arrest, yes.” Allu slipped out a small laser pistol from behind them. They stood and pointed it at Mark and the Captain who slowly held up their hands.

“Oh you B–” Mark started when suddenly the room burst into chaos. A dozen guards in dark uniforms appeared out of thin air. 

A few rolled out from behind the plants, a couple burst down from the ceiling, one rolled out from behind the podium and another crawled out from under the table. They shouted from behind dark helmets that hid their features and pointed their own rifles with laser sights at Mark and the Captain. Two guards took their hands, bent them behind their backs and cuffed them in strange laser-like cuffs. Mark struggled the most against his bonds but the Captain was still.

“I told you the day was still young,” Allu holstered their pistol and shrugged. 

“I thought you said you got someone who did a good job?!” Mark spat at them.

“I did. You still have a sentencing to attend, then you will see how good of a job he did defending you, don’t worry,” Allu waved to the guards giving them the signal to head out. “Take them away now. I’ll see you two at your next hearing!” Allu waved cheerfully after them as the guards lifted Mark and the Captain by their elbows and marched them back out of the building.

Chapter Text

The United Stability Agency (U.S.A.) is an independent organization of any governance in the Multiverse, however they do work closely with these universal governments (Such as the United Nebulae). 

Their guidance and counsel are often recognized as law and many of these governments have and will turn to the U.S.A. in times of Universal peril. 

While the U.S.A. does exist in most universes they do not interfere in all of them. It is of their opinion that they must be invited in, in order to do their jobs correctly. However, they do try and keep a close eye on as many universes as possible. Of course they can't keep an eye on every universe, that would be impossible, but they have their fingers in a good many universal pies if you will. 

To be able to provide their assistance in all these universes and in a cohesive manner, the U.S.A. headquarters exist simultaneously, at once, in all the universes it is involved in. So while a you in another universe may not actually be you, a U.S.A. agent is the same across all universes at once. At the same time though, they do not exist, unless of course called upon. You could call it Schrödinger’s bureaucracy. 

But you may be wondering, ‘How does something both exist everywhere, all at once and simultaneously not at all?’ That is all thanks to the [REDACTED] . . .

 

. . . 

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Mark and the Captain were escorted into a large, wood paneled room that, for lack of a better description, looked like a courtroom. The carpets were a hideous burnt orange and pale wooden pews sat empty, lining a center walkway. A single bailiff, (a large, tusked and green looking humanoid who wore his boredom on his face,) was posted at the side door. Allu stood next to the Judge's bench talking with a large intergalactic wearing a powdered wig. Two eye stalks peered out from underneath, leaving the pair of small spectacles on his noseless face ineffective. He looked old with brown wrinkly skin and large bags where the eye stalks began on his face. 

Mark and the Captain were pushed down into their seats at the defendants table by their guards before they undid their cuffs. They were mindlessly rubbing their wrists when something caught the Captain’s eye, making her do a double take. But all she caught was the back of a man in a black suit walking out the side door and the bailiff tilting his hat at him. 

“What’s up?” Mark whispered following her gaze but only saw the door as it closed. 

“I swear I thought I just saw you walk out of the room,” She said. Mark furrowed his brows in confusion and opened his mouth to ask more questions when Allu joined them at the table, taking the empty seat to the Captain’s right. 

“Oh, you’re on our side now?” Mark sneered at them from around the Captain.

“I’ve always been on your side! I just also have laws to follow,” They replied defensively.

The Captain gave them a suspicious side eye as the Judge slammed his gavel on the podium, cutting their conversation short.

“We are here at the sentencing of one Captain and one Mark I. Plier in the case the United Nebulae vs. The crew of the Invincible. I am Judge Affa Dave It. I will be proceeding over your sentencing.” He looked up from some paper and adjusted his glasses. “Your representative unfortunately had other priorities to tend to, but he came here prior to your arrival to broker a deal for your sentencing.” 

Mark and the Captain glanced over at Allu who seemed quite pleased with themselves. They motioned for the two of them to pay attention. 

The judge cleared his throat “Your representative has proposed that you choose one of two sentences: the first being that you and the crew be put to death by firing squad,” he held up his long, three fingered hand seeing Mark and the Captain begin to jump up in their seats to protest. 

“Or,” he forcibly said to get them to slowly lower themselves back down. “You may choose to serve the U.S.A. in a new and experimental division for the rest of your foreseeable lives. Captain, the choice is yours.” he interlocked his fingers as he set his hands down on his bench.

The Captain stood up. “First of all, why is the crew involved in this sentencing? Wasn’t Mark and I the ones responsible?”

“All parties on the ship except the colonists played a part in the Wormhole Incident.” the Judge droned on. He seemed unaumsed and bored.

“So you expect me to make this decision without them being here to defend themselves? I am starting to see a pattern here,” Her voice was filled with venom. The Judge just sighed and his eyes lolled over to Allu prompting them to explain. 

Allu cleared their throat and politely smiled at the judge before turning their attention to the Captain and Mark. 

“Listen, this is part of the condition your representative had to impose in order to appease the U.N. There are a lot of representatives on the Council that are not only calling for your deaths but the death of Humanity as a whole. There are also quite a few that are calling for the U.S.A. to hold some form of accountability for the incident as well. So, your Representative has been working with us to form this division. It would allow you and the Invincible to work for us to help retrieve unregistered and stolen Warp Crystals from across the Multiverse.”

“We nearly tore Reality asunder the last time we warped anywhere, and now you want to give us a pass to just go anywhere willy nilly?” Mark seemed baffled.

“Not willy nilly, no. But the Invincible’s warp core is nothing like anything we’ve ever seen! We can work together to make sure you don’t tear another giant hole in the Universe while also helping us in a department we are severely understaffed in.” Allu clapped their hands together as they continued. 

“The Wormhole incident happened because your race found a warp crystal it wasn’t  supposed to have. It’s not uncommon for smaller, less chaotic wormhole accidents to happen because of similar circumstances. But instead of being the clean up crew, we can take a proactive approach and help ensure it doesn’t happen again!” Allu held up their hands in an encouraging manner. 

“There has to be some sort of strings attached,” the Captain crossed her arms.

Allu huffed “The strings are simple, you can’t leave our service. You’re in it for life. If you or the crew try to leave you’ll be hunted down and killed.”

“A life with conditions, is no life at all,” the Captain sneered. 

“So are you saying you’d rather die?” Allu seemed genuinely confused. They couldn’t comprehend why humanity seemed to have such low survival responses and were always so self destructive.

“Well, wait a minute, Captain,” Mark cleared his throat nervously. “Let’s take a step back here,”

“Take a step back!?” The Captain whirled around to Mark. “Mark, they want us to choose between death or servitude. There’s nothing to step back from,” but Mark held up his hand to her and inquired Allu further.

“You said we’d work together to figure out how to make the warp core work?” 

Allu smiled, knowing that would grab Mark's attention. “Yes! The Invincible’s warp core is very powerful and through the investigation we’ve been able to study it extensively. Your warp core technology enables you to travel nearly three times as far as any of our warp cores would be able to! Your ship is a prime candidate for jumping around and collecting warp crystals,"

“We’re also the only ones who can pilot it. So what happens if I decide we’d rather die?” The Captain smiled smugly.

“Then we find another crew to do it for us,” Allu shrugged. “It would be more costly, and timely, but your ship won’t be going to waste.”

“No one touches my ship!” Mark protested and frantically turned his attention to the Captain. “You can't seriously think that death is a viable option!” he whispered aggressively to her, trying to keep Allu and the judge from listening in. They watched curiously as the two conversed in angry hushed tones. 

“I don’t,” the Captain hissed back “But I have to see how our cards are lined up. Which option holds the most power for us. It’s obvious that the U.S.A. doesn’t want to admit that they need us, but at the same time if I just handed the crew over to them on a silver platter, the U.S.A. may try to hold our lives above our heads at any given moment. I need Allu to think that we’d be willing to lose it all if the conditions are right. I need the U.S.A. to know we aren’t afraid of death.” She took a deep breath.  “Afterall, we both know there are worse things out there than death.”  

Mark rubbed his chin and face in thought. He turned his attention back to Allu. “What are the pros for our crew to join? Besides not dying,"

“Well,” Allu folded their hands on the table “You’d be treated just like any employee of the U.S.A. You’d have a liveable wage, be able to keep all of your possessions. We’d issue you R&R between missions. Mostly because we are still unsure of the negative effects long term wormhole travel has on the human body. We would issue a modest budget for ship upgrades and repairs. You’d get to see and travel the Multiverse, which is something not many have the privilege to do anymore these days. Like I said earlier, you’d just need to be under our monitoring, and do what we say,”

“And how would you monitor us?” The Captain didn’t let up her cold gaze. 

“A simple chip inserted in the crew’s forearm to give us your location, and a chip in the ship’s main computer. If either chip goes offline, or shows you somewhere you’re not supposed to be, we have the right to kill you on sight.” 

“Right, because we’re considered dangerous and reckless,” Mark added with a sigh. “Well, Captain?” 

The Captain sighed deeply as she went over everything in her head. It seemed pretty obvious though. This was a deal they couldn’t turn down, yet something didn’t feel right. But for the life of her, the Captain couldn’t tell what it was. This option just seemed too good given their crimes. After being told they murdered over 10 billion, and were considered dangerous fugitives by the U.N. council, the death sentence made sense as a fitting punishment. But now they were offering, as an alternative, to hire them as their errand ship?

For a brief moment the Captain considered what would happen if the rest of the colonists found out the Captain and crew of their life saving ship had been killed. There would be a riot like no other, maybe even an attempt to rage war against the U.N. Humans took their heroes very seriously. But they wouldn't stand a chance against the might of 199 intergalactic governments with technology thousands of years beyond what humans had ever come up with.  

But then again, the U.S.A. were able to hide the fact that Reality nearly ended from the entire multiverse, except for a handful that were on a ‘need to know’ basis. They could easily make their deaths look like an accident. Their people would have no idea the crew were all sentenced to death.

Maybe she was just being paranoid. Maybe their representative was just that good? She supposed it made sense, making the U.S.A. take some accountability to try and prevent another Wormhole Incident from happening again. And if they couldn’t spare the manpower, why not use the ship and crew with the best equipment to do so? Why kill more people? 

But more than anything, she knew this was the choice the crew would have chosen. They would rather have a fighting chance than none at all. They may be mad at her that they were all going to be prisoners and chained to the Invincible for the rest of their lives, but at least they’d be alive.

“I have made my decision,” The Captain said, her voice snapping the Judge out of a snooze. 

He cleared his throat and sat up, readjusting his spectacles. “And what have you decided?” 

“If I had known there would be this much paperwork involved I would have considered the death penalty a little more seriously,” the Captain muttered to herself as she scrolled through the files on her holo screen. She was slouched over a desk in her office on The Invincible while Gaia lazily rotated in the window behind her, illuminating most of her small quarters with clear blue light. 

Like most of the other rooms, it was simple and square with her desk in the center and two chairs positioned in front for visitors.  On the walls hung various degrees from the department leads, certificates for the ship’s safety, her certificates and degrees; all framed and displayed for proof of everyone’s authority. To her left was a door that led to her sleeping quarters which contained a bed and small bathroom, and a window with a bench across it for seating. 

The main door was positioned in front of her desk, and hissed open. A tall man, with a nest of curly hair pulled back in a ponytail under his blue beret, stepped in. He wore clear goggles that blinked with various different displays and a similar jumpsuit as the Captain except his was a white with a simple blue shirt peeking out of the top. 

“The new crew members have arrived, Captain, and are ready to be introduced to you,” he said cheerily. 

The Captain looked up from her display and nodded. “Thank you, Tyler. I will be down presently,” she stood up from her desk and followed her Firstmate down to the bridge. 

The Captain’s quarters were situated in the back of a hall that held the various offices and living quarters for the other leads of the ship, which was 10 in total.  All the living quarters of the ship were located at the top most decks. Below them was the communal deck with a mess hall, small gym, rec room and med bay. The bridge and main controls for the ship sat on the deck below that. 

The Invincible had been the smallest of the I.C.A.R.U.S. Fleet and as the thirteenth ship was incredibly top secret. It had been designed to hold 100,000 souls of the best of the best, not including the crew which was composed of the top minds of their fields.

 It had a long fuselage with the nose being a flat capital I shape. The top of which was slicked back in a futuristic silhouette with the bottom hosting a large singular engine. The decks between the bridge and the lower engine were mostly for cargo.

 On the other end of the long, thin fuselage was where the main hanger sat, flanked by two pylons on either side. The hangar had two entrances that sat on either side of the ship and led down into the main bay which could hold two small Marmota jumpships, and two small cargo ships.

 Above the hangar was where the main reactor sat; a tiny synthetic star that acted as the primary power source to the ship and the Warp Core. On one side sat the Cryo room that held all the equipment that monitored and maintained the cryostasis on the ship for the crew. On the other was the Warp Core, only separated by a hallway lined with explosive charges to eject it away from the ship if ever there was an emergency. It was powered by a small, blue crystal known as a warp crystal. It had the power to tear a wormhole into space to enable the ship and its occupants to travel light years in nearly an instant. 

The tail of the ship was another large engine surrounded by three large rings that slowly rotated, creating the artificial gravity that kept the crew’s feet on the ground. 

Overall the ship was an impressive feat of human engineering, hosting three AI programs that kept things running smoothly: The main computer that monitored the overall ship status and carried messages to and from occupants as well as being able to enact a long list of protocols; the Cryo AI that monitored the cryopods while in transit; and the Asteroid Defense System, a set of two smaller AI systems that could identify threats before anyone would even know they were there.

The Captain held out her hand and gently ran it along the metal walls as they continued to make their way down the main hallways. She could feel the vibration of the engine's idling and smiled. This was far more her element than being on the ground. She knew she had missed the Invincible, she hadn't realized how much, and by the feel of the vibrations it seemed the ship missed her as well.

The Captain had been worried about how the crew would take the news however, but from what she could tell, no one seemed to be too upset. She hoped it wasn’t just a façade for her sake. She had told Tyler to keep an ear out for any complaints and made sure to work closely with the U.S.A. to ensure a smooth transition into their new lives over the next 6 months.

They entered the tight corridor of the main deck, which held the rooms for life support, navigation, defenses, and the bridge. Screens dotted the walls giving brief summaries of the systems and making them easily accessed by any crew member wherever they may be. Small clusters of crew members in white, blue and orange jumpsuits stood in the halls, with others darting around doing their tasks. Whenever any of them spotted the Captain they would stop and salute her, greeting her with a smile. The Captain would nod and wave in return continuing on until suddenly she was stopped by one in a dark blue jumpsuit, with a matching beret and white turtleneck.

“Good to be back on the ship with you, Captain,” the second Engineer, Mack, greeted with a stiff salute. He was a conservative looking man with an air of superiority about him. He had short light brown hair, with warm pale skin, and beady brown eyes. 

“Engines are online and purring like a kitten,” He added. 

“Good to hear, Mack,” The Captain returned the salute and continued with Tyler down the hall. They hadn’t gotten far before they were stopped again.

“Captain! I’m so glad to see you in good health!” Her Bosun, Dan, bounded up to her. He was a tall, gangly man with a nest of long, curly, dark hair tied back. He beamed with the biggest puppy dog brown eyes. He kept a data pad close to his chest like a schoolgirl in a white jumpsuit. 

Dan was always closely followed by the Navigator, Brian, who was only slightly shorter than him. He wore a tan jumpsuit and a ski mask over his face so you only ever saw his intensely angry green eyes and bushy brows. He nodded in agreement with his taller companion. 

“Good to see you too,” she smiled and patted Dan on the side of the shoulder as she passed by them. She could hear him squeal in joy behind her and she found herself chuckling quietly.

“Captain!” a woman’s voice called out. The Captain paused to see a stern looking woman speed walking towards her. She wore a full white ski outfit, complete with goggles that held back her medium length and straight white hair. The accents of blue in her under shirt and jacket gave her an almost snowy complexion which was fitting for her position as the Head of Cryo. 

“Dr. Celicionna,” The Captain greeted her. 

“I've told you before, Celici will do,” She said as she matched pace with her and Tyler. “The cryo pods are up and running. And everyone has been assigned their new pods,” she said in a matter of fact tone. She did not disperse after her report like the others but instead followed them to the bridge.

"Good. Has removing the colony cryopods caused any difficulties?" The Captain replied. 

"On the contrary, it's freed up a lot of space for the AI. She was at full capacity for memory with all the colonists, now she has a lot more room for monitoring which will be detrimental with how often we'll be jumping,"

“Cap'n,” a gruff man said around a cigar as he rolled out of the ADS control room they were passing. He flipped up his sunglasses as he matched pace with them as well.

“Gunther!” the Captain startled slightly. The gunner of the ship was tall, usually covered in a thin layer of gunpowder, with an x shaped scar on his right cheek. Refusing to wear the normal jumpsuit, he instead opted for a hooded white tank, with a couple of bandoliers strapped across his chest, and a golden desert eagle strapped to his leg. He wore a bandana around his shaven head with the hood up, and usually carried an unlit cigar in his mouth. 

He scratched his five o'clock shadow as he continued. “Happy to inform you that ADS is up and running smoothly. We’re ready to face anything that comes at us,” 

“That’s good to hear,” The Captain nodded. "You've fixed any errors that we encountered last time?" she grimaced remembering how the AI twins had turned on her during the Incident. She wasn't even sure why there was turrets inside the ship.

"Not to worry, the twins are all sorted out! Also added some manual controls in case we come across any bogies," Gunther pantomimed being in a gunners seat shooting as if he were in Star Wars.

The four of them suddenly stopped in the middle of the corridor as a large, round-faced man with a rather pink complexion blocked their way. He wore a blue beret like her first officer Tyler, an orange shirt with the sleeves rolled up and straps across his large belly that carried tool pouches. He held an incredibly large wrench across his shoulders like a weapon and a pair of motorcycle goggles around his neck. He sniffed which made his bushy mustache twitch slightly.

“Burt,” the Captain greeted. “I assume the reactor is in good shape?” she asked. 

“Yup,” he said simply and took a step to the side. They all slid past him and he took up the rear of the group.

“Looks like the gang’s all here,” Gunther chuckled.

“Everyone, except Mark,” Celici said, her tone thick with annoyance. 

 As they approached the end of the hall the bridge hissed open to Mark with a large smile across his face. 

“Speak of the devil,” Celici muttered mostly to herself rolling her eyes.

“Captain!” Mark greeted cheerfully, stepping aside to let the group on to the bridge. The others split off into the different parts of the hexagonal shaped room to tend to different screens, all displaying various information about the ship. Flanking the door was a handful of lockers and his and the Captain's cryopods stuffed into the corners. A center console took up the center and a large hexagonal window looked out to space at the front. The room could fit 8 or 10 people comfortably.

Mark took up his place by the Captain’s side as he continued his own report.

“The Warp Core is running more efficiently than ever; power is at exactly 100%, no overkill this time. Life support is fully functional, and all other systems are running smoothly.” He explained excitedly. “I was even able to replace all the windows in the ship with this strong glass designed by the Fenestella. The glass gets stronger in the vacuum of space and weakens slightly in the atmosphere. Apparently it’s what everyone in the Universe uses for their ships! No fire extinguisher is going to break those beauties,” he beamed with pride.

“No one cares about your dumb windows, Mark,” Celici sneered as she walked by checking on a screen on the central panel of the room. 

Mark repaid her sneer with his own before turning back to the Captain. “As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, everything seems to be in order and The Invincible is ready for flight once more.” he let out a deep satisfied sigh.

“That’s good to hear,” The captain smiled as she ran her hand across the top of the center panel. Various lights and controls blinked and winked at her, and tones of seemingly happy dings and beeps filled the room. “I was worried her stagnation would prove to be detrimental,”

“She was never fully stagnant,” Mark said. “The reactor can’t be fully shut off, we wouldn’t be able to restart it if it did. Burt and a handful of volunteers have been up here keeping her running on bare minimum power. I’d also been making trips up here to help keep her running,” He smiled, a slight sad tinge on the edges. “I, uh, was actually going to start a delivery business, before we got arrested. So I didn’t want her to go cold,” 

The Captain smiled at Mark. Her father always told her that a craft was only ever as good as its engineer’s dedication to it. And Mark treated the Invincible like it was his baby. She felt silly to think he’d ever let her sit alone and cold in orbit. 

There was a cough from the other side of the room and she turned to see Tyler standing with his data pad close to his chest. He motioned to the line of people standing in front of her against the front window of the bridge. 

“Oh!” She startled slightly, having seen them for the first time since she set foot in the room. “My apologies,” she came around the central control panel to the trio of new faces. "You must be our new additions!"

The first was a shorter man, with light brown hair and a beard. He was nearly as pale as she was and wore square glasses that framed the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen. He wore a lab coat over a simple dress shirt and slacks with a tie hanging loosely. The Captain held out her hand to shake his as Tyler Introduced him. “Dr. Jack von Schneeplestein the third,” 

“Ah, our new medical officer,” The Captain smiled.

“Yes, and an expert in prosthetic robotics,” he said with a thick Irish accent. The Captain’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I know, the name throws everyone off. My great grandfather was from Germany, and an eccentric man. I like to try and distinguish myself from him, so please feel free and call me Dr. Jack,” He motioned at the Captain’s robotic arm. “May I?” 

“Of course,” she said as she offered it to him. He took it gently in his hand and she saw that his right eye suddenly lit up and a green light beamed from it, scanning her arm. 

“Ah, military grade titanium covering, robotic fabric, and a clasp core at the shoulder. No doubt Nano wiring to the brain stem?” he inquired. The Captain stammered but he continued “Truly, a piece of the times we lived in,” the Captain couldn’t help but feel a tinge of offense, but was unsure what exactly he meant by that. 

He flipped her arm over palm up and ran his hand over the small spade shape that was engraved at the wrist. “Interesting way to incorporate tattoo like designs. A gambling person?” he inquired.

“A memento, actually. Someone I lost on Earth,” the smile faded from the doctor's face as he let go of her arm and adjusted himself. 

“My condolences,” he said quietly.

The Captain held up her hand in understanding. “We all lost people. I do want to inquire about your eye though?” she motioned to his right eye which now glowed a bright almost nuclear green in the iris. “I didn’t realize it was a prosthetic until it scanned my arm,”

“That'd be S.A.M: Synthetic Analytical Machine. I can use it to deduce what materials are used in different machines and robotics. It’s helped me a great deal in my research.

“Before we left earth I was developing more realistic robotic prosthetics.” the doctor explained. “Something that can function the same as any actual human part with feeling and seamless integration. Alas, I lost the majority of my research when the Rapture began. And I have had to start from scratch.”

“So what brings you to my ship, then, Doctor?”

“I’m hoping the exposure to other multiverses may expand my knowledge. Open up my eyes to possibilities I may have never considered. I am happy to tend to you and the crew in exchange for the passage. Besides robotics, I did a great deal of trauma work in the final days of Earth. And I am trained in all the general doctor things as well. I can tend to everything from stomach aches to stomach wounds,” he smiled as he gripped the sides of his lab coats in pride.

“Well, welcome to the Invincible, Doctor.” 

The next one in line was a slightly older, human looking man with long, dark, stringy hair pulled back in a ponytail under a chef’s hat and tan skin. He gave a slight bow and gave the Captain a large friendly smile under his thin mustache.

“This is Chef our new… well Chef,” Tyler introduced him. 

With a gravelly voice he greeted the Captain. “It’s good to meet you, Captain. I am honored to be on this voyage. I do have one request, a simple rule I want everyone on the crew to follow.”

“Request away,”

His sweet demeanor quickly melted and through gritted teeth to show his seriousness he growled, “No one goes into my kitchen,” and just as quickly as it had diminished, his sickly sweet smile came back. “That’s all really,” he added.

Tyler and the Captain exchange a side glance to each other, both startled by his sudden change in mood. 

“Sure,” her voice cracked a bit. She cleared her throat and continued. “And what brings you to the Invincible?”

“I was a chef for the U.S.A, and I thought to myself, why stop there?” a slight growl entered his voice as his eyes slightly trailed off. “Why not be the best chef in the Multiverse? While here, I plan on challenging myself to find new and exciting recipes that don’t exist in this Universe. Use ingredients you can’t find anywhere else and achieve this dream. While also serving nothing but the best meals for you and the crew, of course,” 

“I admire your ambition,” The Captain said thoughtfully. “Well, we look forward to your unique cuisine. Welcome aboard.” she gave him one last nervous smile before continuing.

The last one in line wasn’t human. She looked something like a bipedal, light gray beluga whale with two small horns on her head. She had bright green eyes with a pair of large round glasses perched on her snout. A colorful bandana wrapped around her head and large hoop earrings hung from fin-like ears. She had four arms as well, the two lower ones clutching a data pad, her left top one fidgeting with a pen and the last one trying to find something to do anxiously. Under her lab coat was a colorful striped blouse and plaid capris that ended where two fins stuck out the side of her ankles. She didn’t wear any shoes, but seemed to be standing on the tips of toeless feet. 

Tyler opened his mouth to introduce her when, with her free hand, the intergalactic grasped the Captain's in a vigorous handshake.

“Dr. Zoey R. Beauregard at your service, Captain! But you can call me Dr. Zoey. I know it’s my first name, but Beauregard is a bit of a mouthful. I’m so excited to be here! Oh, you’re probably wondering what I’m doing here. I am the resident Multiverse expert. I’ve been studying the multiverse for well over 20 years. I am absolutely fascinated by your case with the Worm hole! Truly nothing like that has ever happened in the Universe! Allu approached me to join the crew because I was the author of the Traveler’s Guide to the Multiverse. I used a fascinating algorithm based on a couple of theories I have hypothesized. That’s another reason why I’m here, to see how close my theories are. I’m also here to help catalog and register the Warp Crystals we find, and help develop technology around keeping them safer! I have so much to learn and teach everyone! Oh gosh! I’m rambling aren’t I? Okay, I better stop talking then. Thank you again for letting me join you, though I suppose you didn’t have a choice did you? That’s okay! You’ll barely know I’m even here! Unless you want to know I’m here, then I’m really good at making sure people know I’m here. Okay, sorry I keep rambling,” Finally she let her go and gave her a large and proud smile. 

The Captain blinked and stammered trying to process everything that had been said to her.  “Well, I.. Uhm” she looked to Tyler for some help who just shook his head and shrugged. “It’s good to have you, Doctor. I hope… you accomplish your goals as well,” She gave her a slight nod.

 “Well, with all these pleasantries out of the way,” the Captain continued and began to turn away when she heard a slight cough. The captain turned back at the line and saw Mark had now situated himself next to Dr. Zoey and seemed to be waiting for something.

“Mark, I know who you are…” 

“Not me!” he said and then stepped aside and revealed his golden retriever, who sat panting happily in a fitted jumpsuit, tail thumping against the metal floor happily. 

“You brought your dog?”

“Dog!” Mark sounded offended. “This is Moral Officer Chica.” He kneeled down and wrapped his arms around her, “And she’s just as important to the crew as anyone else is.” he paused and stood up before continuing “Also, I didn’t have anyone to take care of her while I’m gone,” he gave her a sheepish smile. The Captain smiled and kneeled down to Chica’s level. She held out her hand which Chica promptly plopped her paw into. 

“Welcome aboard Moral Officer Chica,” and she ruffled the top of the dog’s head. Chica gave an affirming bark. She was clearly the happiest of everyone to be there.

“As I was saying,” The Captain stood up and turned to her newest crew members. “We are happy to welcome you all to our crew. You all have met Tyler, my first officer. If you have any questions he is the one to ask. As for me, I am not one to stand on parade. I take a very relaxed and casual approach to being Captain. That isn’t to say I’m not afraid to pull out my military training if need be. But don’t feel like you have to salute and stand at attention every time I round a corner. Now, please make yourselves at home, as I understand it we will be leaving for our first mission first thing in the morning." She gave them a nod to dismiss them. With murmurs of thanks they left the bridge. 

The Captain let out a long sigh of relief when she felt Dr. Celicionna give her a gentle bump on the side with her shoulder.

“Hey,” she said gently. “You’re doing great.” Her voice had softened to an almost motherly tone. 

“Thanks. I was afraid I’d come to a day one mutiny, honestly. I’m pleasantly surprised to see the excitement from the crew,”

“Well, I think I speak for all of us when I say, while the circumstances may not be ideal, being back here is… well it’s nice,” The Captain tilted her head to the side to prompt Celici to continue. “Think about it. We were all trained for very specific jobs, some of us devoting most of our lives to this cause. And when we got here, those jobs quickly found an end. Especially as we got help from the far more experienced and well equipped intergalactic people. I think most of us, myself included, struggled to find a new purpose in our new world,” Celici shrugged. 

The Captain nodded thoughtfully as she could relate to that sentiment. Her own job as a leader was probably one of the first to be replaced as the colonists quickly got organized and put into place their new government. Even as a leader of her crew quickly became obsolete as they all spread out to different committees. She was then shortly thrust into a position of diplomacy and she worked closely with Allu for a short while but then her expertise in that department met a wall. She was no politician.

 It had actually been her idea to find a better suited Representative and had trusted Allu to find the perfect candidate for her. Which is why she had never met him, or seen his face. Once all her responsibilities had been taken by others, she proceeded to try and enjoy a ‘life of retirement’, but instead became reclusive and isolated herself from everyone. Everyone except Mark.

“So,” Celici touched her arm and pulled the Captain out of her thoughts. “Thank you,” she said with a smile.

The Captain smiled back and watched as Celicionna left the bridge. She looked out the large bay window watching Gaia turning lazily and she smiled to herself. Maybe everything would be okay. After all, with a crew like this, what could go wrong?

“Knock, knock,” Mark’s voice came from the entrance of the Captain’s quarters. The Captain looked up from her desk and saw he was leaning against the doorway, a bottle of champagne in one hand and two glass flutes in the other. “Care for a celebratory drink?” 

“I’m still on duty,” she replied but he ignored her and walked in, tapping the scanner with his elbow to shut the door behind him.

“No one needs to know. Besides, it's just one.” He perched on her desk and placed down the glasses. With a pop he opened the bottle and slowly poured into the cups, offering the first one to her. She sighed and took it.

 “I found this bottle stashed in the control panel. I had forgotten I snagged it and hid it for when we landed on our new planet for the first time. But with the chaos of everything, I forgot it existed.” He grinned. 

“It’s been sitting on the ship for 2 years? Is it even good?”

“Technically,” he set the bottle down “If you count the actual distance between here and Earth, it’s been sitting on the ship for 22 million years,” The Captain made a face at her cup and glanced back up at Mark. “Think of it as incredibly aged champagne. I hear it gets better with time,” 

“Mmm. Yeah I’m sure there’s a limit to that,” She sniffed it but nothing seemed off. 

“You know, it’s considered good luck to break a bottle at a ship’s christening. They say if the bottle doesn’t break, the crew is cursed with bad luck.” he swirled his drink in his cup thoughtfully.

“Is that what you did when The Invincible launched?” 

Mark shook his head “We didn’t have any time to stand on ceremony. I figured this would work though,” he motioned to their glasses and raised his own to hers. 

“To the ship and her crew,” The Captain said as she met his glass with a delicate clink.

“To the ship and her Captain,” he replied and they both swung back their drinks. 

“Wow, that was actually really good,” the Captain looked at her empty flute in surprise, still rolling the taste around in her mouth. Mark reached over with the bottle and refilled it. “Mark!” she protested. 

“I don’t think champagne cryo’s very well, so we might as well finish it off,” He gave a sly smile.

“I don’t think I cryo very well with a hangover,” The Captain narrowed her eyes at him watching him pour his second glass. 

“Then don’t get a hangover,” He scoffed. 

The two sat in a quiet moment looking out her window at Gaia, sipping their drinks. It was moments like these that Mark liked most with the Captain. She was the kind of person who was just content with existing with another person. No need to talk all the time, no need to pretend to be someone you aren’t. He knew she had a certain presence to keep up around the crew and colonists but he could always feel her setting her walls down just ever so slightly in his presence. 

The Captain glanced over at him, meeting his gaze, and he realized his focus had been on her for some time. He cleared his throat and turned back to the window sipping from his cup and pretending the blush forming on his face was actually from his drink. 

“Celici told me, on the bridge earlier, how the crew is excited to be back on board,” The Captain said finally. 

“Did she?” Mark couldn’t help the slight venom that slipped into his tone.

“Do you not think so?”

“It’s not that,” Mark sucked on his lower lip. “I know the crew is happy to be here, circumstances notwithstanding. I just know there are a few members, Cici included, that wished I was the only one on the chopping block instead of the entire crew,” 

“If anyone gives you any grief you tell me, I’ll set them straight!” The Captain chimed in defensively. Mark chuckled at her protectiveness. 

“It doesn’t bother me. The crew can say what they want,” ‘Besides if it had been up to me, I’d be happy to be on the chopping block for them,’  he thought to himself. 

He continued, “And I’m no stranger to Cici’s contempt. I can handle everything, thanks,”  

“You know, there is something I’ve always wondered,” 

“What’s that?” Mark drained the last of his second cup and began to pour a third. He glanced over and offered the bottle to the Captain which she accepted.

“Why do you call Dr. Celicionna by Cici? Seems strange that you have a nickname for someone who you obviously don’t get along with,”

Mark smiled sadly to himself. “I just have always called her that, even before we…” he paused and took a deep breath, “...started to dislike each other. At this point I just call her that because she hates it,” He smiled smugly to himself as he drank. He could feel the bubbles in his head now and was enjoying the fuzzy feeling in his fingers.

“Do you have silly nicknames for everyone?” 

Mark twisted his face in thought. “No, I think she’s the only one,”

“What about me?” 

Mark looked curiously over at the Captain. “What about you?”

“You always call me Captain, even when we aren’t on the ship. It seems to have become a bit of a nickname for me, don’t you think? In fact I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say my name before,” a peculiar expression came over her, as the realization settled. With a half cocked smile she leaned back in her chair. “It’s like… you don’t even know my name..”

Mark bit his lip and his eyebrows shot up. “Your name?” his voice squeaked. “Of course I know your name!” he scoffed in faux confidence. “Captain is just easier to say,”

“They have the same number of syllables and my name has fewer letters. How, pray tell, is it easier to say?” She crossed her legs and let her glass dangle slightly in her hand.

 Mark could feel he had cornered himself. He had forgotten her name, forgot it almost as soon as he had first heard it. 

He was never good with names, and never thought he really needed to know it. He figured they’d arrive at their new home and he’d never really see her again. But with the chaos of everything, and all those Universes they went through, all that time they spent looking for each other to try and find an end to the Wormhole Incident, and how close they got over the last two years… It was embarrassing he didn’t know her actual name. He’d even gone looking in the ship files for it, but for some reason her file had corrupted in the system during the trip. He figured at  some point someone would say her name. 

But everyone always just referred to her as Captain. Hell, the park named after her was just ‘Captain’s Park’. In the two years he’d known her, no one had said her name. 

“What’s my name, Mark?” She interrupted his thoughts. He knew that she knew he didn’t know, but he didn’t want her to know that. 

He searched his mind for something to latch on. Something screamed it started with an L but the next few letters were slow to come to him. 

“Your name?” he repeated in another attempt to stall.

“Yes, my name,” she was starting to sound a little exasperated. 

“L-” he started out and looked for a twinkle of recognition in her eyes. There was a spark as she sat up ever so slightly and he knew he was on the right track. “Lis-” he continued knowing statistically that ‘-is ’ was the most likely to follow. A small spark of recognition within him went off as if an echo of the memory was there. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise and she sat fully forward in her seat. “Lisa!” he finally shouted with full confidence. 

The Captain slumped back in her chair with a defeated sigh. “No,” she said simply and poured herself another cup. 

“No? What do you mean no!?” Mark pushed off her desk. He was almost sure it was Lisa.

“It’s not Lisa. Close, I guess, so points for that,” She stood up and walked over to the window. “It’s fine, Mark. No one calls me by my name anyways, I couldn’t even guarantee I’d answer to it . You know how many times I nearly wrote ‘Captain’ in the name slot on all these forms?” she chuckled in good nature but Mark could see her face fall into a somber frown in the reflection of the window.

“What is your name then?” he asked quietly. The Captain looked up at him.

“I told you, it’s fine. It isn’t important.”

“It clearly is,” 

“I’m Captain, it’s my new name,” she said defiantly.

“I would still like to know your actual name,” Mark didn’t allow her to wave it off and took a few steps closer to her. They stood next to each other, their shoulders nearly touching.

The Captain sighed in resignation, “My name is Liska. Liska D. Weaver.”

“What does the D stand for?” he asked curiously.

“Diana.” She said with a small smile. 

“Liska Diana Weaver,” Mark tested the name, letting it trail off at the end. 

He wasn’t sure if it was the champagne, or just him, but at that moment he felt like time was slowing. A silence hung over them and they locked eyes. Looking each other in the eye was never an issue for either of them, but this time he just felt like he was falling into hers. They were so large that they reflected the starlight outside the window, and the blue glow of the planet just lit her face up so softly. 

Her eyes softened as they looked up at him and a wave of unsteadiness from the champagne crashed over him suddenly. He blinked and shook his head, pulling himself out of the moment. “That’s uh. A pretty name,” he finally said. 

Liska chuckled and looked down at her glass. “Yeah, I guess it is.” 

“I’m still calling you Captain though,” Mark smirked 

Liska rolled her eyes in faux annoyance and landed a gentle fist into his shoulder, playfully pushing him back. He chuckled as he rubbed the spot and the two went back to watching the stars out the window in silence. 

Chapter Text

In order to establish an intergalactic community, it is essential to be able to cross interstellar distances in reasonable amounts of time. 

There are many ways that the people of the United Nebulae accomplish this. One way is with Faster Than Light drives, but this is often a rather expensive and luxurious means of transportation.           

Hyperspace expressways are also common among some of the more clustered planets, but the upkeep for these is also expensive, particularly for taxpayers. 

Then there was the discovery of warp crystals. These little blue crystals that seemed to have materialized out of nowhere, held a lot of mysterious power but were abundant across the Universe™. It didn't take long for the Universal Stability Agency to extract their potential as a means of transportation, particularly in opening wormholes. With a properly sized warp core, anyone now could travel long distances in matters of minutes or seconds. 

Warp cores were cheaper to install than FTL drives and no one had to worry about the space time continuum if they wanted to take a trot across their galaxy.  All anyone had to do was to go down to the U.S.A., fill out some paperwork and viola they would have a registered warp crystal in their ship to take them anywhere they chose. Well to some extent...

Most of the warp cores within the U.N. territories had a max distance they could travel for one jump, and multiversal travel was quickly deemed illegal as Anomalies began to pile up with the new readily available warp crystals.  

Now you're probably wondering: ‘If wormhole travel is so common, have accidents like the Wormhole Incident happen before?’      

Well, they do but on a much smaller scale and are generally easier to contain.

To better understand what went wrong with the Invincible and why it is such a unique and special ship we need to first understand how warp cores work.    

Imagine you are getting ready to create a garden. Depending on the plant, you need an appropriate sized hole as well as an appropriate sized shovel. In this analogy, the wormhole is the hole, the plants are the ships, and the shovel is the warp core. Each warp core is carefully curated to the ship to open up a perfectly sized hole for it. A small shovel for a small plant, a larger shovel for larger plants, and so forth.      

Now the Invincible is a unique case as humans (or Mark) had very little understanding of wormholes. They assumed it was as easy as folding a piece of paper and stabbing a pencil through it. But they (and Mark) also tend to err on the side of extremes and 'Just in cases'. So the warp core of the Invincible is more akin to a tactical shovel with a spear in the shaft, used to plant a small pot of petunias.     

However, what the U.S.A. discovered during their investigation, is that like a tactical shovel, this warp core could shift its functions. It can travel much farther distances, enter farther multiverses, and perhaps even time travel. It is incredibly unpredictable but it is also incredibly powerful. This kind of technology just doesn’t exist in the current state of the Universe™️, or at the very least, hasn't for a very, very long time. 

I̴͉̪̓̈́̈̐t̵̹̼̾̀́̄̋̓̂͐͗̇̉͜ ̵̢͙͓̖̪̥̘͈̼̓̓̆͐ṡ̸̡̢̛̮̤͎͖̗̿͌͊̔̈́̓̈̾̍͜ͅę̶̨̛̖̻̯̟̗̩̲̞̔̿̔̚̚e̵̪̱̘̩̐m̴̧̟̖̠̈̌ṡ̶̗͚͎̬͒̋͒̓̇̏̕͜ ̷̮̰̯͂t̵̩̩̭̦̺̊͂͆̄̔̓̏̿͜͠͠h̷̢̢̧͇͎͇̪͂̑̓̀̓ā̴͚̭̦͒͊t̸̮̠͗͑̓̈́͘͝ ̶͓̔̓͘t̷̨̰͎͍̤͖͌͑̈́̅̅͊͋̓͗ͅh̴̢̛͊̀̿̒͠è̴̼͓͖̓̈́̃́́̈́ ̷̺̙͎͇̪̘͍̗̮̀̅̕r̵̢̛̻̗̱͇͚͐́̾͗̄̐͋̾e̷͔͓̦̙͓̅̌͜ͅà̶̧̛͕̜̣̫́͊̇̿͆͋s̷̡̢̡̡̜͎̫͉̩͎̼̏̿̈́͠ơ̶̯̟̙͇̙̬̹͙̻̿̏̈́̓ṉ̶̼͙͑̔̏̅i̷̧̢̦͓̫̭͋̍̒̈́̚͜n̸̫̣͕̹͓̼͉̝̦̖͌͋͘g̷̛̪̥̳̰̗͍̎́͒̀̀̍ ̶̡͓̩͙̝̱͊̆̋̓̉f̷̧̢̮͍̭̭̜͚̗̻̿̈̍̆̅̒͊̚͝ǫ̵̲̖͇͊̈̐ŗ̶̹̹͖͕̻̬͓̈́ ̶̧̬̳͍͖̦͉̃͑̏͌̿̀̓̽͜ẗ̶̢̰͉̯́͋̋̑̃̎̚͜͝h̶̰͎̜̪̙̪̤͕̻͊̊́̀̐͜͝ͅỉ̷͉̺͗̾̓͛̊͂͜s̵̝̘̜̜͗̆͠ ̴̡̜͕̣͎̰̈́̓̄̾̑͒͒í̴̡̱͒̃͆͑̃̄͘ͅs̴̨͉̺̞̤̺͇̺̦͂̐͆̎̋̾ ̵̟̘͉͌͌̆́̆̃͘ì̵̧͕̌͝t̴̨̬̟̱̟̗̭̝̋̍̓́̇̾̾͝͝ͅs̷̬͒̉̐̾̈́̏͝ ̷̨̗̮̮̣͖̯̬͂̓c̵͙̗̹̞͇̥̗̗̒̐̂̋̄̂o̵͉̘̹̗̬͚͋̿͑̈̈́̓̎͆ͅņ̷̪̱̰͍̙̭̫̩͋̄͜ņ̷͇̝̪̗̬͉͓͓̘̑̽̎͂̊̂̊͘͝é̶̘͕̱̩̮̑c̶̺̝̮͈̺̒͐͑́͜ţ̶̻̘̻̠̣͓̲̥̼͋̔į̶̞̼͎̺̤͓̼̼̰̊̋͌̅̓͆̑͝o̸̢̘̯̪̰̬͚̙̓͆̿̉̑̓́͒̀̊͜͝ṇ̶̫̝̳̺̯̥̻̾̕ ̷͕̭̟̰͓͉͙̹͕̃͋̀̇̕͘͜t̴͔̉ò̸̡̝̱͝…̸̛̼̩̭͈̙͉̯̏͂̇͗̓̋́̅̕͝

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[RELOADING ENTRY]

But truly, the miracle of wormhole travel, especially between multiverses, is that while the distance is almost immeasurable, the time to get to your destination takes approximately the same amount of time it took to read this entry.

 

---

The blue maelstrom of the wormhole tore open in the void, spitting out the Invincible before repairing itself and disappearing.

Inside, the computers began running analysis of the crew members and slowly began to defrost them from their cryo chambers. They stumbled out, yawning and stretching, wandering off to grab cups of coffee in the mess hall that had been automated to dispense. From there the crew began to work in their prospective stations, ensuring the trip had gone smoothly and nothing was damaged en route. 

Mark rounded the corner and strode into the bridge, two cups of coffee in hand. A few crew members had already started to tend to the screens on the walls when he entered. It wasn't long before the Captain’s cryopod hissed as it defrosted and suddenly the door burst open. She came flying out gasping for air and spinning around wildly.     

"COMPUTER! SHIP STATUS!?" She shouted with a wild look in her eyes.

She nearly threw herself towards the fire extinguisher on the wall when the computer chimed back in a voice tinged with an European accent, "Nominal, sir,"

She blinked and looked around her, the bridge quiet as the crew members peered over at her curiously. Reality began to settle in.

"Oh," she straightened up and tugged the wrinkles of her jumpsuit out. "Very good, as you were," she smiled and nodded. The crew turned back to their tasks as if nothing had happened. The hush of the bridge now lifted with the continual beeps of the computer and murmurs of the crew. 

"Do you want to talk about what just happened?" Mark asked, stepping to her side and handing her her mug.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she smiled thinly at him. She took her coffee and thanked him quietly. 

"Oh. Kay." Mark sucked his lips in, in slight frustration, but moved to the central panel to open the blast doors of the hexagonal front window. Liska stepped up to the window and watched as the metal shutters receded back and revealed the planet that they had just entered orbit around.

It was covered in dull browns and greens with dark muddy veins of water streaking across it. From their point of view, it didn't seem to have any discernible oceans but looked as if the surface was one giant swamp. The moon of the planet looked dangerously close. It was about one-fourth the planet’s size, and was just now cresting around the horizon, beginning to eclipse with the sun.   

The door behind them hissed open as Dr. Zoey bounded in, followed by the other team leads. 

"Welcome to L'Moth!" She said excitedly. "A remote little planet on the edge of this curious and ill understood multiverse!" She clapped all four of her hands with a squeal, clearly being the only one excited to be here.

"No wonder, the place looks boring as hell," Gunther came up to the window and leaned against it. He popped his unlit cigar into his mouth, chuckling to himself.

"Well, it's a good thing we aren't here as tourists then, isn't it?" Celici quipped back at him.

Liska sighed to herself, watching Gunther mock Dr. Celicionna silently as soon as she looked away.

"What's so mysterious about this universe? Seems pretty normal to me," Liska asked, turning to her team.  

"We're in a Type 1, decahedral hypersphere universe, possibly an Omega," Dr. Zoey said, adjusting her glasses. The bridge fell silent with confusion.

"Oh, uh, that is to say," she went to explain. "It's a cluster of universes that mirror each other, but in each of these reflections, it's slightly different. Imagine you're in a house of mirrors. Every reflection is still you but distorted to some extent. This particular cluster has a different set of laws of nature that seem to change ever so slightly depending on which universe you're in. It can be hard to tell what laws of nature are applied where."

"Different how?" Mark inquired.

"The only way I can explain it is… ~Space Magic~," Dr. Zoey said, wiggling the fingers on all four of her hands. "Think, like, supernatural things."

"So, like vampires and shit?" Gunther furrowed his brows. 

"Somewhere, yes. Here, probably not." Dr. Zoey said without concern while the crew on the bridge shifted uneasily. "We aren't really sure what or who is on this planet. Few have come out this far, and even fewer have returned. Rumors say there's a tribe of warriors with a strange affiliation with the local canines," she began tapping on the central panel and brought up a hologram of what looked like an incredibly tall, and muscular man with a deep blue complexion.    

“They call themselves the D’Mothiit. We aren’t sure if they use the canines as companions, familiars, or if they just worship them. The reports just always include them in their description of the people. We don't even know what these canines look like.”  

Liska took a long sip from her coffee. "Ok, so how do we find the crystal? And are the locals a threat?"    

"Glad you asked!" Dr. Zoey swiped across the panel, and another screen showed a gridded image of the planet popping up. It spun and zoomed in on a spot with a blue dot that was pulsating blue ripples around it. "Scanners indicate that the crystal is rather large and is located somewhere in this glade. A cross examination with the records we have of the planet suggests this is also the territory of the local tribe. It’s possible they are in possession of it, or at the very least may know where it is. They shouldn't be a threat if we proceed carefully. According to the reports, they respect persons who show great strength and leadership." The crew turned to look at the Captain expectedly.

"I was planning on going anyway," she shrugged. "I wouldn't send my crew anywhere I wasn't willing to go."   

"Great, I'll come packing the heat," Gunther chuckled, patting the pistol on his hip.

"Speak softly and carry a big stick," Burt softly quoted, nodding.

"Yeah, and I'm the big stick," Gunther shoved a thumb into his own  chest.

"You're a big pain in the ass," Celici huffed. "The last thing we need is them to think we're hostile,"  

"Okay, you two," Mark stepped between them, holding out his hands. Celici slapped the one closest to her down.     

"I was just going to go by myself, honestly. Try to open up communications with their chief. No need to go down there with a whole bunch of people,” Liska shrugged with her coffee arm.      

Mark and Celici quickly turned to the Captain and shouted, "No!" in unison, making her startle.     

"What if something goes wrong? Who's going to have your back?" Mark asked." No, I'm going with you."     

"And what makes you qualified to go?" Celici put her hands on her hips as she eyed him.    

Mark began to count on his finger, "For 1, the Captain and I already have a repertoire,” (he accentuated the word with a mock accent) “when it comes to adventuring. And 2…." Mark thought for a second trying to come up with another reason. "Well I don't see you volunteering to go down," he put his hands on his hips mocking her.    

"That’s because I’m not," Celici scoffed. "Someone has to be responsible and babysit the crew,"

Tyler looked up from his data pad, a slight hurt across his face.

“Uh, with Tyler of course,” Celici added with a small apologetic grimace for forgetting he was the first mate.     

"Then I don't see why I shouldn't go," Mark gave her a smug smile but Celici just rolled her eyes.    

"What if I tell you no?” Liska interjected with a smirk.      

"You're not allowed to say no to me," Mark spun around and pointed at her. With a nod he walked past her to gather his things.

Liska had opened her mouth to say something but instead bit her lip in thought. He wasn’t wrong, he never did allow her to tell him no.     

Dr. Celicionna resigned with a sigh. "Just, please, don't get yourselves killed. Or the tribe angry with us..." 

“I’ll do my best,” Liska gave her a salute as she stepped back out of the bridge following Mark. 

The Marmota jump ship was a stout little thing, able to carry 14 passengers or a small cargo load. The front windshield sat above a short tilted nose and wrapped around to the sides allowing the pilot to have an optimal view of their surroundings. Two powerful jet engines sat on either side and were able to rotate 270° either simultaneously or independently to create thrust or drag in any direction. Combined with the V shaped tail, the ship was incredibly maneuverable both in atmosphere and out.      

It skimmed over the top of the swampy land's treetops in search of a place to land. The clusters of trees were thick and their roots snaked and intertwined across the swamps. There where patches of long, dark brown and green grass dispersed among turbid waters with brightly colored flowers lining the edge.

Strange birds began to flock out of the tree tops as the Marmota's engines twisted, allowing it to hover and slowly land in a small dry clearing. The ship took up the majority of the space with only a small border of grass around it before being encased by swamp waters and thick foliage.      

The engines died down and the peculiar calls of the birds once again filled the air. A ramp unfolded itself from the back end of the ship where Mark and the Captain peered out around them. As they descended they took in the thick humid air and Mark wiped off a layer of sweat that was already beginning to form on his brow.     

"How are we supposed to find anyone in this?" he motioned around them. The forest seemed dark and oppressive despite it barely being morning. A thick haze obscured any sight beyond the initial tree line into the forest and made the calls of the birds seem incorporeal and eerie.  

"Maybe we don't have to," The Captain said, pointing behind him. He turned around following her finger to see five tall humanoids emerging from the trees as if they forest itself produced them from thin air.

Their skin was a strange dark blue color with a shine that made it look almost metallic. Their hair was stark white, long and loose and their yellow irises left little sclera in their eyes making them look almost animalistic. Four of the people were masculine looking, loin cloths of animal skin wrapped around their waists. Three of those four had spears in their hands, and muscles rippled under their skin. They surrounded the fourth man who was much larger than them with a long white beard. Adorned with brightly colored beads and small animal bones he looked something like a blue, tribal Santa Claus. The fifth member was feminine presenting, but no less muscular than her male counterparts. Animal skins protected her large chest and waist but not much beyond that. Her hair was wild like a white mane, and the look in her eyes seemed more feral than the others. 

Mark glanced at the Captain and noticed her locking eyes with the woman. He glanced back at the wild woman and watched her bare her teeth in a slow grin. Another glance back at his Captain found her bright red and wide eyed. Mark squinted his eyes at his Captain giving a moment to figure out what might be happening silently between them. His eyes widen as her quickly brushed those thoughts away before they could get out of hand.

The man in the middle held up his hand, and he and his companions promptly stopped a few feet from the edge of the ramp.  He nodded to one of his guards who stepped forward and offered a pouch of liquid to them. He towered over them even with the slight height of the ramp. Mark had to guess they had to be close to 7ft tall, if not more. They exchanged glances before the man grunted and shoved the pouch towards them again. 

"I think it's an offering. And something tells me if we don't drink it, it won't go over well," The Captain said as she took the pouch with a nod and a small smile.   

"Or its poison," Mark said. He gave a fake smile to the man hoping he didn't understand him.     

"Guess we'll find out," and before Mark could protest further she took a long drink from the pouch, a small bit dripping down her chin. The man made approving grunts and nodded, apparently happy they understood what he wanted. She sighed as the pouch parted her lips with satisfaction.    

"Not bad," she passed it to Mark, who regarded it with deep suspicion. He sighed in resignation and followed suit. He was pleasantly surprised to find the drink was light and tasted like flowers. It was strangely cool in his throat and very refreshing in the hot humidity.     

"Oh," he said as he took it away from his mouth and began rolling the lingering flavor on his tongue with a few smacks of his lips.    

"Good, isn't it?" The man said.     

 "You could speak English this whole time!?" Mark asked, startled.  

 "English? I do not know what that is. The drink allows us to communicate."     

"How!?" Mark looked down at the pouch and back at him. The man shrugged and took the pouch back, going back to take his place next to his chief.   

"That must be the ~Space Magic~ Dr. Zoey was talking about," The Captain said, wiggling her fingers in the same way the doctor had on the ship. 

"Welcome strangers," the Chief hollered at them with a booming low voice.      

"Forgive our intrusion," Liska called back. "My name is Captain Liska and this is Mark, my head engineer," she said. The pack of natives furrowed their faces in confusion and she realized they probably had no idea what a Captain or engineer was. She began to scramble for the right words to say.  "We come in peace," she held out her hands palm up and smiled sheepishly.    

"A little cliche, don't you think?" Mark muttered through a smirk. She gave him a side eye.     

"You aren't the first visitors from the stars who have come to us, though we don't get many. What brings you to our humble world?" The Chief stroked his beard in contemplation. There was a sparkle on his hand that caught Mark and Liska’s eye. They both gasped quietly, seeing a light blue oblong crystal wrapped in what looked like copper wire around one of his thick fingers. A warp crystal.   

"We are actually looking for–" Mark started getting ready to point out the gem before Liska stepped in front of him, blocking his view and onto his foot, making him yelp and swallow his words.     

"For information! We are with an organization that is curious about your people and customs!" She quickly inserted with a big smile.    

The Chief exchanged looks with his guards and then began to laugh. His low gravelly voice made it sound almost like a bark. The others continued to laugh along with him before he finally held up a hand to quiet them.      

"Is that so? Well, I suppose we could extend our hospitality towards you and show you a thing or two. We were about to hold a feast tonight, heralding the moon,"     

"Sounds wonderful. Let us grab our things and-" Liska started before the Chief interrupted her.       

"Ah, just you. My daughter doesn't like your companion,"      

Mark pointed at himself with a face full of offense. "Me?"     

The woman standing next to the Chief began to growl low, baring her teeth. Mark startled slightly and stepped back.      

"Not a problem, he can stay here," Liska waved a hand in the air. She turned around to head into the ship, with Mark following closely behind her.  

"Excuse me? What am I supposed to do while you’re gone?" He hissed, trying to make sure no one outside could hear him.   

"Watch the ship, I guess," Liska said and swung her small backpack onto her shoulder. 

“Watch the ship? I came here to make sure you don’t get hurt!” He blocked her way out. “Celici will kill me if she finds out I let you go off on your own!”

"Don’t worry. They seem plenty nice and I shouldn't be gone long. I'll pack you a doggy bag from the feast," she winked at him, patting him on the shoulder as she pushed past him.       

"Thanks," he muttered and crossed his arms. He followed her down to the base of the ramp and watched them disappear into the thick, murky forest.

As the waters began to deepen and reached to Liska’s waist their trek began to slow significantly. She kept losing her footing on the muddy floor and the plants beneath the water wrapped and grabbed at her legs causing her to stumble often. The Chief and his companions didn't seem to have as much trouble as she did, with their long legs. The swamp waters only came to just above their knees and where the water soaked through her jumpsuit, it practically rolled off their leather clothes and seemed to bead and roll off their skin. Liska found herself wondering if the shine on their skin was actually a layer of waterproof oil, similar to that on water fowl feathers.   

 The group often found themselves having to stop multiple times to wait for the Captain as she sloshed and jumped towards them breathlessly.     

"Sorry, I'm not exactly equipped-" she began as she caught up to them breathlessly but was abruptly cut off as the Chief's daughter scooped her up suddenly. She felt like a small child in the large woman's arms who was now carrying her bridal style and felt her face redden as she was suddenly face to face with her. The woman smirked. She had a strong and square face, and her eyes held a certain kind of mischief Liska couldn’t place.    

"This works too,” she said quietly, unable to tear her eyes from the woman wrapping her arms around her neck. Liska wasn’t used to being the one who was swept off her feet, literally or figuratively.     

The Chief and the others chuckled at them. "It seems my daughter has taken favor of you," he said. “She doesn't typically take kindly to strangers. The last man to approach her too quickly found himself in several pieces. White-Fang is my best hunter for a reason," a wicked smile came across his face that gave Liska a shiver. He turned around and continued marching forward.    

"Oh," Liska cleared her throat nervously. With her arms around White-Fang's neck for support, she spent the rest of the trip silent trying to decide if she felt scared or aroused. Probably both. It was definitely both. 

They eventually came upon a large nature made arch of branches and trees that even towered over Liska's new companions. The trees around it seem to weave and intertwine with each other making a wall of sorts and a thick curtain of moss hanging off some of the branches in the archway acted like a doorway with two guards posted on either side. As the group approached they pulled back the moss curtain to reveal the village to them.      

It was situated in a clearing, the thick forest wall circling around the entirety of them. There were hundreds of people similar to the Chief and his guards, all with deep metallic blue skin and white hair. There were a handful of small children who were probably the same size as Liska, running around, laughing as they weaved through straw made huts.     

There were tanning racks, and people sitting on colorful cushions outside of the huts. A few sat near stands that held fruits and vegetables of various sizes, shapes and colors. There was a thick smell of spices and smoke in the air. However, what stuck out the most to Liska was the giant stone temple in the back of the village.     

It seemed ancient and permanent compared to the huts. Large vulpine-like gargoyles adorned the building. They were snarling, and posed as to attack any intruder, each with multiple large, stone, bushy tails, (though some had been broken over time, it seemed). The building itself was rectangular connecting two stepped pyramids on either side. There were square and triangular shapes, and patterns carved deep into the walls of stone, which was slowly turning green from the moss and was pitted and worn from time. Steps carved into the center rose all the way up to a landing about halfway up the building. There was a large opening against the back wall and brazires situated around the temple were burning bright despite it being close to mid-day. 

Or maybe it was closer to the end of the day. Liska found it was hard to tell with the moon rising quickly behind the temple. It was still a pasty white in the blue sky, but looked terrifyingly close as if it was approaching the planet to destroy it.   

As they walked through the center of the village, people began to stop what they were doing to stare. Barters stopped mid sentence, women dropped their baskets full of strange fruit, and an elderly woman hid her children behind her defensively. They seemed shocked to see a stranger was in their midst, let alone in the arms of the Chief's daughter.     

Liska kept her eyes forward, trying not to draw much more attention to herself. She could feel their eyes on her, like hot coals on her skin.    

When they reached the bottom of the steps, White-Fang placed Liska down gently.      

"We shall make our way to the grand hall, and there we can begin our feast!" The Chief proclaimed. Liska looked around and noticed that in just the short walk, the night was already quickly approaching.    

"Wasn't it just mid day?" She asked as they began to climb the stairs.   

"Our days are short and our nights long," the Chief explained. "We are children of the night, children of our Goddess," He motioned up at the moon which now hung at the precipice of the temple.     

"You worship a moon Goddess then?"   

The Chief barked another laugh, "More! I am her Chosen! I have been gifted with this Stone of Power to help me vanquish our enemies!" He flashed her the Warp Crystal on his fat finger, a small blue light steadily pulsing from it along with a low hum. Up close Liska realized the crystal was smaller than the one she had in the past, and cut differently. Or really not cut at all. It looked as if it had just been chipped off of some larger piece.     

"And who exactly are your enemies?" She inquired.       

"The Mothiit. Tricksters and cowards. Our tribes have been at war for millennia. They came to our homeworld and tried to rid it of us! We are what's left of our people after so many years of war. I plan to end it." He thumped his chest with his fist.     

"Would you mind me asking what sort of powers that stone gives you?"     

The Chief stopped a few steps ahead of her, making him tower even more. A wicked smile broke across his face, large enough to show his enormous canines.   

"Immortality," he said simply.  

‘I was afraid of that, ’ Liska thought. She wasn't sure how the crystals worked exactly, or even if he knew how they worked. But she remembered thinking she was immortal too, when hers was embedded in her hand. She thought it was herself that was jumping from universe to universe, when really her consciousness merely jumped bodies and merged with whomever that Captain was. Or her memories did? No one could fully explain that part either.    

Regardless, that thinking had led her and Mark to do some pretty stupid things in their quest to fix their reality devouring Wormhole. She didn't want to think what a self righteous warrior who thinks he's on a mission from his Goddess would do if he thought he was immortal. Or what he would do if he discovered any of its actual properties.

They proceeded up the stairs in silence, the sun now fully set behind them and the moon now high above them. They walked in through the doorway into a long and large stone room with braziers lining the walls giving off a warm and orange hue. A hole in the roof acted simultaneously as a chimney for the large fire pit in the center of the room and a filter for the moon light to shine through. Large pillows were placed around the fire, with crude copper plates and cups placed near them. At the back of the room sat a large stone throne carved into the floor, skins of animals draped across it and a strange vulpine white mask hung at the top. Liska had a feeling it did not belong to any of the D'Mothiit originally and that its owner had long passed at their hands. 

The Chief plopped down into his throne and his daughter took her place on a large cushion next to his legs. He motioned for Liska to sit on another set of large pillows opposite of him. It wasn't long before the hall filled with more people, and some of the smaller looking tribesmen came out carrying platters of fruits and meats, and copper jugs filled with deep dark red liquids.      

"Tonight we celebrate the first night of the full moon!" He called and lifted his cup to the air. The others did the same and Liska followed suit. "We also celebrate our guest, Captain..." he paused trying to remember the rest of her name and gave up quickly. "To Captain!"    

The others also called out "To Captain!" Then threw back their cups and drank deeply of its contents. Liska hesitated momentarily before drinking hers. Once she did she realized it reminded her of red wine mixed with an after taste of strawberries and something else she couldn't place. She was thoroughly impressed with how sweet their drinks were and knew it would pair well with the salty meats they were now serving her. Before she could ask for a refill of her drink, a small serving boy came up from behind her and filled her cup again. He did not leave her side when he was done.    

She lifted the cup again towards the Chief in a cheers like gesture. He laughed heartily and encouraged her to drink more. White-Fang watched her carefully, a smirk across her face, tracing the top of her cup with her finger.  

Liska drank deeply again. She was no stranger to booze. She imbibed in wine often, and in her time in the military enjoyed drinking her battle buddies under the table. After only the second cup, the tip of her nose began to tingle, however and it was apparent theirs was far more potent than what Earth had.   

The boy filled her cup again and she found a giggle bubble up. White-Fang's face scrunched in a cute smile in response. The Captain coyly hid her face in her cup and drank more. They didn't break eye contact however.     

"You know, I can't tell if you want to eat me or fuck me," Liska blurted out drunkidly to her own surprise. White-Fang tilted her head curiously, her face going dangerously blank and the hall hushed slightly. Liska snapped her mouth shut as she went red. The Chief frowned for a second before bursting into a hearty laugh.     

"What's the difference!?" He responded laughing and grabbing his daughter by the shoulder teasingly. White-Fang also began to laugh and soon Liska found herself joining them. She felt her cup slosh a bit as she tried not to tip over from her laughter and remembered it was still full. Or was it full again? She drank it anyway.      

By now she couldn’t feel the edges of her body and movements began to lag in her vision. Drums began to start up somewhere in the hall and echoed off the stone chambers. The fire made the shadows of everyone dance to the beat. She watched as White-Fang got up slowly and sauntered towards her like a predator, holding her hand out. Liska placed her hand in hers and was immediately lifted off her seat like a rag doll. White-Fang placed her on her feet and began to dance in a very primal and entrancing way that left Liska staring and a little slack jawed. Once she came back from whatever fantasies her mind had wandered to, she attempted to try and dance with the wild woman despite not being able to feel her legs and stumbled around, giggling madly as she did. It was then her vision began to darken around the edges, though she didn’t seem to mind. The room spun around, faces began to blur, the drums filled her head in a strange intoxicating way. She felt White-Fang grab her by her waist to help steady her, she cupped the Captain’s face in her large hand and that was the last thing Liska could remember. 

The Captain’s dreams were dark, except for a single spotlight from which tendrils of smoke flowed out and wrapped themselves around her arms and held her in place. She fights against them but finds her energy is quickly expended as she does so. A heaviness begins to sit in her chest, guilt twists in her gut like a knife, and a hopelessness fills her being to the brim. She feels colorless, empty, angry.

A face begins to emerge from the darkness, a canine skull wrapped in the smoke, two dark forward facing horns sit above its empty eye sockets.

“Well, hello there,” it’s disembodied voice calls out and it echoes around her. It’s soothing, inviting. The Captain can’t find the energy to reply. 

The skull tilts to the side as it considers its prey. 

“Yes, I believe you will do. Not that I’ll have any other choice,” the creature says as another tendril of smoke reaches out to touch where the Captain’s heart sits. 

“Don’t worry, this won’t hurt,” it soothes and the Captain is certain she is going to die. Yet it’s a welcoming certainty. And she relaxes into the smoke that holds her. She is ready to welcome the void. But as the tendril reaches her chest and bright spark goes off defending against the smoke. The creature cries out a horrible screech that pierces straight to the Captain’s bones. 

“LET ME IN!” it screeches again and lunges at her.  

Liska snaps her eyes open and finds herself looking up at the ceiling, laying on several of the colorful cushions. The dawn was beginning to break, turning the sky into a pale gray. The birds began their morning calls. It wasn’t long before the sunlight shone right into the stone hall through the opening that the moon had once been framed in the night before.      

Liska twisted her head and grabbed the nearest cushion to shield her eyes from the onslaught of the sunlight. She grumbled as she sat up and squinted around the room, her dreams falling away into the recesses of her mind. The part where she files the rest of the things she doesn’t want to think about. 

It was now empty save for a single elder who was bent over nearly 90 degrees at the hip and sweeping the floor.      

“What time is it?” she called to him but the sound of her voice reverberating against the stone walls hurt her head. She sucked in a sharp breath as she clutched her forehead. The sweeper did not respond however. With huff she got up onto her feet and assessed the damage.    

‘Head hurts, body sore, clothes are on. That's good at least,’ she thought to herself. Her knuckles were also unscathed which was also a good sign and meant she hadn’t punched anyone in her drunken stupor… again. She licked her dry lips before calling out to the old sweeper again.     

“Where is everyone?” she said this time a little louder. Again he didn’t respond, not even so much to lift his head to regard her. Liska frowned but her question was quickly answered when she heard the low chuckle of the Chief behind her. She twisted around to see him coming in through the door, his arms open wide, and White-Fang walking close behind him. 

“There she is! You do know how to liven up a party!” He came around her and clasped his hands on her shoulders, the weight of them nearly buckling her knees. "I hope you're ready for tonight!"  

“Sorry, Chief, if tonight is anything like last night I’m afraid I’ll have to pass,”  she said sheepishly. He raised his eyebrows curiously. "Whatever is in your booze is a bit strong for me to repeat two nights in a row,"

“Oh you won’t be drinking tonight, that would give White-Fang an unfair advantage,”

“I’m sorry?” Liska asked. "An unfair advantage in what?"      

“Don’t you remember? You challenged White-Fang to a hunt-chase in exchange for my ring!”

“I did… what?” The Chief laughed at her confusion.    

“You went on a drunken rant about how dangerous the gem was and said you needed it. When I refused you said you would take me on any challenge. So, I said if you could escape my daughter in a hunt you could keep it,” Liska glanced back at White-Fang who had a vicious smile on her face and hungry eyes. At this moment, Liska realized she did want to eat her. And not in a fun way.      

“I made that challenge when I was obviously inebriated. You can’t hold me to that!" She paused, "Can you?”     

“Oh I’m afraid I must. Drunk or not you made a challenge. And backing away from a challenge in our culture means you admit defeat. And the losers always die,” She could tell he was deathly serious. It made sense in her head it would be that way. A warrior race that respected strength above all else.     

Liska ran her hands over her face. She could never turn down a challenge. It was like a knee jerk reaction, and drunk her was especially hungry for such things. She took a deep breath.

"Alright, count me in then," She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to outrun someone who was nearly twice her height and literally built for the environment but a fighting chance was better than no chances. Perhaps she could use her small statue to her advantage.    

“Great!" he patted her shoulder hard enough it nearly toppled her again "We’ll see you at the moon rise then!” he turned around to walk out of the hall but White-Fang stayed back for a moment. She was staring at Liska baring her teeth in a large smile. She backed away slowly following her father and leaving Liska in the stone hall alone with her hangover and regrets. 

Mark paced up and down the ramp of the Marmota only stopping for a moment to realize dawn was breaking. His eyes stung from the lack of sleep and his stomach turned from worry. He hadn’t heard from the Captain all night and he had hoped she would return soon so he knew she was okay.

‘I’ll bring you back a doggy bag,’ The Captain's smirk played back in his head. Who did she think she was, huh? Just wandering off without him. What was even the point of him coming? 

He kicked a rock at the bottom of the ramp and grunted in pain when it refused to budge. He began to grumble under his breath and turned to walk back up the ramp. He figured he might as well make sure everything was in place while he waited. Again. 

As he stormed up the ramp something caught the corner of his eye. He paused and took a few steps backwards to see what it was. On the outer edges of the clearing in the early morning mist were two small children. They had uncannily large smiles that crinkled their eyes nearly shut with thin red lines tracing the outer rims of their eyes and slashed along their cheekbones. Their hair was ink black and long with their bangs cut straight across their foreheads just above where their eyebrows should have been and they both wore long, layered white robes holding each other's pale hands.  

A shiver ran up Mark’s spine and he decided that was not at all what he saw and went back up the ramp. 

“What cha doin’ mister?" a duet of small voices said behind him. Mark yelped several octaves above his normal tone and spun around. The pale children were now directly behind him, looking up at him with the same expression. 

Before answering he pushed past them and looked out the ramp to judge the distance they had to have gone silently through to get to him.    

“Uh, Waiting for a friend,” He said nervously, turning around but they were suddenly not there anymore. He whipped around looking for them. 

“Who's your friend?” He heard one voice say and he walked down the ramp to see one was now sitting on the wing, kicking their legs in the air.

“Get down!” he shouted almost instinctively. “And none of your business!” he added. 

“I think your friend is dead,” the other said, dropping down and hanging from the edge of the wing. 

“She is not! How did you-” he started but in a giggle they dissipated into mist. He rubbed his eyes and began to try and slow his breathing. An eerie children’s giggle echoed around the clearing and he noticed the mist was slowly getting thicker. He began turning around looking for the source of the laughter as it got louder and more sinister.

“If she went with the wolves, she'd be eaten!” they said in a sing-song voice. 

“You don’t know that!” he shouted into the mist. “Show yourselves!” he demanded. “I’m not afraid of a couple of kids,”

“Oh,” the voices began to pitch down, “You should be,” they growled and the mist began to form itself into a creature. Before it could take shape however another voice rang out.

“Enough!” the mist  dissipated as if someone had run their hand through it. Mark hadn’t even noticed that the sky was darkening until it was suddenly starting to become brighter.

“Captain?” he whispered and turned around. But it wasn’t. It was a woman dressed in similar robes as the children, equally long black hair, but two large pieces set in front of her ears were tied with red ribbon, separating it from the rest of her hair. Her eyes were nearly completely black, her face a familiar round shape    

“Oh, sorry. I thought,” he swallowed hard. The two children peered out from behind the women's robes. 

“Do not mind them, they are at a mischievous age,” she said kindly, placing her hands on their heads. “Their names are Dawn and Duras,” The children giggled and then sprinted out from under her robes to play around the ship. 

“Hey!” Mark called after them but he turned back to the woman. “Can I help you?” He felt the sting of his words but he couldn’t help it. 

“No. I am here to tell you to leave,” she said as she folded her hands into her robe’s sleeves. “I’m afraid if you stay you’ll put into motion something far beyond your control,” 

“I can’t leave without my Captain,” Mark said simply. “I don’t know where she is. Maybe you can help me find her. She went with the D’mothiit chief. If you can tell me where their village is-”

“No!” the woman interrupted. “If she went with them it’s not likely she’s alive now. They give their guests an intoxicating poison which few have lived through. And even if she did, they’ll have other methods to ensure she dies. ”

“The Captain is a strong willed person, often to her own determite. Listen, she was looking for this blue gem, the one that is on the chief’s hand,” at this the woman’s eyes widened. “You know what that gem is, don’t you?” she simply shook her head and turned away from him. 

“This is too dangerous a place for you. You and your Captain are inserting yourselves into a narrative you know nothing about. Leave now!” 

“I won’t until my Captain returns! You can throw all the mist monsters and creepy children at me all you want, I won’t leave until she’s on this ship!” he thrusts his finger at the ground to assert his point. The woman sighed and looked off into the forest. 

“Fine. If she’s alive I will find her and bring her back. But then you must leave, gem or no,” 

“Thank you,” his voice softened. The woman squinted her eyes at him in a familiar way and he felt a smile tug at his lips. “What’s your name?” 

She thought for a moment and then gave a soft smile, “To be honest, I never gave it much thought. No name ever comes to me when I try to think of it,” 

She turned away and Mark felt the children brush past him as they ran after her, arms flung behind them as if it made them go faster. They made circles around her as she walked forward and disappeared into the forest.

A shiver ran down Mark’s spine making him shake viscerally. “I hate this place,” 

As night descended, the D’Mothiit people began to crowd around the base of the temple steps. Their faces half lit by the fire light they held, eyes filled with hunger and bloodlust, the torches casting a reddish hue around the village. The moon hung over their heads bathing the rest of the forest and swamp lands around them in clear blue light. They created a path that went straight through the archway, giving Liska an obstacle free road out of the village. Beyond that, however, Liska was at a loss as to what to do.    

The swamp was too deep for her to tread through, and she wasn’t even sure which way the ship was. She could try and climb the tree limbs and jump from limb to limb, but she had a feeling White-Fang would just be able to follow her from underneath and just need to wait for her to slip once. If she followed the dry patches of land it was likely she would be taken way out and away from the ship’s direction, as well as give White-Fang a better way to track her. 

She considered her options as she was standing on the landing with the Chief, White-Fang, and a couple of guards who had been her only company for the entire day to ensure she didn’t take off when no one was looking. Things weren’t looking good, and what’s worse is they had smashed her transponder sometime the night before so she couldn’t even contact Mark to search for her. God, he was going to be so pissed when he found out what she had done. 

The Chief stepped up to the edge of the steps and the crowd erupted in cheers as he lifted his hands. 

“My people!” he called out and the crowd hushed. “We are honoring this Full Moon with a Hunt!” The crowd erupted in more cheers. He held up his hands again to settle them which took a bit longer this time. “Our guest has graciously volunteered to be the prey tonight, to be hunted by none other than my White-Fang!” 

Liska looked over at White-Fang, her eyes widened and face reddened deeply to see that titan of a woman completely naked and stretching. She quickly looked away and held her head in her hands.      

‘Goddamnit! If my life wasn’t in danger this would be so hot! ’ she dragged her hands down, her face disgruntled and flustered. 

“Catch, rabbit!” The Chief said and tossed his ring at Liska. She quickly caught it despite being caught slightly off guard. “We will give you a ten minute head start, to even the playing field,” he said smiling. There was a similar hunger in his eyes as she had seen in his daughters. 

“Thanks,” she muttered, pocketing the ring in the left breast pocket of her jumpsuit. She zipped it shut and patted it for security.    

Then a strange feeling crept up her spine, like her hair standing on end before a storm. She heard the most nauseating noises from behind her. Cracking, grunting and shifting of muscle and bones. Liska slowly turned and saw White-Fang hunched over on all fours, her bones and muscles rippling through her body poking out at odd and inhuman angles and then setting into stranger positions. Quills begin to grow out of her skin and down her spine. Her face shifted unnaturally into a muzzle, her ears elongated and shifted to the top of her head, her legs bent in unnatural ways. Her hair began to grow around her neck and face like a mane, stiffening and becoming quill-like as a tail covered in a coalescence of quills and fur flicked out from behind her. With a loud roar filled with spittle, Liska realized that White-Fang had transformed into an alien looking and enormous white wolf. 

Liska felt frozen in place with fear as the creature held her gaze. She felt the Chief come up beside her and leaned low into her ear.

“Run,” he whispered, and like an obedient rabbit, she turned and ran at full sprint away from the monster. The crowd yelled and sneered at her, but she could barely hear them over her pulse pumping in her head and her breathing filling her ears. She burst through the moss that covered the archway and the tribe behind her broke out in a blood curdling howl that shook the treetops.

Liska burst through the sharp brambles and tumbled forward. One of the twigs caught on her jumpsuit, tearing the pocket the warp crystal had been hidden in. The bright blue gem bounced out onto a dry patch of land and glowed among the dark grass. Liska scrambled to grab it, her face covered in cuts from branches, and her suit soaked from the swamp waters. She snatched it up with her robot arm before regaining her balance and beginning to run again when the branches behind her exploded.    

She felt the dry branches fly past her as she covered her head and heard the beast landing behind her. Liska tried to pick up the pace without looking back until she felt the wolf’s body slamming into her. The quills that covered its body pierced her skin and the force knocked the breath out of her chest. She landand face first into the mud with the creature’s full weight on her back.      

It grabbed her robot arm and ripped it out of the socket as it made a pass on her. It yelped and jumped back as the sparks shocked its mouth and dropped it next to Liska. She quickly rolled over and got back onto her feet.

For a split second the monster and Liska stood facing each other on either side of the small island among the dark waters. The wolf roared and leapt forward as Liska quickly reached for her arm and swung it like a metal bat at the creature’s face. She heard its jaw pop and the wolf went flying, limp in the air.    

Liska took a moment to ensure the gem was still clutched in the arm’s hand and looked up to see the creature slowly pull itself up. Its eyes glowed an iridescent yellow in the moonlight, jaw hung limp. It twisted its neck snapping the jaw back in place and now slowly began to approach snarling.

In a flash the wolf was upon Liska again knocking her down. The world rang and reverberated as the back of her head smacked the ground and bounced. She groaned, feeling the beast's weight on her. 

“Last words?” It growled. Liska knew this was it. She was dead, she needed to make this count.    

“Heh,” she said in a hoarse voice, squinting up at the monster’s snarling and drooling muzzle. “If you wanted to mount me this bad, you could have just asked,” She spat some blood out of her mouth that landed directly in the beast’s eyes.   

Its victorious snarl turned sour quickly and it reared up, opening its massive jaw filled with sharp teeth and bit down on her right shoulder, snapping Liska’s collar bone. She cried out and the pain threatened to take her consciousness. 

“Let her go, beast!” A woman’s voice was heard. There was a whipping sound in the air and the wolf let go yelping. It jumped off of Liska with lines of blood all across its pale skin that was stretched over its body. Liska tried to twist her head to see who it was but found movement to be too painful. She laid panting on the ground looking up at the oppressive moon that took up most of the sky above her.   

The edges of her vision began to darken.

' Fuck,’   she thought as she slipped into unconsciousness 

“Trickster!” The creature growled around its muzzle. “This is not your battle!” though its words were nearly incomprehensible the tall woman could understand her. The woman wore white layered robes, black hair waving gently in the light wind and an empty mask with no more than slits for eyes upon her face. Around her small lights of bright blue fire hung attracting large silk moths. She looked ethereal against the gloom and dark of the swamp around them.

“On the contrary. This is my battle. Go back to your village. Tell them you lost the girl and the gem, and I will spare you,”    

The wolf barked a laugh. “I will return with the gem, the girl and your head!” it growled and lunged forward. The woman waved her hands and the wolf was suddenly still in midair.  Blood began to trickle around its ankles, its muzzle shut tight by some invisible force, blood forming in thin lines where it was wrapped.     

“This was your choice,” The woman said and went over to pick up Liska and her arm.    

“Take care of the wolf, and return what’s left to her father,” The woman said to the forest as she turned and walked away. The trees around them began to erupt in soft children’s laughter as reflective eyes began to show among the branches. Slowly pale, and skinny and bony humanoids with vulpine masks that slowly shifted into wicked, toothy grins that were far too large, crawled out of the brambles. White-Fang’s eyes widened as she began to struggle against her invisible binds, making her bleed even more as the woman’s charges began to slowly crawl towards her. The child's laughter pitched up, echoing in the forest and turning into a sinister and unnatural shrill that covered White-Fang’s screams. 

Mark paced in front of the Marmota. He had been on edge ever since he heard the cacophony of howls in the distance. The forest had been eerily quiet since and he began to worry that the woman was right.     

His stomach lurched at the idea and he pushed it out immediately. No, he knew the Captain was still alive. He didn’t know how, he just knew.    

“Over here!” he heard a call. He stopped and suddenly started looking around the dark empty clearing. “Over here!” The call repeated again. This time there was no mistake, it was his Captain’s voice. He located where the voice came from and saw the crumpled silhouette of his Captain on the ground, the sparkle of the moonlight shining off her robotic arm, placed across her chest.     

He sprinted towards her and slid on his knees on the wet grass to her side.        

“Captain!” he shouted but she was clearly unconscious. He placed a finger against her neck and could pick up a weak pulse. Pulling away he saw blood cover his hands. He was then suddenly aware of all the blood that covered her chest.   

“H-Hold on Captain!” He said aloud and scooped her up in his arms. He carried her to the ship, a little awkwardly and as quickly as he dared.    

As he laid her on the metal floor he began shouting at the ship’s computer.   

“Computer! Get us back to the Invincible! Tell them to be ready to receive wounded!” He leapt up to grab the first aid kit to get her wounds wrapped.      

“Initiating G.T.F.O protocol,” the posh voice of the computer said calmly and started the engines, closing the ramp behind them. Mark stumbled as the Marmota lurched and began its ascent into the air. He dropped to his knees and began to unzip the Captain’s jumpsuit, apologizing under his breath.    

He saw the two puncture holes in her shoulder where the blood slowly leaked out.     

“What kind of trouble did you get yourself into this time?” he asked in a perturbed whisper as he began to wrap the wound. He heard her groan and looked over to see her eyes flutter slightly.        

“The warp crystal?” she asked hoarsely. She tried to lift herself up but Mark gently pushed her down.   

“Stay down, you’re really hurt.”  

“My arm,” she groaned. He looked back at the robot arm and saw the glow of the warp crystal clutched in its grasp.     

“Looks like you got it Captain,” he said, smiling, his face still filled with worry. “You’re going to be okay,” he reassured her, though it was more for him.   

“Good,” she sighed and went limp again.    

“Captain? No, you gotta try and stay with me!” He gently tapped her cheeks. She scrunched her face up in protest.   

“Five more minutes, mom,” she groaned. Suddenly her eyes widened and she gasped. Her eyes rolled back into her head and foam began to spill out her mouth. Mark gripped her shoulder, unsure what was happening as she began to convulse.    

“Captain?” he began to shout to try and snap her out. “Captain! CAPTAIN!”