Shadowed Stars The Children of Home

Shadowed Stars The Children of Home

Steven Koutz

Copyright © 2022 Steven Koutz

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2022

ISBN 978-1-6624-6138-5 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-6624-6139-2 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

About the Shadowed Stars Universe

Introduction

Chapter 1

The Masks of Yanve

Chapter 2

The Fountain

Chapter 3

Savage Space

Chapter 4

Favor to a Warrior

Chapter 5

Lost at the Blue Sun

Chapter 6

Krysus

Chapter 7

What You Cannot See

Chapter 8

The Mind Master Runs the Game

Chapter 9

Slipped

Chapter 10

Eyes of the Enemy

Chapter 11

Internal Bleeding

Chapter 12

A Rock and a Hard Place

Chapter 13

Broken Heroes

Chapter 14

Object of Obsession

Chapter 15

Calling

Chapter 16

Tally the Dead

Chapter 17

Arena

Chapter 18

Starsliah

Chapter 19

Challenges

Chapter 20

Not Quite a Cage

Chapter 21

Ramifications

Chapter 22

Change in Ways

Chapter 23

Tension

The Unstab freighter had docked on the Derth humpback. Everyone met in the docking bay and any needed introductions were made. Most were relieved to see each other while others were a bit nervous. Nissus and Stoi had been shuttled up to retrieve Nissus's mother. As they disembarked their shuttle, she ran to hug her son and even his friend Stoi. She told them that the liquid cure worked and her illness was gone. She was so happy to have her son back and could not wait to get back home with him and settle back in the palace. Her focus would now be on saving their planet. Nissus was happy to see his mother and just as happy to hear her say that she had been fully cured, but nervous at the same time. He had something to tell her, and he admitted that it would not be easy. She apologized for interrupting and promised they would talk about it back in the palace but she had to introduce him personally to her newest friend, Anasha.

Chapter 24

Slipped Again

Chapter 25

Bridges

Chapter 26

Plans in Motion

Chapter 27

Strike of Evil

Chapter 28

From out of Darkness

Chapter 29

The Return of the Fallen King

Chapter 30

What's in a Name?

Chapter 31

Endings are Beginnings

SHADOWED STARS

More space, more battles, more heroes, more villains, more conflict and drama, more sex, and more Derths.

Bigger, better, bolder!

Sci-fi with a more mature flavor.

Mature Reader Warning

Some of the contents can be considered mature due to mature language, sexual and violent content. Mature readers are recommended.

Disclaimer

People, places, events, and items in this story are completely science fiction, and any resemblance or similarity to such in real life is purely coincidental. Nothing has been based on real people, events, etc.

Humorous Notice

No humans, aliens, or creatures from any planet have been harmed in bringing you this tale.

About the Shadowed Stars Universe

Shadowed Stars is an epic tale of science fiction with a more mature flavor. It has been a concept for many years, with its main objective and drive to contend with already-established franchises out there and to always strive to be different and better. The universe of Shadowed Stars is ruthless and hostile to the extreme, with the likes of an intelligent carnivore race like the Derths and an oppressive and brutal regime like the Black Guard. Many other threats lurk around every shadowed star, but it has its shiny spots of hope and humor. It has horror and romance. It will make you scream in anger and wail in tears. It is for mature readers, as it hosts graphic language, sex, and violence. It has evolved with each book and each short story written. It has become its own entity.

So what is different? What sets Shadowed Stars apart from others of its kind? Well, for one thing, I, Steven Koutz, have created and written everything myself. Images, miniatures, and videos, I have had help with, but the design, character creation, cultures, worlds, tech, and overall look are all my original creations. I wanted to give it a dark tone as to match the feel for the reader of actually being in an unknown and unexpected outer space. I want it to feel different and yet keep it fresh. I also structured it differently in how it is told as opposed to other sci-fi books and franchises. With the short stories, it does jump around a bit. I choose the short stories when I feel a character has more to offer but is just consumed too deeply in the story of the books. There are eight books planned. There will likely be more, but the eight books will be unique with their numbers. Books after that will be tales told of old favorites and still some new characters. The book numbers are also uniquely structured. Despite a few cameos and minor crossovers, odd-number books will jump around in time frames and focus mainly on characters like Prince Slade, Eva Cusping, Princess Erikai, and more. Some may even be other generations, but all will string from what I call the Prince Slade line. The even-number books will be structured the same, but with lesser degrees of time jumps. They will be based on characters like Josh Broody, Cody, Laylee Kalini, and Tana and other characters tied to them. I did this for the sole reason to avoid tire and strain on character and story. This way, you, the reader, and yes, I, the writer, will not be always following the same characters around. It adds variety while also making one experience something different with each read and yet providing a desire to see favorite characters come around again.

The short stories and a growing glossary can be found at shadowedstarsbooks.com.

Introduction

Twenty-two cycles, the Earth equivalent of years, after the wormhole collapse in Shadowed Stars book 1, the planet on the other side where many different races settled, which they named as Home, had become the capital world of the League of Unified Worlds. The league had prospered since exploration of this region of space. Many of the races originally from another part of the universe had colonized new home worlds, and new races and cultures had been discovered. The original league consisted of eight core races, humans from three different home worlds, Helvens, Gangoks, Luth Biks, Teons, Maggis, Ubides, and the Albejen. The Albejen had left the league before the wormhole collapse and returned to their home, which rested beyond a black hole. With all the new races discovered over the cycles, it had grown to sixteen different races. Although the Derths were originally denied membership and settled into their own region of space, an edgy peace treaty after fifteen cycles was finally signed. The Derths had again applied for membership and were granted a probationary period due to their savage ways and hostile past. They had accepted it and followed all the rules and stipulations, including hunting animal life and not sentient life-forms. The probationary period was nearly over, with one cycle remaining until they would be permanent members.

Slade, as the former prince of the Kylde Kingdom on Aklowda, had become minister of the Book of Prophecy that he had obtained from one of his closest friends, the Luth Bik called Rayk. Rayk had picked up the book on one of his own early adventures even before meeting Slade. Slade had also, in the time, since the wormhole collapse, turned his planetary and league security duties over to a human from a planet other than Earth. That man was Nat Gorondo, who, in turn, had just turned those same duties over to his own son, Navo.

Eva Cusping, originally from Earth, had become Slade's wife and been the second president of the League of Unified Worlds. Her mixture of human and Ubide DNA helped others accept the Ubides into the league. Due to the dwindling numbers of Ubides, with the race unable to reproduce females, Eva had been working with them more extensively as there were only sixty of them left here on this side of the collapsed wormhole, and as a result, she had decided not to run for the presidency again.

Erikai, the former princess of the Kylde Kingdom, despite her desire not to rule, had just been elected president due mainly to much of Eva's and Slade's support. She had overcome her grief of losing her Luth Bik lover, Rayk, after his sacrifice, along with the human Enrico Dalchez and the Teon General Tok, to collapse the wormhole and keep them safe. She had also raised their son on her own, as Rayk's sacrifice was before the birth of Rico, half–Luth Bik and half-human.

Slade and Eva had also birthed three children, Quinla, Nata, and Jon, who have grown into fine examples of the good side of humanity. They all, along with Rico, have been raised and groomed to take leadership responsibilities. They are all ready to set out for their own missions and futures. The future is now in the hands of the children of the planet Home.

Chapter 1

The Masks of Yanve

It was a light, breezy morning when a young half–Luth Bik and half-human male, the only mixed breed of his kind, used the pulley system to ascend in an open lift to the top and third level of the tree house fort. He was twenty-two cycles in age. His Luth Bik half was a more human Caucasian color, but the skin itself was a hard shell-like substance. It was much like the skin of other Luth Biks—only their color was varying degrees of gray. The top of this shell extended backward, narrowing to a point flat across the top of his head. Strands of long brown hair protruded from each side and ran down to his shoulders. His facial features also resembled the Luth Biks', with the full black eyes and widespread nostrils. He pretty much looked like all other Luth Biks, except for the tone of his shell-like skin. The other difference was on the inside; where Luth Biks had two hearts and humans only one, he had one heart slightly larger than humans'. He basically did not fully fit in with either of the two races he was born into.

Despite his odd appearance, he was greeted by all he met on his path in a friendly manner. Even though he knew deep down that they saw him differently. He was greeted as Rico, the name given to him in honor of Enrico Dalchez, one of the humans that had sacrificed his life along with Rico's Luth Bik father, Rayk, and the Teon known as General Tok in order to seal the wormhole and keep them all safe in this part of the universe twenty-two cycles ago.

As he approached a double-door office, the guard that opened the doors said to him that his mother was expecting him. President Erikai quickly rose from her chair and greeted her son with a tight embrace in front of her desk. She followed that hug with a kiss to his cheek. Rico shrugged it off, somewhat embarrassed. Erikai apologized and pointed out that they were alone. The cycles had been kind to the human from Aklowda, to Erikai. She still stood tall, and her body was in perfect shape. Her long black hair had only a few strands of gray, and it seemed to only make her more attractive.

Rico then asked his mother how her new role of president was going. She moved into her normal rant of negotiations between races. She added on how Slade and Eva had forced her into this position even though she was never comfortable leading people; she clearly stated that it was easier to lead soldiers as she once did compared to civilians. Rico reminded her that their support and praises led her to the ballot and she was elected because the people from those many different races believed she was a good leader. Erikai managed a small chuckle, which was followed by the statement that she was elected only because Eva did not want to run again and Eva's as well as her brother Slade's endorsements still carried a lot of weight.

Erikai stopped herself and took a moment to admire the man that her son had become. She asked if he was ready for his first mission as a leader. Rico admitted that it was a simple transport mission. Erikai looked at her son with a smile and said, Yes, it is, and you are in charge of it from its conception to its execution. Rico smiled back, allowing himself the credit. He admitted that he had done his final preparations on the mask-wearing customs of the humans on Yanve. Erikai smiled even wider at him now. Rico replied, What? She was in tears as she stated that Rico's father would have been so proud if he had lived. Rico was a bit saddened by his mother's tears. He only wished he had known some part of his father himself versus the stories others had told. His father had many stories told about him, and they all were filled with honor even leading to the one about the stable wormhole that was sealed so that the people were safe from the hostile Derths and the strong-arm forces of the Black Guard on the other side of it.

Erikai asked if his team had been assembled. He claimed that for the most part, it had been. He had expressed a wish to bring along his cousins, but Erikai was unsure if that was wise. He claimed that Quinla was already being groomed for a diplomatic role. He also thought it would be a great experience for Nata and Jon to know what was expected of their futures. Rico added that Nata's and Jon's schooling was in a current recess and that there was no better time or even safer mission. He also admitted that he would enjoy having some family to lean on. Erikai could clearly see his point but told him that he would have to clear it with his Uncle Slade and Aunt Eva.

In another hut on the forest floor, a young dark skinned man was eating with his father, the famous Nat Gorondo. Nat was older and frailer than his legendary status of the human commander that came to the aid of those on the Terra Traveler. He and Slade had become close friends over many adventures since the settlement of Home. He was bald, and his face featured a thick mustache that had become very gray. His son was Navo Gorondo. Navo was the image of his father's younger rotations, the Earth equivalent of days. He was six feet tall, and his body was fully toned muscle. His hair was short black, and a neatly trimmed mustache and beard were featured on his rugged and handsome face. They were human, but their human race was from a planet other than Earth. Their planet of origin was called Talaha.

Navo had assumed the position from his father, held before that by Slade. It was the head of security for the League of Unified Worlds. He had, on his own decision, turned much of that operation over to others. Navo's main focus was security of Home's legendary and most famous families. That of the children of Slade, Eva, and Erikai.

As the two stood from their dinner table, Nat took ahold of his son by the shoulders and praised his accomplishments. He added that Navo would become an even greater man than him. Navo admitted doubt to that. His father was cofounder of this world. In addition to that, Nat had done many things and was much revered by everyone. Nat again grasped Navo by the shoulders, saying, You will do more. Fathers are only complete when their sons surpass them in every way.

Rico had made his way to the Ubide Woods, where Slade and Eva were working with the Ubides at a medical outpost site. Captain Jill Najazz was also there. A very beautiful human woman with long brown hair and a very flexible body. She was the captain of the Shining Sea's upcoming launch into deep space. It was just beyond an area of space that the people of the planet Yanve had dubbed the Great Curtain. The Shining Sea was the biggest news across the League of Unified Worlds. It was still under construction and hosted mixed technology from all the league's races. Slade and Eva took a moment away from the Ubides and allowed Captain Najazz some Ubide tech talk through a special communicator. Slade was still looking as young and fit as he did when he left the planet Aklowda, and it helped that he was a cyborg with inner cyber parts and a cybernetic right arm. He had a metal spine, but the rest was human. Eva also seemed to defy time, and aging. That itself was an effect of her clone status and mixed human and Ubide DNA. She had long blond hair, had blue eyes, and was very beautiful. Her body had remained curvaceous and sexy, and her beauty untouched. They had discussed Rico's proposal for their children to join him on his first mission. Quinla was of course twenty, and Nata was eighteen. That left them free to make their own decisions. Jon was sixteen and had some schooling left. Slade and Eva, though, could not argue the opportunity for their children to experience some of the universe and gain a valuable, character-building experience in the process.

Quinla was the eldest child and daughter of Slade and Eva. She was slender in build and had green eyes and long brown hair. She had a fire in her that made her fiercer and stronger than she appeared. Anasha was Quinla's lover. She was like all other Helvens, tall and skinny, with long pointed ears that reached just above the head. Much like an elf, except Helvens also had a catlike nose. Anasha, like all female Helvens, had long black hair and a darker skin tone than the males.

Quinla and Anasha were snuggled together on a log bench in a secluded part of the Miksuka Forest Park. They were kissing heavily when they were interrupted by Katrine Hanty. Katrine was also a human woman with an extremely skinny build. She had long blond hair and big, bright, and beautiful green eyes. She also just so happened to be Quinla's former lover. The sight of Quinla and Anasha kissing so intently struck something deep inside her. Katrine had made a mistake in breaking up with Quinla and, to this rotation, had regretted it. She took a deep breath and whistled loudly to disturb them and appear as though she had just stumbled across them. Quinla and Anasha straightened their postures as they tore away from each other's embrace. The three of them stared uncomfortably at one another. It was Katrine who broke the silence by informing Quinla that Rico was looking for her and had dropped off some data chips with something about his mission.

The next rotation, many gathered at the ship launch site. The shipyards on Home were built on the other side of Kar Bror Mountain that overlooked the forest living area. It was a more technical area of the planet. Miksuka Forest Park, named after the first president of the league, Suki Miksuka, along with the great tree fort that highlighted it, had minimal tech on purpose. It was meant as a reminder of the discovery of the planet named Home, as well as a highly meditative state of the simpler part of life.

Rico again embraced his mother, as well as Slade and Eva, as he boarded the Teon cruiser ship Eclipse One, where he was greeted by Navo Gorondo. Slade and Eva continued to bid farewells to their two youngest children, Nata and Jon. Nata was an eighteen-cycle-old young woman with a muscle-toned body structure. She had short blond hair that rested just on her shoulders. Jon was a typical sixteen-cycle-old boy. He had an athletic body and short but spiky brown hair.

Rico was then approached from inside the ship as he watched Slade and Eva hug their children one last time. Rico asked Quinla if she was going to say goodbye to her parents, and she replied that she already had done so. She seemed more pressed on thanking him for allowing Anasha to participate in the mission as well. Quinla then quickly looked back at Katrine checking the cargo.

The action was noticed by Rico. The two cousins exchanged a silent look between them. Rico then reminded Quinla that he only allowed Anasha to come along because she promised him that it would not create a problem with Katrine aboard. Quinla took another quick look at Katrine and back to Rico, claiming there would be no problem at all. Rico did the same, with a quick look at Katrine and back to Quinla. He replied, Good. He then walked to the lift tube that would take him to the command deck of the ship.

Gish Polish was a gorgeous human woman with dark skin and black hair longer than most women. Her sexy figure drew a lot of attention, but her always-cheerful personality drew people in to want to know her. The only time she dropped that facade was when she was in extreme protection mode. Protection was her job, and as assistant security chief under Navo, she did the job well.

She stepped toward Navo as they looked over the ship's occupants. She mentioned that they had a very young crew. Navo replied in a calm and somber tone, That is true. He then asked if all weapons were on board. Gish replied in the affirmative. Navo notified Rico over the comms that they were ready for launch at his command. Rico then made the announcement over ship-wide comms.

The Eclipse One was a medium-size cruiser ship used prominently by the Teon race. It was three decks high and a block, layered shape. Its thrusters and repulsion lifts fired off to lift it from the ground. As the Eclipse One scaled up the mountainside and reached higher altitude, its flaps opened and aviation short wings extended to navigate through the sky, and as it entered the atmosphere, its secondary engines roared to life. The Eclipse One had obtained a low or often called near orbit to the planet Home. It entered far orbit before leaving Home behind, and a course for Yanve was plotted.

On board Eclipse One, Nata and Jon were fascinated by the Teon technology. They had seen Teon tech before, but the Teons kept a lot of trade secrets and they were now in an entire ship full of the elusive technological secrets. They had pinned down the female Teon engineer Tanzi Rinn. She was clearly becoming increasingly ignored with all their questions. Like other Teons, she wore the standard black armor and boots. The only exposure was on the skeletal hands and the humanlike skull. With the armor on, the Teons looked like muscular skeletons. Her skull had a few burn marks and cracks. When one worked with starship engines as long as she had, sometimes the engines left their marks. There were other standard Teons working behind her on many different tasks.

She was finally rescued by the male Teon pilot named Teka Lur, as he offered simulator lessons of the Teon starfighters nicknamed shoes due to their horseshoe design. Teka was the Teon that stood out from the others. In addition to the standard Teon appearance, he also wore some cyberware. His right hand was robotic and with all the digits. He also had a metal plate fused to the left side of his skull head, and it surrounded his left eye socket, which was under a red lens. He also had augmented reflexes wired into his body. He was often nicknamed the second cyborg. A title that had allowed him to bond with Slade, the other, but more human-looking cyborg on Home.

Rico had briefed his team consisting of Quinla, Navo, and the female Helven scientist Kanalqui, like other Helvens with the long elf ears, catlike nose, slender but tall build, dark skin, and long black hair. Also present was the human female pilot named Bessa Need. She had an athletic build. She was with little body fat, mostly tightly toned muscle. Brown eyes and long brown hair.

They had gone over the mask-wearing customs and society rankings of the humans on Yanve. Everyone on the planet wore masks in public. There was punishment by law if anyone was caught without one or wore the wrong one. The mask wearing was originally invoked in response to a health pandemic that swept across the planet and claimed millions of lives. The virus was eventually eradicated, but the mask wearing continued to be enforced by law. The mask wearing had evolved and stabilized into the culture. The masks had become extremely structured to fit the roles that the people held in society. The lower-income people and hard labor workers had the lesser masks, and servants had only slightly more marked masks. The masks were full facial coverings decorated more as the level of how the person fit in society roles. Obviously, the rich and the politicians had the more elaborate and decorated masks.

The mission they were on was a simple transport mission. Queen Sela Feral had contracted a disease or sickness that sounded similar to the plague once experienced by the people of the League of Unified Worlds on their journey to the discovery of Home. Queen Sela had reported that her people believed they had found a cure on a planet so remote their technology of space travel could not reach it. Rico reported that how this cure was even discovered was a secret the queen had not revealed to his mother, President Erikai. It did not matter, though. President Erikai had promised them assistance, and as such, they were taking the queen to the cure.

The Helven female scientist Kanalqui had admitted that they had been secretly given a sample of the liquid cure. It was merely a few drops, and how that sample was obtained was also information that the queen had not wished disclosed. Kanalqui also revealed that under strict secrecy and security, she had already created an inoculation that could not cure the samples of the plague that they had experienced but showed excellent results of disrupting its spread. She claimed that the illness Queen Sela had was extremely similar to the plague they knew, just a little bit of a weaker strand. It had been reported that the queen had already been designed a special shielded suit that she wore. The suit was specifically designed to protect her from spreading the infection to her people. As the meeting was concluded, they were notified over ship comms that the ship was approaching the far orbit of the planet Yanve.

Rico and his team, consisting of Quinla, Navo, Kanalqui, and Bessa, were shortly in a Teon shuttle that was star shaped, with its points curled upward. The shuttle had passed through the atmosphere and was flying over a beach-like paradise. As it passed over several beaches and a large forest landscape, it arrived in the skies above the walled-off kingdom. Flight patterns prohibited a pass over the massive palace, and they flew along the kingdom's border wall. The shuttle was guided to its designated landing pad in the docking bay by flashing lights.

As they landed, Katrine Hanty sent a video transmission to Rico, stating that she really should have accompanied them. Katrine was herself an engineer and tech master. Aside from the Teons, she was the only one, the only non-Teon, that grasped all their technology. Rico responded to her claim with the statement that she was needed more on Eclipse One.

As they disembarked the Teon shuttle, they were greeted by a masked human. He was clearly a laborer in status, by the low designs on his full facial mask. He asked if they were aware of the planet's customs. Quinla stepped forward and answered that they had been well briefed. They were all then provided full and plain masks marked with only one symbol that stated they were diplomatic visitors. A regular visitor received the same full mask without the symbol. Rico had learned a majority of mask design from accompanying previous missions to Yanve.

Rico then handed one of the masks to his human pilot, Bessa. He instructed her to stay with the shuttle. Bessa checked the charge on her war arm. The war arm was the standard weapon and device they all wore on their lower left or right arm, depending on their preference. It was more than just a weapon; it also served as a communication device, scanner, and much more. It was a highly technical-looking device that ran from the wrist to just below the elbow. There was really nothing a war arm could not do except produce food. Bessa's concern was for the safety of Rico and Quinla. Rico replied that was why Navo would stay with them. Bessa then accepted her orders and sealed the shuttle door after their exit.

Rico and his team were escorted through the commoners' living areas. They were humble settings, and the people appeared clean and bountiful with food. There were paths, of course, that they could look down from and see the needier and seedier sides that any society usually possessed. The sides that governments tried to shield from visitors. They were then escorted through the middle-class and into the richer areas before reaching the governing palace. The masks worn by the people they had passed all seemed to get more elaborate in appearance with each area, just as their briefing had described. The richer citizens had silver and gold markings on their masks, and even a few bright-colored gems. The richer they were, the more the mask had. Once they started meeting nonservant palace personnel, the masks became even more gem filled, and there were even different mask designs, such as die cuts, embossments, and loose and dangling extensions to the masks. It really seemed like the more important the person was, the more elaborate the mask must be.

They were finally brought into a very elegant and large room where they formally met Queen Sela Feral under all proper etiquette and protocol introductions. The queen wore a tight-fitting suit with many gadgets, blinking lights, and gauges. The suit was designed for protection from spreading the plague-like illness but also did not sacrifice showing off her very desirable body figure. The collar around her neck produced a fluctuating field of energy that allowed protection but also allowed display of her mask. She had very soft and long light-brown hair, with blond highlights that protruded from the sides of the mask. The mask had cut eyeholes, as they all did, but her dark-brown eyes almost seemed as if they had pierced through the mask themselves. Her mask had more gems than any they had seen. It also had gold trim along each line that had small horizontal splits revealing just tiny bits of her Caucasian skin under the mask. The upper half of the mask was filled with crowded diamonds almost layering one another. From the sides of the mask were loose purple and green cloth strands decorated with gold-printed designs. At the queen's side was her only child. She introduced him as Prince Nissus. His mask was very similar to that of the queen's, only with fewer diamonds, silver trim around the horizontal cuts, and no loose strands hanging from the sides. Although they were human under the masks, everyone that spoke seemed to have an exotic accent, with the queen's being the most pronounced.

They were all then ushered into another room. A long banquet hall. A long table with high-back chairs ran down the center of the room. There was another person there and greeted the queen with a tight and more intimate embrace. He wore the same diplomatic visitor mask as Rico's party, with a few more markings in silver, and they were embossed. It clearly represented he was more than just a diplomat. From the sides of his head and not part of the mask were antlers. He was introduced as the queen's new love, Darek Evare. He was clearly a Shapay. Shapays were humanoid in build but had antlers that grew from the sides of their heads. The more points the antler possessed, the older in age they were, and age in the Shapay culture represented regality and respect. Darek's antlers hosted twenty-eight different points. The Shapays were known well on the other side of the sealed wormhole, and it was a surprise when they were encountered on this side as well on the planet they called Sing. The appearance and culture of the Shapays seemed the same on both sides, except that the Shapays here did not have the sentient symbiote hump on their backs as the Shapays from Baldere on the other side of the collapsed wormhole did.

Masked servants pulled out the chairs in a motion for everyone to be seated. Masks were allowed to be removed for purpose of the meal, and they were stored into holding pockets at the sides of each chair. The queen was more beautiful than anyone expected. The collar around her neck still fluctuated with clear shimmers, but it seemed to slow the fluctuations to allow her to enjoy the meal. Prince Nissus was also a handsome young man with short-cut but thick brown hair. Darek also had short brown hair with gray strands, but his age did not show on his face.

The meal consisted of an edible stick with small leaves on it. Proper etiquette was to eat the leaves first and then break the stick in half before eating one half. Leaving the other half uneaten represented leaving something behind. The next course was a bowl of white pudding. The pudding also had its certain custom of being eaten. With one finger, a person would swipe around the inner edges of the bowl, gathering the pudding on the finger and then placing it in one's mouth. At that point, a spoonlike utensil was used to finish eating the pudding. This represented encompassment of life to earn the right to eat. A bowl of what looked like sliced orange beets was next, and at that point a clear liquid that bubbled at the top was poured into the glasses. The slices of the beet-like food were sucked into the mouth rather than chewed. This represented an inhalation of life. Only small sips were taken from the glasses throughout the meal to represent patience. A cone-shaped shell was then served upside down. Everyone at the table was to turn it upright and begin eating it simultaneously to represent a union of all life needing life in means of support. The cone-like food tasted like lemon, with the texture of a cracker, and was considered the completion of the meal. A quote of thanks for the food was then spoken by Prince Nissus. Masks were replaced back over the faces, and the queen dismissed everyone to the after-meal visitation room.

Darek had excused himself for ambassadorial duties but promised the queen that he would return to her later for some alone time before bed. A small band of masked musicians played soft tunes in the background of the visitation room. The queen's bodyguard was introduced upon his entry into the room. He was introduced as Corten Rodal. His mask was full and one solid gold color with multiple insignias that represented armed service. The band stopped playing and excused themselves for the reveal ara, the Earth equivalent of an hour. There were two reveal aras set aside each rotation, one at midrotation and one at the early part of the rotation's end. Masks were allowed to be removed in public only at these times. Servants would gather the masks and clean the inside of them and polish any decorations on the exterior. Corten was revealed to be a handsome man with short military-cut brown hair. He had a few battle scars on his forehead and right cheek. His body was well toned and muscular. Corten then wished to discuss the mission and security of the Teon ship. Rico gave his word that the queen would be safe aboard the Eclipse One. Corten apologized for doubting Rico's word, but his duty was the queen's safety. He demanded ship security schematics as well as guard rotations. Navo asked if the room was secure, and Corten replied that he would not ask if it were not. Navo then activated a projection device on his war arm that provided in hologram form all information requested by Corten.

When that matter was cleared, Quinla had spoken and requested their own bit of information. She wanted to know specifically how the queen's people had learned of the cure on this planet if their technology could not reach the planet in question. As if on cue, another female mask wearer entered the room. Queen Sela hand-gestured for the woman to approach. She was wearing a diplomatic visitor's mask similar to that of Darek's without the embossed markings.

Queen Sela explained that Darek had found a pod that had been drifting in space for some time. In that pod was this woman that had been completely cured of a plague by the very fountain waters they were now seeking. The woman removed her mask. She was an Asian female from Earth and called herself Suki Miksuka. The name was well-known among the visitors from Home. She was in her early twenties when the Ubide invasion on Earth had occurred. She was now in her forties and still looked like a young and sexy lady.