Cutlass Sharpened (Book 1 of the Star Pirate Legends)

By H. Lee Morgan, Jr

Searching for the origin of life is a daunting task.
Searching for the race that first began to spread life through the cosmos, that completely disappeared is even more impossible.
Sailing through space on a hunch will lead to a miraculous discovery, but not as expected. What the crew finds is nothing more than even more answers to endless questions. That, and problems when they uncover a person that looks like them.
Problems often being a loudly outspoken and hotheaded redhead finding herself followed by a man with no memories, but can't keep away. Oliver finds out he's different quickly, but can't keep his hands off the strong woman called Renee who likes to make him feel inadequate.

So begins the hunt to uncover the truth by sailing the galaxy and for Oliver to deal with all obstacles such an endeavor will take.

(Strong Adult Content)
Inspired by Starcraft and Rogue Galaxy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: H. Lee Morgan, Jr
• Release date: Aug 23, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311367891

H. Lee Morgan, Jr

I'm Lee, As a child I've always had a vivid imagination, but it wasn't until I was in a swimming accident and becoming paralyzed due to having my neck broken at the age of 14 that I could bring my imagination to life, through writing. My life has undoubtedly been harsher than others, being forced to live in a wheelchair and all, but my imagination, personality and drive to continue has helped me to write. It's impossible to know if I'd still write if not for being a quadriplegic, but I've come to enjoy writing and sharing my passion and stories with others.

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Cutlass Sharpened (Book One of the Star Pirate Legends)

Published by H. Lee Morgan at Smashwords

Copyright 2015 H. Lee Morgan

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Prologue

Friction caused by reentry in a thick atmosphere turned an ancient starship to look like a fireball hurtling to the planet’s surface. A trail of cloudy white followed in the wake of the great object’s descent. Inside rode a calm and somber skeleton crew carefully reading the holographic monitors displayed in a vertical, semicircular window from where three crewman up front touched the transparent energy field of lights. The ship could not peer through the main front window due to the blast shutters being closed or would have otherwise temporarily blinded those inside.

Half way to the surface the most respected person in all the known universe sat down in a throne to say in a calm voice of an alien tongue that carried in the silence. Translated meant Report.

Up in the front-most chair the pilot ran two fingers down the holo-screen and activated the forward thrusters to bring the nose of the ship up. The ship’s speed greatly reduced to the point where they nearly matched the planet’s rotational speed and used the jets to keep them aloft while saying casually Reentry complete, My king. Would you like me to show you the terrain?

Yes, do. The pilot touched a dot of light on the left and without noise the cover over the window sunk down. Heavy metallic boots of the Galactic King loudly let the crew know he stood and approached with hands behind his back. For hundreds of years the three other seated men could not help glancing at the powerful and lithe build of their great king as he stood before the windscreen, staring out at the world they would soon land on. They respected him, but knew he would not speak of why they came. It was a sad mission indeed and none took it as hard as their ruler who’s brow was set, brooding. Regal armor that made him seem even grander was mostly hidden beneath a dark brown cloak. But the three man crew knew well that any armor of theirs only reflected the one clothed. The armor made him the absolute and uncontested ruler. That, and the great blade hanging from his hip. The king, while peering outward, said in their native tongue Can you confirm the reports of this world to what I was given for this mission? Is it identical or was I misled?

The men knew no one would foolishly slip misinformation to the king on something like this or risk meeting his wrath, but the king had a right to make absolutely sure. Likely he asked just to set his mind at greater ease.

A man to the right of the pilot let his eyes roll around the projections relaying information from the ship’s many sensors. "This desert planet has a natural oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere similar to our original world. Has high levels of iron, which makes the sand have the reddish hue… It will be subject to a great many great sandstorms that will strip any future colony who decides to inhabit it. No chance for any long-term living. Gravity is rather strong, but is nothing we cannot handle.

But the star of this system, as reported, has minimal radiation to gradually mutate the cellular organisms it has since we first seeded it three million years ago. It has changed less than six billionth of a single percent in all that time. The amount of water on this world is finite for the algae which has altered it from a methane atmosphere and complex life forms remain at single cell. Even if we brought more ice from the outer asteroid belt it would make no difference with the star. There is almost no chance this world will create any sentient creatures because of it. On the other hand, my readouts have never seen such a stable solar system.

Good. The king said without looking away from outside. Sandstorms can be an issue though. Find somewhere where weather would not be any problem… somewhere we could return if the council…

My King… The pilot barely whispered, but in the silent room it was still loud.

I know. The galactic king retained posture though he seriously wanted to hunch over and relax. "It must be done. He turned from the planet of red sand dotted with countless rolling hills like a sea… or the scales of some great behemoth. I’m thankful they allowed me something. It will have to be enough."

‘Clank’ ‘Clank’ His heavy boots resonated on the deck returning to his central throne. Scout for a suitable place.

The man to the left of the skilled pilot furiously input the desired criteria and microscopic drones shot out of tiny ports near the back thrusters and shot off at hypersonic speeds all around the planet in search of the optimum area. The man in a simple white suit worked fast, narrowing the search further and sent a few billion drones below the planet’s surface to figure out how it’s molten core moved and he marked off any areas with even minimal tectonic shifting, let alone major fault-lines. Being microscopic, they passed though most solid matter and were extremely durable. He searched for the most stable place. Within five minutes he narrowed the images down to two locations and swiped his hand sharply to the right and the king’s holo-screen activated. These areas are the most likely suitable for your… needs.

Rubbing a chin that was rough from four days without removing stubble was like loud sandpaper. "Hmmm… I do not truly like the plains, won’t be isolated enough from our prey. That mountain infused with heavy iron and titanium would be much more suited. Bring this ship around to the dead volcano caldera and bore a hole to the bottommost chamber.

The pilot changed course near instantly in the opposite direction, but inside the cabin, nothing shifted at all due to dampeners that canceled momentum. In two minutes at supersonic speeds the ship began to slow as it spotted a chain of extinct volcanic mountains deep in the heart of a desert. What little moisture was in the air had been gathered in snowcapped peaks. The ships thrusters reduced power to the point where the wings sticking out to either side began to carry them over.

Alignment was spot on till the driver touched a few colored dots on screen and anti-gravity stabilizers activated as the rear thrusters cut out. Hovering silently above the snowcapped caldera the small starship held position, perfectly synchronized with the planet’s rotation.

Not needing further instructions the pilot pressed a gloved thumb down by the weapons console after looking back to find his ruler gently grasping a sphere made of crystal beside the throne and it glowed with a strong gold power.

Below the hull, in a curved weapons recess about ten meters across, azure psionic energy gathered to a point in the center. As it reached optimum output the power slammed up into the curve under the ship’s belly and a brilliant beam of energy cut through the mountain below with no form of resistance able to deny the king’s power. Smoke, dust and ice blew up and out, quickly whipped away by strong air currents.

It took just a second to cut out the beam, but the leftmost man said Flawless execution. Straight to the bottom twelve point three two kilometers below average of this world.

I chose the best of my servants for a reason. The men swelled with pride at the praise, but they didn’t smile because of how sad the tone was. Recall the observers. Drones returned to the ship.

This time when the king stood he was not alone. The three followed him into the cargo hold behind the throne and sitting dead center was a long crate three meters long, one wide. Beside it was a box containing crystals. Crate and box were made of organic polymers, like the ship, but were stronger than metal. One man took up the box while the remaining two each reverently lifted the much larger case.

The king stretched out an arm and several meters away the floor separated and dropped down, making the hold howl with wind from outside. Each of their long braided hair flew wildly and the king grabbed the edges of his cloak while the others let them go free. He approached the edge first and looked down to the mountain below. Doing similar acts more times than could be counted, he threw himself down headfirst. Angling just right for the hole punched, he fell vertically for a few short minutes, allowing gravity to suck him into its bowels.

Behind fell the other men.

Pitch blackness stole his vision, but sight was not needed with an even greater sense. He used it and fell without a trace of fear, though it did bring a sadness. A surety.

At one kilometer he let his gathered power go and used it to slow the descent to the point he landed as if taking a single step down a flight of stairs. Tapping a few points on his wrist, out shot a half dozen miniature orbs from the armor the size of marbles.

The landing area of the chamber is all that was smooth, which would help. While the three landed as expertly as he did, the king’s sharp vision adjusted near instantly to look closely in the chamber to find it not as big as the readouts said, but the volume would be correct as it wasn’t uniform. Obsidian rock, not seen before, had a glossy sheen. The base of the cavern was much more narrow, widening higher before leading to a smaller lava tube, but the bottom would be ideal for needs.

Get started. Came the command.

The man with the smaller box opened it, extracted a blue crystal the length of his thumb, found a crack in the wall nearby and fit it in. Using an audible command he said Stasis building, begin.

The crystal flared with light before burrowing deeper and started a series of highly detailed and specific sequences. The rock’s minerals were refined and altered. Tendrils wormed their way up to all the nearest sources of water, mainly the snowcapped peaks. Another had made holes to the surface to allow breathing. As soon as the tendrils started gathering water it made chemical reactions, transforming ancient rock, metals and minerals into an organic stasis chamber that was self sufficient.

Silence lasted over an hour till the bio-chamber hissed gasses that told everything was now complete. Then out shot a snakelike tube that latched onto the larger crate and began sucking it into the mass.

Return to the ship. Ordered their ruler. The three hesitated till gaining a deadly look and saw beneath the cloak that a hand went to the sword. The men returned as commanded.

Just as soon as they were gone and he no longer sensed any form of observation, the king sighed and threw back his cloak. He mumbled more to himself than anything as the crate was gradually sucked in completely. Just in case the fools are wrong.

Hidden under the cloak was three cloth-wrapped bundles. One a meter long and rigid. One squared and soft and one asymmetrically covered.

He lifted the crate’s lid and quickly stuffed the objects inside so no one but he would ever know. His men would just believe he was needing to say a few things and the council would know if he tampered with the stasis generator. He had just a few seconds to do something without anyone being the wiser.

Heart clinched and a tight chest seemed to catch up as he saw the crate being fully absorbed and protected before it’s luminescent light went dark, allowing his six light orbs to guide the way.

Back on the smooth part of ground the beam made, he tapped his wrist to soak up the orbs into the armor and held the remaining crystal which was rather large, larger than the other. He said Seal to the surface. dropped it and flew straight up.

Behind, the crystal activated, sealing everything in the wake of the flying patriarch who’s emotions were let loose as tears shed and fell behind.

Let nothing happen. Stay safe. Stay oblivious for all out sakes.

It would be a prayer that would last for more than forty thousand years.

Chapter 1

Earth year 3217

Renee checked her equipment one last time, making sure she had everything for any unforeseen circumstance and snorted at the thought. Unforeseen means unforeseen. Just do what you can with what you got. Just like papa taught. She mentally did a fourth check, just in event the first three times overlooked something. Being the medic was the hardest job, not that she complained. Everyone else did it… for other reasons.

The door to her cabin hissed open and in walked a voluptuous blue eyed blonde wearing a skin-tight flight suit that left little to the imagination. Little meaning the slit in her sex was also conformed to. The youthful looking woman rolled her eyes finding Renee bent over her medic box. Again? Really? How many times must you do it? Doesn’t the synthetic matrix automatically refill your solutions if you use so much as a drop of anything?

Renee stuck her tongue out rather childishly though she was already thirty years old and didn’t look a day over eighteen. So what? Papa always says safe over sorry, Stephanie.

Ha. Stephanie sighed dramatically and shook her head. Can’t fault that logic. Steven had to leave his fighter behind because one of the faulty sensors in his jet didn’t alert him to replace a coil of some kind. I guess I’ll let it slide since our lives are in your hands.

Poor Steven. Renee grinned as she picked up her compact surgical and medicine box and hung it on a clamp made on the lower back of her suit and holstered her injector at her right thigh. He won’t get to blow something up for once in his life.

You sure there is no cure for insanity? Seriously, I’ve never met anyone who likes destruction more than him. Wondered Stephanie as she fell in beside Renee out in the ship’s hall, heading for the launch pads.

Nice try. It’s what makes Hunters so needed nowadays. You need a little insanity to keep from being bored. Changing the topic. So how is Jessica?

Mad. Stephanie lightly laughed. She wants to go with us so bad, but she’s not a heavy worlder like us. Hopefully the captain’s latest mission he’s sent us on will be just the score we need to get her the modifications to survive heavy planets without her heart giving out or bones breaking under the strain.

Bones I can knit back together. Heart failure on the planet we’re going to… not so ideal. 5 G. At least you know she’ll keep an eye on us.

Yeah. That’s why I love her. Stephanie said wistfully.

In their internal ear-coms, or coms for short, came a soft feminine voice. I sure as hell can’t trust these other morons to keep an eye on everyone. Renee, you just be sure you bring her back to me in one piece… or in enough of one that can be fixed.

Hey, play nice. Stephanie sounded hurt, but didn’t mean it. Babe, what have surface scans turned up?

Nada. Jessica let known. No sign of any form of civilization activity. Not even on deep ground penetrating radar… the air won’t kill you right away and I’ve not found any Beasts so far… but too much interference in the sandstorms. I think the captain brought us to another of his wild pipedreams that won’t earn us a single credit. Her heavy sigh relayed over the coms and Renee smiled to Stephanie who also sighed. What good are pirates if we can’t ever score some loot to live in luxury.

You could always go back to mining asteroids. Stephanie reminded.

I’m good! Jessica said hurriedly. Then all three busted out in giggles. When it calmed the woman in their ear said Everyone is prepped and ready. Waiting on you.

Sparky too? Renee asked.

"Like that overgrown lizard goes anywhere without you. Jessica said, dripping with sarcasm. You know he would with your connection. Why bother asking me?"

It breaks up the time walking in silence when your wife doesn’t know the meaning to Girl Talk.

"Ain’t that the truth. I’d swear she was a guy if not for her amazing attributes. If she’s not reading she’s got her nose so far up an artifact I get jealous." She said it in a very sexual reference.

Stephanie shrugged, not willing to rise to the bait.

Mostly it was Renee and Jessica enjoying the latest gossip or otherwise just simply talking. Sometimes Stephanie would talk about one of her favorite artifacts, mostly it made it difficult to roll one’s eyes in front of her when she spoke with such passion.

Talking ate up the thirty minutes it took to reach the docking bay. Only emergency docking was nearest Renee’s medical wing for obvious reason. Normal decks were on the opposite side of the ship. Where they went was a private deck where three high-speed precision fighters and one large shuttle stayed.

Three Hunters stood nearest Renee’s private shuttle. Stone, Deegen and Steven were rather large men overall, born and trained on a heavy planet environment that excelled on breeding the finest Hunters. Physique alone would strike fear into most men and give women the itch to see if they were scratch worthy. Add their size to their beat up armor to show their lives and women either would swoon or faint. And they were far from brainless brutes. They were like inseparable brothers.

Stone Callicko had the skin color of onyx and carried two hatchets big enough to decapitate in one swing. Slightly pointed ears allowed for great animalistic hearing, like most of his brethren. At a hundred and ninety eight centimeters the proportions to the blades were ideal, matching. Stone led the other two Hunters on the ship, being largest and most fearsome made it so.

Like Stone, Dorgen Castor stood an intimidating hundred and ninety two centimeters. A chakram hung from either hip and a whip wrapped around his thick torso. Chakram were round rings to be thrown. The blade-rings were deadly and even more vicious in close quarters.

Last of the Hunters was Steven Metts at a hundred and ninety centimeters with a spear just as tall and a ball and chain flail hung on a hip. Unlike the first two tall dark skinned men, Steven had a bronze tan.

Their armor may have seen better days, but as Hunters, they fought Beasts and were given top of the line armor not even military men and women could get their hands on cheaply. The armor would be near identical, but battles had a way to make them unique to the wearer. Hunters had normally short lives due only to occupation. Supplying them with the ability to fight longer was a small price to pay.

Stone’s piercing gaze snapped at the first sign of movement and locked onto the approaching women across the large and mostly empty wooden flight deck. Hunters never snapped to attention like military. They lazed, relaxed. They also didn’t see rank, only strength. Lounging conserved energy they didn’t need to waste on frivolous moving. Renee couldn’t help smiling as the three stopped their brotherly banter.

It was Steven’s rather normal man’s voice who broke the silence Even in this age women still hold to their own time.

Renee smirked, loving to bust balls more than anyone. Remind me that next time I suddenly find myself absentminded trying to numb your pain and instead accidently chemically castrate you.

Stone and Deegen laughed loudly, doubled over at Steven’s sudden loss of color and how he reached down instinctively to hold them safe and secure from the fiery redhead.

She is one Beast none of us can best. Said Deegen, fingering his large circular blades. The man’s long dreadlocks did little to hide his mirth.

To take her down would be the achievement above S-Rank and would let you retire a legend above Vanishing Claw himself. Stone chuckled before bringing fingers to his lips to let loose a piercing whistle and moments after the sound died out flew a falcon which perched himself on his shoulder pauldron. Enough of this. We’ve a job to do. We aren’t getting paid to sit around here bantering.

We don’t get paid at all. Reminded Steven after clearing his throat.

"Sure we do. Adventure is our price and payment rolled into one. If we do good we get better toys." Commented Deegen, slapping his friend’s back.

Steven, you fly the ladies down while Deegen and I run escort. Stone decided while brushing his gloved hand over his companion’s feathery breast.

Damn coil. Angrily mumbled the spear toting man who stepped inside the sailed shuttle with wings. There was a hiss followed by Damn lizard… OW! He yelped. Bite my ass again and I’ll roast your carcass over a roaring fire. Another hiss and yelp from the man.

I better go. Sparky’s liable to eat him this time. Grinned Renee as the other two men chuckled over to their fighters. Fighters were smaller than her shuttle, close to half its size actually, but much more heavily armed and maneuverable.

Stephanie hid a giggle following her friend inside and closed the exterior airlock hatch then the interior one before taking a seat in the cockpit beside Steven who was turning the ship’s engines on.

Renee went to the cargo hold where her companion’s arrow shaped head withdrew his long neck back. She could have easily been bitten in half, but he’d never hurt her. Never intentionally. Renee, even after ten years was struck by his emerald beauty. His kind was actually named Drakes in reference to old Earth’s myth of dragons. The difference is they have two sets of wings that allow for fast flying as well as hovering in one place without making barely a sound despite their size. And they can’t spit fire or any other vile substance. They did have the ability to glow if threatened as a display and intentionally to shed light in dark areas. Sparky’s kind though were discovered several centuries ago and weren’t pets. Not by a long shot. What separated them from lesser creatures is their minds. They had other ways to speak and were highly intelligent. Drakes tended to imprint with someone of like tendencies and Renee had been blessed to gain Sparky’s companionship. Besides looking ferocious, and right deadly with claw-like talons and sharp curved teeth, Drakes were quite compassionate and liked making bonds over galactic exploration.

They also have a different means of communication.

Sparky curled up his ten and a half meter long body and calmed as Renee pat and scratched the softer scales under his jaw just the way he loved and rumbled with his vibrant brown speckled eyes closed.

Renee turned her head to the window on the left when the ship’s portside dock lifted to reveal the vastness of space. Deegen was settling into his fighter and closing the cockpit shield, not afraid of being sucked out into the uncaring vacuum of space since any openings of the ship were automatically sealed by the starship’s shielding system. A few layers of artificial psionic photons separated the void from the ship’s atmosphere. Sparky’s snout gently tapped her shoulder to gain attention and she said Sorry for hogging the view.

"All is well." Sparky told her telepathically and they shared the window just as the shuttle lifted gently off the platform and shot through the barrier. Deegen was keeping pace a half kilometer away, rotating his ship around a few times like a spinning top to make sure nothing dangerous was near. Renee knew Stone would be doing similar on the starboard side.

But Renee was busy taking in the vastness of stars filling her view of the universe. She loved to sit and look out and wonder what new and exciting marvels awaited. Red, blue, yellow, white, and brown stars dotted the blackness in a soothing way that sent her heart aflutter after all three decade of life and she hoped it would never stop happening. She sensed Sparky experience the same soothing thing.

The scene in the window changed as Steven turned the shuttle towards the barren red planet they came to. An uncharted planet her father had again taken them to. Number three hundred and seventeen by Renee’s latest count. Less than ten had turned up anything interesting and she certainly didn’t expect this planet to hold any significant riches either, but her father was one man not to deny anything. Being the Pirate King of Andromeda carried much weight behind his demands.

Artificial gravity gradually increased to the levels of the planet’s surface and dampeners made for a smooth ride. The window instantly darkened as this system’s single blue star came across the edge so as to not blind the occupants.

Not even a shudder shook the shuttle during the red hot reentry to the desert planet. As soon as atmospheric friction lessened and the ship’s invisible shields lowered Renee heard up front Stone on the ship’s coms rather than in her ear. So what are we looking for this time, Mrs. Merann?

Captain Dorgen said to do a more accurate surface scan. Our radar will give us clearer reads of this world’s makeup closer than the main ship. I’m looking for anything unnatural. Stephanie clarified.

Don’t have to look far. He’s right next to you.

Oh Ha. Ha. Steven said dryly.

Stephanie didn’t comment and got the men back on task. Boys, set your scanners on broad spectrum. Steven will take us to the planet’s lakes down in the southern hemisphere since water will likely have a higher chance of housing complex life. Stone, you take the northern. Deegen, the equator. Relay information through mine and Jessica’s terminals… as she kept giving orders Renee walked into the cockpit to stare out the front, holding onto both front seats.

We’ll rendezvous in sixteen hours. By then we’ll have scanned everything. Said Stone’s deep timbre.

With that the three supersonic ships broke formation to work on gaining all information.

After about four hours Renee found Sparky asleep as Steven commented "If anything, this planet is rich in iron. This desert planet is loaded. If they avoided these damn sandstorms… We could make a mint with the mining protectorate. Galicom would drool if we claim it and give them an offer. Too bad it’s lacking gold and francium."

"Papa doesn’t care about mining opportunities. You know that." Renee said as they made a second pass over the algae and small insect packed lakes.

Too bad. If I didn’t know the man was a pirate I’d swear we were damn pioneers with all the places he sends us to on his hunches. Another waste of time.

Maybe not. Silence followed Stephanie’s words. Even Stone and Deegen listened more acutely. Instead of turning to the two beside her, Stephanie’s concentrated expression on her flat, translucent holo-screen filled with images had her speak with her better half. Babe, overlay Stone’s forty ninth quadrant and set up a three dimensional display on the shuttle’s main table.

On it. Jessica’s soft voice came through.

Renee backed away as Stephanie’s chair swiveled all the way around and got up. Renee and the other woman moved to the interior table of the ship surrounded by a dozen comfortable chairs, but the blonde woman touched the clear table made of pure crystal and tiny lasers in the interior edge all the way around activated in conjunction with the lamp high overhead to create a three dimensional display of Stephanie’s desire. It took just a few moments to render a perfect miniature display made entirely of light with sensors that could manipulate whatever the user wanted.

Displayed were a range of sloped peaks. Renee was greatly confused, and not one to hold onto her words she asked Mountains? Why are you looking into mountains? I thought you said water was an ideal place to look.

"Normally yes, but if my hunch is right, the captain may have not sent us on a wild chase. If you look closely, these aren’t mountains. When I taught geology as a teacher’s assistant for my archeology degree she told me to never look at anything at face-value. Look for what’s not there rather than what is."

I don’t get it.

Stephanie was all about history and was one who almost never lost her temper. Woe be to those when she did. Renee on the other hand only had patience when treating a patient. For anything else she was quickly bored and easy to set off.

The glamorous blonde beauty demonstrated with her hands. Look at how the range lines up with an old fault line. I’d bet my left arm that those weren’t mountains, but volcanoes. They only looks like rounded mountains due to constant battering of lethal sandstorms generated by the desert. She discarded all but the largest of them all. "This one in particular struck me as strange for over an hour, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it till Jess fixed it for me like this. What do you see of this volcano?"

Nothing? She guessed.

Precisely. Stephanie grinned all the way to her pointed eyeteeth. Nothing. The volcano looks like a mountain.

Uh, I’m with Renee. Steven said after setting course along with the fighters to the place the blonde was interested in. I’m confused. Isn’t a mountain a mountain and a volcano a mountain too?

Not at all. Stephanie’s normally calm navy blue eyes sparkled with interest of discovery. If you look at this big one. It tells me it either was built by the largest opening or was the last to be made to retain its stature. If you look at the others around it… she pulled her hands together in the hologram to show the extinct volcanoes near it. What do you see now?

Oh! Renee squeaked out first and pointed "Lava tubes! They all have cavities and chambers… all but the big one!"

That’s my girl! Clapped Stephanie. "It is a dead volcano, but why would its core be solid I asked myself. It was the newest in the range. Just because our scans didn’t find a single sign of unnatural tool marks or habitation doesn’t mean someone didn’t do something here. A standard long range scan would reveal nothing out of the ordinary."

My wife’s a genius! Jessica lilted with pride and though she didn’t see it, Stephanie blushed.

Stone reached the mountain first to report We won’t have long to work. My instruments detect a massive oncoming sandstorm that will last a minimum of three weeks. You’ll have no more than three hours before it hits. I’m also getting something else.

What? Prompted Deegen closing in on his position.

I’m uncertain. Could be nothing. All the iron in the sand is making it difficult for clarity. Likely boulders being tossed around. The average wind speed in it is near eight and a half hundred kilometers per hour. Our ships can’t handle that kind of onslaught more than five minutes.

Steven said Copy. We’re an hour out and I’ve activated the maximum output to reach in the shortest time.

We’ll give a more in-depth scan while we wait. If Stephanie’s hunch is right we’ll find something irregular before you reach us.

Steven climbed the shuttle up for thinner air to gain all possible speed without needing to do another reentry. Stephanie though kept her focus glued to the hologram getting clearer analysis as the two Fighters flew around and around the target and soon had her grinning from ear to ear. Thought to hide from me, eh? Not a chance.

Roughly an hour later Renee stood beside Sparky and felt the minor jostle of landing and lowering of dampeners once reaching solid ground. She pressed the button which opened the side cargo hatch and they exited first to find the two sleek fighters landed side by side on the inner rim of the volcano. She saw Satellite, Stone’s falcon, flying without need of an oxygen mask since birds can live easily in higher elevations and Hunters trained in harsher conditions so they didn’t require breathers either. Renee and Jessica though already activated their suits internal helmets to breathe comfortably. They could breathe, but not comfortably so high up without suffering hypoxia. Renee found herself mildly irritated towards the three burly mountains of muscle. Sparky though tempered and soothed her mind without even saying a word. You find that gap she was looking for?

Sure did. Stone said, rubbing his bald head. If you call three microns a gap.

Only three! Renee gasped. That’s thinner than a human hair. Too small for our eyes to see.

"Oh, and we wanted to see your faces to say it’s a perfect circle. A perfect circle." Deegen tossed his clean dreads back behind his broad shoulders.

The women stopped and stared in shock. Perfect circles are naturally impossible. Renee felt excited and could feel her adrenaline flow.

So it’s solid rock with the exact composition of the volcano. Said Stephanie as her angled wrist let out a thin beam of blue light from the suits sleek functions. The scan light was two meters wide and laser thin, but it gave the wearer all it needed. Oh this is interesting… the core has microscopic silicate compounds not native to this planet.

So someone not of this world used crystals to cover their tracks? Renee said aloud and eager.

A logical conclusion. She took an archeologists chisel and chipped a thumb sized chunk out of the inner core and walked inside to drop it in the shuttle’s analyzer.

While waiting Sparky said I’m going to fly with Satellite and keep an eye on the storm. Contact me before you do anything.

Alright. She patted his hard ribs before his four wings lifted his bulk into the air to soar on the many thermals created by the hot, barren planet.

Time flew by before Stephanie came out carrying a green, clear piece of crystal no bigger than her thumbnail saying Jess came through. The crystal used to seal this place used the native rock to fill the gap. This should undo what was done. Everyone, get back. We didn’t find any traps, but there could be. Plus we need to stay close to our ships in event of an emergency. For all we know, nothing is down there, but the greatest risk could be this cut down the caldera goes to the molten core. Likely we’ll be uncapping a deadly pressure cooker. At the first sign of vibration we get the hell out of here.

Renee called Sparky who came back quickly, the falcon not far behind as everyone came up against their ship.

Stephanie sauntered over, placed the crystal down relatively in the center and backed far away. As she met up with Steven and the other two she said Activation code: Dissolve.

Everyone tensed to hightail it out of there should the worst come to pass.

The clear green crystal came alive and sunk down into the rock that had been cleared of a thin layer of snow before the shuttle even landed. The group watched closely as the hole widened exceptionally to the width of the ten meter wide hole, leaving the untouched ground alone as debris collapsed before being blown loudly up and out of the hole by trapped pressure, but the team wasn’t concerned. It was a natural effect built into all types of crystal excavation. Wind currents carried the excess soil far away.

Aside from Renee and Stephanie, the others went inside their craft or risk choking on dust.

A half hour later the hole gave one final mighty belch of black sand up high in a plume. With just over an hour remaining before the sandstorm’s arrival everyone stood around the edge of the deep hole. Waiting for new data scans. It wasn’t long before Stephanie said "Something is certainly down there. The ground is stable."

We’ll be the judge of that. Said Stone while grabbing the miniature grappling hook built inside his armor. The cable had thirty kilometers of hair thin line with the pronged hook that looked fragile. Appearance would dictate it would snap if any weight were applied to it let alone a man weighing a hundred and forty eight kilograms by Earth Standard, or Standard for short. The materials were so profound the cable and hook could easily support four times Stone’s weight.

The other two Hunters followed him in hooking their lines to the shuttle’s exterior clamp before bravely diving headfirst down and running along the smooth vertical wall. They fell just short of terminal velocity and powerful shoulder lights spread out the darkness’s grip.

Eventually they applied breaks on their cables to land in the bottom. Immediately their critical gaze landed upon a strange mass seemingly grown from the wall like some grotesque tumor. Deegen was the first to draw his circular chakram blades and approach it while Steven said through his com We reached the bottom. It’s quite warm, but bearable. The air is thicker too, but we found what looks like a silver and peach growth down here. My scanner is telling me it’s organic and non harmful. You two better get down here quick and see this. Maybe someone can explain what it is for I sure can’t.

Has it reacted to you or moved at all? Stephanie hooked up her own harness while Renee rubbed Sparky’s neck before climbing into his saddle between the double set of wings.

As he dropped down the tunnel, body glowing brightly to push the dark away they heard Steven say No, but it is sure ugly to look at. I think whatever it is is long dead. Or a cyst.

Then don’t touch it till I get down there. Stephanie followed down last while Satellite remained above, keeping an eye on the storm further that is wider than his eyes can see across the horizon. The highly intelligent bird didn’t like time constraints, but did as he was told.

Sparky landed softly in an expertly done descent by flaring all four wings and using thick muscle and tendons made everything smooth. Renee dismounted and came only so far as the Hunters had and she now knew what was meant by eerie.

The object was veined with some kind of silvery, liquid-like substance while over it was a layer of yellowish orange skin containing some form of suspended fluid. Even with Sparky and the Hunters’ bright shoulder lights it could not fully penetrate the depth of whatever it is.

A zipping sound followed by a hiss of breaks told of Stephanie’s arrival. She unclipped the harness and walked over with her upraised hand brightly shining its own light. Fascinating. Babe, you recording all this.

You bet your firm ass I am. Jessica said with unmistakable awe over the Com.

What is it? Steven asked a few seconds later.

I’m not entirely sure. The rock is several hundreds of millions of years old, but what I’m reading says this mass is more recent than a newborn baby… and something solid is being contained inside dozens of… what look like arteries.

Hold on. You saying this thing could be millions of years old or less than a week?

Precisely. Somehow its organic makeup is identical to the volcanic rock it’s sticking to like some kind of octopus, but has DNA. Rock with DNA.

You’re joking?

Put up your visor and see for yourself, Stone. Stephanie flashed her results to the Hunters who shared similar confusion. "I’m neither a geneticist or a Splicer, but I’m telling you that material has been transformed rock into bioorganic material." She went silent as she increased the power of her short range suit scanner to maximum output and stepped back with a gasp.

The Hunters reacted instantly by raising their weapons, forgetting their displays, thinking it moved. They held like rigid statues, barely breathing.

Renee harnessed her formidable mental prowess too, but held it in check to ask What is it?

S…So… Stephanie stuttered. "Someone is inside that thing. It’s feeding into some strange capsule and I’m reading a pulse inside the capsule. It’s faint, but I think this thing is some kind or bioengineered stasis chamber."

Stasis? Renee asked as if she didn’t hear that correctly.

I’m certain if I get a sample of that fluid it will in high probability be embryonic-like fluid.

You want me to gain a sample and analyze it right now? And do you know what is inside the capsule? Please tell me it’s not the Creelin or Keptil.

No, No. Stephanie recovered some, placing a hand over her racing heart. "The Creelin can’t harness our carbon based biology and Keptil would not bother putting someone in stasis. They’d eat it. It definitely isn’t one of their eggs or hatcheries. I can’t penetrate the capsule, just finding a slow heartbeat was hard to measure. I’m not finding any neural activity in the growth. It’s more a living machine with a single purpose to keep whatever is in there… alive."

Alright. Sparky, Stone, stick close to me.

Drake and Hunter guided Renee closer as she remover her gun injector and flipped the switch from ‘inject’ to ‘draw’. Before she could get near, Stone held a hatchet in front of her chest to stop her and took it upon himself to be the first to touch the pliable surface. It didn’t come away with slime, merely the texture of skin, which he said so. No response to touch allowed Renee to put the edge of her medic-gun up against the clear membrane and depressed the trigger. She let the vial fill and moved back rather quickly.

Nothing immediate happened so she thought This is one freaky situation. She then removed the vial and fed it into her field-box at her lower back and waited in silence for up to a minute till her internal brain-chip downloaded results without need of a visor or display. Only a select group could harness the chip without their brains being overloaded. She said "By the stars! Stephanie, you’re right. It is embryonic fluid… only more concentrated… and I’m finding traces of double helix DNA… human DNA."

Human? You’ve got to be shitting me! Stated Deegen. A human on the very fringe of this galaxy? Your instruments must be off.

"Stephanie might not be a geneticist, but I am. All medics are required to be. Take my word for it. An animal of some kind with double helix DNA strands is inside that thing. I’m just guessing human because my analyzer can’t do a full spectrum comparison as fast as my other equipment."

Since we can’t wait around forever I say we return to the ship and…

Uh, guys!? Stephanie sounded worried. Is it me or is the silver webbing moving?

No one bothered answering as it was indeed pumping the silver liquid much faster. Renee’s needle puncture started a reaction. By puncturing the sensitive membrane tricked the containment into thinking someone was trying to cut, what it held, out. As intended. At first its movement was slow, but sped up to begin squeezing like some great heart, but one that didn’t relax. Instead of flooding those standing outside, the fluid rapidly was squeezed out veins by hundreds of liters per second. It continued to contract, removing much of the gathered liquid, sending it outside the mountain.

Once most was released, gave those watching the image of a hideous creature laying an egg. It gave birth to a silvery box three meters long with a handle on one end and the other had what appeared umbilical cords attached to the flat end. The ends detached and it fell unceremoniously to the ground, splashing the peach colored fluid over the ground and their feet. The now empty sack shriveled to the point that since it no longer served a purpose, began to degrade before their very eyes until chunks of useless bio-mass remained.

What now? Questioned Steven with his spear trained on the capsule making a gulping sound as it emptied itself out through the holes in what is assumed the top.

Renee’s training kicked in. Frozen stasis is dangerous enough. Liquid is worse if whoever inside has been in from a prolonged period. I don’t see any lights indicating it’s reviving whomever is inside. We need to hurry before stale fluid suffocates the occupant. She ran the short distance. Help me find how to open it. It must have a button.

For several agonizing seconds she and the Hunters looked over each inch. All that was found was a round hatch none of their weapons could find purchase and forcibly pry it open. When Renee saw them shaking their heads she thought Last resort. Got to use my…

Just then she needn’t have considered as the lid seemed to suck air wetly as it opened. Then Renee gasped at what lay inside.

Her eyes roved the individual who was naked, but his appearance is what wasn’t sitting well with her. She started scanning with her built in medical palm scanner on the left hand. While she checked, her eyes took in a clearly male phallus. It was the only part of his anatomy that looked healthy and orgasm inducing. The rest of him was in severe and prolonged atrophy. Skin over bones. He was extremely tall, one of the tallest men she had ever laid eyes on. Nowhere near as tall as her father, but still tall. Easily two hundred twenty six centimeters tall to be precise and had not a scrap of body hair over his nakedness. Pale, moist skin seemed to be stretched over thick bones. Sunken ribs and skull were the most prominent features. Hipbones poked out like some grotesque butterfly trying to climb through skin. A sunken stomach was void of any visible abdominal muscle.

Worse yet He’s not breathing. Renee stated. Back away from me now. None questioned her for they all knew what was coming.

Synapses inside her brain intensified on command and her psionic powers harnessed to the point her bright red hair began to rise in a windless environment. Sending the gathered mental energy, focused by her hand, she sent it into the frail man’s lungs and extracted the fluid from his lungs since he had yet to respond by coughing and taking air. Renee wasn’t going to take any chance. A lungful of fluid was pulled up his throat and out both mouth and nose. She extracted most of it and threw it away. Letting her power of the mind in conjunction flow into him with her chip in her brain, a scan only she could see for the moment began a thorough medical scan. Biting her bottom lip, she didn’t know what to do first.

Without further aid, the instinct to breathe kicked in and his chest rose to suddenly fall in a weak cough that had him jerk all over. Frozen joints loudly popped in the first movement to be done in eons.

The moment the coughing fit subsided Renee gasped as she watched the man’s eyes weakly flutter open.

And then immediately latched onto her in a way that never happened to her.

Those eyes were neither red or yellow nor even gold. They were an entrancing amber that reminded her of starlight. Her first thought in seeing those unique eyes was Gorgeous!

The intensity in them was really unnerving yet Renee was so caged by them she didn’t know she had sat there for over a minute and worried the others. Taking a risk, Stephanie brought her back to reality with a nudge. Girl, we can’t stay much longer. Whaaa… The woman suddenly backpedaled into Stone’s wide chest and he pulled her behind himself.

As if in slow motion, Renee’s eyes turned back to where the man had laid in a weak state, but had gotten to his feet so fast and silently that she didn’t sense anything. It momentarily frightened her that such happened. She looked up from his thin, straining calf muscles and up and up and up his very tall frame. To her, he seemed to never end get taller, but it was a trick played in her mind.

If seeing him lay like a skin covered skeleton was horrifying, seeing him stand was nightmare fuel for a long time coming.

Then the strangest thing occurred. He started falling back, losing all sense of balance. It was due to the sudden standing that sent all the blood down to his feet. It was all too clear to Renee. Reacting faster than anyone, Renee placed a near invisible energy field with the power of her mind which caught and gently lowered him back to the ground. He still kept a predatory, unblinking glare straight ahead.

Something is strange about him. Stone didn’t move as he made the comment. His massive hatchets unwavering.

You’d be disorientated too if you suddenly stood in such a weak state. Renee defended the man.

"He’s not disoriented. Look at his eyes. He has the look of a seasoned elder Hunter, a predator. And he didn’t move till Mrs. Merann forced you to break eye contact. He’s broken. I can tell a wild animal and he is a feral one. If not for physical weakness he would have done something dangerous to her. Look at how he looks at you." Renee did and the man