Skylar Mars and the Stolen Egg

by Drew Seren

  “That sounds cool,” Skylar said. “I feel like I belong out here.” The darkness wasn’t scary. It felt welcoming, like he was finally home.

  “A lot of us feel that way. There’s a lot that’s easier in space. You’ll find that out over the next few years.”

  “What do you mean? Aren’t you taking me to another planet?” Then he realized Phil hadn’t said much about where they were going. Said it was going to be a surprise. If it was going to be as cool as the ship flying through space was, he was ready for it. Anything that helped him not dwell on his past life was going to be a good thing.

  Phil shook his head. “Nope. I’m taking you to a space station. Right now, that’s all I’m going to tell you. I’ve made arrangements for you to stay there until your kin are found. If you’re lucky, even after we know who they are, they’ll let you stay. I think you’ll learn a lot there. I know I did.”

  “Learn a lot? Like what kind of stuff?” It sounded to Skylar like Phil was taking him to some kind of school, but he’d never heard of a school in a space station. Then he realized that the way his mother protected him from so much, there was probably a lot he’d never heard of out there.

  “All kinds of stuff. Just wait and see.” Phil pointed at something outside the window. “There’s Barrose, the largest gas giant in this system. You’ll get a better look at it over the next hour until we clear its gravity well. We’re trying to arc around it, but if we go too far, we add a couple of hours to our flight anyway.”

  The huge green and purple planet was little more than a ball, but it grew larger with each passing minute. Skylar watched it grow. It was so different from the vids he’d seen, or the games he played where he flew past a planet. It was more real, more interesting. From school, he knew there were four moons orbiting the planet. He searched for them and spotted two.

  Barrose was the only planet they passed closely. That didn’t deter Phil from pointing out the various astronomical things they could see. There were three comets, one of which seemed to be traveling the same path they were, but it quickly fell behind once they cleared the gas giant’s gravity well and hurled toward the stargate. Skylar’s breath caught when they finally came within sight of it. For a moment, it looked big enough for Hummassa to fit inside it.

  It was a perfect circle with made of huge silver blocks that looked almost square, until he peered as hard as he could at one and realized the lower edge was ever-so-slightly curved and fit together flawlessly. Skylar had never heard of any ship being too big to fit through a stargate, and considering he figured small planets could fit through the one he was staring at, it made sense. The thing was massive.

  “We’ll be there in about half an hour,” Phil announced. “If you want anything to eat, or if you need to pee before we go through, now’s the time.”

  Skylar shook his head. “Nope, staying right here.” Even though he’d been sitting in the seat for eight hours, and had only pried himself away for one really fast trip to the bathroom, there was no way he was leaving his chair. They were about to go through the stargate and he was going to see every little detail of it.

  “All right. Tell you what, let me check back in with Intergal and see if there’s any news of your friend.” Phil tapped a couple of times on one of the panels that had gone dark after they left the hospital ship.

  Skylar wasn’t sure if he should hope for new or not. He didn’t want to know Teir was dead, missing was better than dead. It at least gave him something to hope for.

  “Hey, Reg, this is Phil, wanted to see if you have an updated survivor or”—he paused and sighed—“or casualty list.”

  It was hard to wait for a response he couldn’t hear. Skylar wanted to be able to listen in, but that would be rude. If Phil hadn’t put the call on the ship coms, there was a reason.

  “Good, if you could check for a Teir Puddle for me. He’s a native, not a worker.” Phil paused again. He pointed out the view port. “Not long now. Sorry this is taking so long.”

  “Thanks for checking.” Skylar’s throat was tight with fear of what Phil might find.

  “Gives us something to do while we approach the stargate.” Phil touched his lips. “Thanks Reg. I’ll keep checking in from time to time, or if you could put a note in the system to contact me if we get a definitive. Will do. Thanks again.” He tapped the panel again and it returned to its dark, inactive state. “Sorry, Skylar, no news yet.”

  “Then there’s still hope.” Skylar stared at the stargate getting close and closer. He tried to recall the number of times he and Teir had gone through one in game. It was too many to count. He wondered how Teir would feel about going through one for real.

  4

  Through The Stargate

  THE HUGE ring floated in space. It was held in place by a series of complex gravimetric systems that always made sure the gate stayed in a relative position to a nearby moon or star. If a gate was out of position, even by a small amount, it could dramatically affect ships coming and going through it, possibly in catastrophic ways.

  As Phil’s fingers danced across the control panel in front of him. Tiny bolts of lightning flared out from the ring blocks, cascading toward the middle of the ring. The sparkling continued until it filled the dark space in the ring’s center, effectively blocking out the stars beyond it.

  “I would say ‘hold on,’ but the jump beyond the event horizon isn’t extreme in terms of bumpiness,” Phil said. He took his hands off the steering yoke and for a moment, the ship drifted before the artificial gravity field of the gate caught hold of it. “You know, we’re lucky Intergal agents get free passage through the gate system. When you take cruises and other commercial flights, they have a charge built into their ticket costs to cover the gate energy fee.

  “I guess the Galactic Council thought of everything when they built the gates,” Skylar said. His mother never had kind things to say about the Central Galactic Council that ran the Milky Way Galaxy.

  “Yeah. Although there are a lot of people who think the gates paid for themselves decades ago and are just a way for the corporations to line their pockets now.” Phil didn’t turn his attention from the stargate.

  Skylar held his breath as everything blurred around them. When they passed the edge of the gate, the little ship sped up beyond anything it had done in normal space. His heart thudded against his throat and his palms got so wet that he had to wipe them on his pants.

  The stargate pulled them into a constructed wormhole that carried them nearly instantly from one side of the galaxy to the other. Then a shimmer of energy appeared in front of them as they exited the wormhole, and darkness dotted with stars returned to the view outside the window.

  Taking hold of the yoke again, Phil sighed. “Well, that was the exciting part. Kinda anticlimactic after you’ve done it a few times.”

  With his heart still pounding, Skylar shook his head. “I can’t see where that would ever get boring. That was so cool! I can’t wait to do it again.”

  “I’m sure you will.” Phil chuckled. “It’s rare nowadays for people to stay isolated on worlds like Hummassa. Some of us land on a different world every week or so. Why don’t you run back and grab us something to drink? We’ve got an hour or so before we reach our destination.”

  “Okay.” Skylar got out of his seat and headed to the cabin door. Although if the flight into wherever Phil was taking him was like the flight from the med ship to the gate, there would be little things like comets, asteroids, planets and other common space phenomena to pass near, but nothing like the gate. Nevertheless, Skylar wanted to hurry and get back in his seat. Space was a lot more exciting than he’d expected it to be. From what he’d heard, most of the larger ships tourists used weren’t designed for sightseeing, but for getting people from one point to another. “Just don’t do anything interesting without me here.”

  “I’ll try not to.”

  TRY AS he might, Skylar couldn’t stay awake and after nearly ten hours of flying through space, he
dozed off. In his dreams, he still saw his mother’s arm sticking out the windshield of the hover car right before it exploded. A tall, dark-haired man who looked a bit like Skylar laughed as he walked through the flaming wreckage. Somewhere nearby something inhuman screamed. The man held out his hand as Skylar jerked awake.

  “Hey there.” Phil frowned from the pilot’s chair. “Not that it helps much, but nightmares might be part of your sleep for a while. You’ve been through a lot lately. I’m sure we can find a way to dull them if you like.”

  Yawning, Skylar shook his head. He didn’t want anyone to help him out by messing with his head. He’d endure the nightmares if he had to.

  “Okay. If you change your mind, any of the teachers will be able to point you in the right direction.” Phil waved out the main port. “We’re almost there. You can just make out the academy.”

  Skylar sat up straighter and peered into the velvety space beyond the window. Another gas giant dominated his view of the stars. “Where is it?”

  Phil pointed to the upper right side of the window. “It’s over there. Look for the multi-colored flash. See it, just past the gas giant?”

  Skylar stared in the direction Phil indicated. There beyond the indicated planet, seeming to be in orbit with a smaller green and blue planet, and looking more like a small flattened moon with a hole in the middle than a space station, was a spinning disk. It wasn’t like any of the pictures Skylar had seen of space stations in textbooks. As it moved, sunlight from the single yellow star glistened off something that looked like it should be part of the station.

  “What’s that?” Skylar pointed as another ray of light flashed in the distance.

  Phil looked. “Oh, I bet you’re seeing the light reflecting off the solar collectors. The academy is mostly self-sufficient. That helps it stay neutral.”

  Skylar looked from the station to Phil. “Neutral? Aren’t we still in Council space?” He knew it was a silly question. The Central Galactic Council controlled all of the human-settled parts of the Milky Way Galaxy and was actively spreading their influence to other galaxies as they established more stargates.

  “We are. But there are people from many different planets at the academy. They strive to provide the best education, regardless of race, species, planet, or social standing. Other establishments over the years have tried to do what they do here, and problems always arose because one sect or another would attempt to gain an upper hand. It never ends well, even when the Council steps in. Things have gone along fairly smoothly for the past three hundred years, so as long as the academy can maintain a level of neutrality—”

  Skylar interrupted, slumping in his seat. “The place is three hundred years old?” In the back of his mind, he’d hoped that by getting off Hummassa, he’d get to experience some newer technology. Finding out their destination was a three-hundred-year-old space station let some of the excitement out of that expectation.

  “Yeah, but don’t worry, they’re really good at what they do.”

  “And what is that exactly?”

  “Giving young minds an opportunity to grow and become the strongest and best people they can.”

  Skylar frowned. “That’s a bit vague.” The feeling of Phil manipulating his emotions had fallen to the back of his mind, but it was still there. With his less-than-complete answers, Skylar wondered what all he was hiding. Unfortunately, he really wasn’t in any position to complain about things. Phil was showing him some of what the universe could offer him and he didn’t want to do anything to upset that.

  Phil shrugged. “You’ll find out more once we dock and you get to meet the staff.” He turned the yoke and the ship banked. “Tell you what—why don’t I give you a flyby before we dock?” He tapped his thumb and forefinger. “This is Philaneo Clawson requesting a flyby before docking. I believe we’re expected.” There was a slight pause. “Yes, it is just me and Skylar Mars, the youngster we sent you the info about, on board.” During the next pause, the academy grew large enough to easily make out the clear inner ring covering a green space. “Thank you. We’ll be at Airlock Three in five minutes.”

  He banked the ship around again, swinging lower until they were only a few hundred yards from the station’s surface. “Here we go.”

  The first thing Phil did was fly through a gap where a clear sphere hung in the center of the station, connected by metal girders to a transparent tube. To his right, several people floated about the sphere. To his left, a vast green space included what looked to be playing fields. Trees filled one part of the green with a stream meandering through a forest as well as large greenbelt. The stream ended in a large lake or swimming pool of some sort. Near several large buildings, cows wandered in a fenced-off area.

  “Wow, this is awesome,” Skylar said, without pulling his eyes away from the spectacle before him. He didn’t want to miss even the smallest detail.

  “Stars’ End is a great place.” Phil turned the yoke slightly to avoid a small bot that floated between the two dark areas. “These areas are currently just in the shadow of an asteroid.”

  They passed back into open space. The sun was right in front of them. Phil swung the ship around and skimmed low over the sunward surface. A vast field of solar panels sparkled in different colors. It was older technology, but still efficient. A fair number of the cities on Hummassa used solar technology.

  Their view of the station darkened when they reached its edge, and Phil piloted the ship away from the sun. The dark side of the station was covered with a myriad of windows. From the glimpses Skylar caught, some looked into classrooms, some into private areas, and many weren’t lit at all, just dark panes along the surface. Other lights of various colors were along the station’s outer skin, most small and stationary, but a few moved around. Skylar didn’t understand what they all meant, but the overall display left him speechless. Stars’ End wasn’t like any space station he’d ever seen pictures or video of. He wondered if it was one of a kind.

  As they swung back around, a series of yellow lights blazed before them. They seemed to extend into space on long delicate poles where they formed a circle on the surface of the station.

  “There’s our airlock,” Phil announced. A light flashed on his control panel and he took his hands off the yoke. “Best to let the station complete the docking for us.”

  More lights came on across the station near their port, illuminating several other docked ships. Most appeared to be about the same size as Phil’s ship. There were two larger ships that looked like they could hold a lot of people.

  Shortly after the ship stopped moving, there was a soft click from back in the ship, near the airlock. Phil smiled and patted the arms of his chair. “So, are you ready for your next adventure?”

  Skylar nodded. “Sure, let’s do it.” He couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next.

  5

  Stars’ End Academy

  PHIL OPENED the second airlock door and gestured for Skylar to step through into the room beyond. “Skylar Mars, welcome to Stars’ End Academy, the finest school in the galaxy for budding psi talents.”

  His words brought Skylar up short. He’d just been brought to one of the most dangerous places in the universe, if his mother was to be believed. So far Phil hadn’t done anything more than calm him, as had Gina back on Hummassa. He didn’t think either one of them had any nefarious designs on him, but he wasn’t sure. While he was there, he’d stay on his guard as well as he could, but he didn’t have any real choice of where else to go unless Phil or someone else was able to find his family. If he didn’t know Intergal was a force of good in the galaxy, he’d have been far more worried, but he believed they would do their best to make sure he was properly taken care of until a better opportunity came along. Without a family, he was under their control until he was old enough to legally be on his own.

  Squaring his shoulders, Skylar followed Phil. The room was larger than Skylar had expected. It was nearly twice the size of the school cafeteria bac
k on Hummassa. Other than a few doors and openings into hallways, it was a large, empty space that reminded Skylar of a stadium without seats. There were a number of holograms on the walls of various people, most in formal dress, not all of them human. Every race Skylar had ever heard about, and a few he hadn’t, were depicted there. The room’s lush carpet felt like grass under his feet as he stepped further inside. Everything had an expensive but used feeling to it. If the school was as old as Phil had said, that made sense.

  What surprised Skylar most was the lack of people. The only person in the room was a tall, older woman who was currently walking toward them. She was dressed casually, in a long skirt and colorful blouse, looking more like someone who should be on a rural planet as opposed to a space station where he expected jumpsuits or business suits like he always saw on the NPCs on space stations in Galactic Explorer. Something about the way she moved reminded him of one of his mother’s bosses, who was always a bit distant even when she was trying to be nice.

  “Phil, you didn’t give me time to get here,” she fussed as she tapped something on the tablet in her hands. “I thought you were going to do a flyby.”

  Phil flashed her a warm smile, far warmer than anything he’d shown Skylar. “I did take the time to show Skylar the outside of the station. Maybe next time I’ll make a couple of orbits to give you the opportunity to get to the entrance hall and receive your newest charge.”

  “Maybe you should.” She smiled back before turning her attention to Skylar. “So, you’re Skylar Mars. Phil and Gina contacted me about you. You’ve been through a lot the past couple of days. Hopefully, we can help you out here at Stars’ End while we’re working on finding your family.” She offered her hand to Skylar.