FSE

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James whistled at the sheep with a set of shears behind his back. They came to his call, and he took one of them by the neck and led it next to the cabin. While the sheep stood still, he snipped off some wool on the back.

Once the sheep was on its side, he began cutting near the legs. However, when he heard a beep, he jumped and accidentally cut too far down. The sheep gave a bleat from pain, and James put his open hand over the wound and sighed, "Dammit."

He looked at one of his hirelings, a Sergal named Eega, and called, "Eega, come over and finish the work on this ewe! I gotta take this call!"

"Yes sir!"

James stood up, marched into the cabin and set his holocom on the table. He swept his hand over the light and saw an elderly, chubby figure with some sort of bone plate over their face. One of the most striking features was the ears; stretching down to their knees. He sat in a chair and asked, "So, what is it you need?"

"Help."

"Where are you, and what's the situation?"

"Earth. Few of my species still live."

"Earth? The place that was razed by nuclear war?"

"Yes."

He jumped to his feet, slammed his palm on the table and said, "Red Comet, coming up!"

He swept his hand over the light, and the figure vanished. He pocketed it, marched outside and called, "Everyone in the crew of the Red Comet, we've got an order! From earth!"

"Oh fun," said Emily, "to earth again!"

He gave a wide beckon and called out, "All aboard!"

Both Emily and Takeo were the first ones in. Tacit ran in alongside James through the airlock, all the way up to the bridge. "Homeward bound! Everyone, fasten your seatbelts!" howled James with a fist in the air.

He leaned forward and said, "Red Comet, play Marching Through Georgia!"

As the radio loaded, he looked down at Tacit, who was looking at him with an eyebrow raised. "What? It's a good song."

"Never heard it."

"Well then, today's your lucky day."

"Oh it is?"

"Yep. Disengaging!"

As he pushed a button, the song began with upbeat trumpets and drums. As the lyrics began, Takeo bashed his face into the dash. James pulled him up and asked, "The hell was that about?"

"What in Yomi are we listening too? Can i no kill my brain?"

"It's an old American march."

"Oh."

"Anyway, let's get going."

"Hai, I do not want be on this rock anymore!"

James took his seat and pulled a lever. As the ship took off, the song continued with the lyrics, which Takeo could not stand. He gave a loud scream, enough to drown out part of the song, sprang up to his feet and ran out of the bridge. James shrugged and said, "Can't please everyone."

"Actually," said Emily, "it is kind of terrible."

"How?"

Instead of answering, she got up and left the bridge. James raised an index finger as she went through the doorway and said, "Wait, you didn't answer my que-oh, never mind."

He sighed and said, "Red Comet, stop the music."

Immediately, the song cut off. James leaned forward and turned on the radio physically. He leaned back and called out, "We're kicking into hyperspeed," before slamming a button.

Tacit adjusted his seat right as the stars seemed to extend. Then, James took a deep breath before immense pressure could be felt. "Next stop, earth!"

With a flash of light, they were transported into the Solar system, where Earth was. The planet floated before them."Here she is, mother earth."

At this, Takeo ran back into the bridge and cried, "Home!"

"A mother who had some rambunctious kids and is now a hag."

"Oh, hai!"

"Well Tacit, let's see what state the homeworld's in now."

They flew into the atmosphere, slowed down and engaged in landing. Tacit unbuckled his seatbelt, and both him and James stood up and marched down the stairs to the airlock. Takeo had run past them beating them there. "How's it look out there?"

"Green."

"Green? Really?"

"Yes!"

With that, James ran outside with Takeo in tow. "Holy-"

"Kuso!"

There before them was a field of green grass with small trees springing up here and there. "How did it come back to life?"

"Think I know?"

Then, James remembered that morning, the morning when everything changed. He remembered herding his kids into the basement and distributing gas masks. "Although, it's probably very radiated."

"So?"

"We should be careful."

"Maybe a suit?"

"Maybe."

"You have any?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Let us put them on."

"You can. I'll see if I can live out here."

James took a deep breath, knelt down and pulled off one of his boots. Then, he removed the other. After that, he stood up, unzipped his jumpsuit and unbuckled his wing strap, which held the suit on over the wings. He stepped out of it and took a deep breath before setting a bare foot on the grass. Then, the other.

Before, he took this for granted. But now, after spending so long in space, it felt so comforting. So refreshing. Not enough words could describe how he felt. He knelt down and ran his hand through the grass. As he did, Tacit came out of the ship. He looked and saw Emily behind the Yinglet. "Ladies and gentlemen, the motherworld, earth."

Emily took a deep breath of grass smelling earth before setting one foot upon the land. Tacit jumped out ahead of her and looked down at the grass. "Zhis is your home world?"

"Yeah."

"Looks so, so green," said Emily.

"When I left it, it was mostly dry and radiated."

"Damn."

"Well, let's go find our guy."

Takeo stood up, his clothing now green. "Uh Tak, you've got uh, a few grass stains."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"How bad are they?"

"Very."

"Great."

"Maybe, we'll come across some clean water."

"Let us hope so, this shade not suiting me!"

"Then, let's move."

Immediately, Takeo broke into a run over a hill. James turned to Emily and Tacit and shrugged. Emily sighed, and James said, "Let 'em go."

"Why?"

"He can find his own way back, and if he can't, we can track him. Anyway, we can't be the only ones enjoying ourselves, eh? Now, let's go!"

* * * * *

Soon enough, they came across a hut dug out of a hill. James looked at Emily and asked, "You think that's it?"

"Possibly. We can turn Takeo into a female one."

"Maybe."

"It won't hurt and we know he likes being the bottom."

"Oh yeah, just as soon as we find him."

While Emily went to look for Takeo, James went and knocked on the door. Right before the door opened, he looked over his shoulder and saw Emily dragging Takeo over. This time, he had long, wide ears, horns, a thick tail and a short snout, all covered in peach colored fur. "I see you found him."

He turned to face the same figure who contacted him through the holocom. "Thank god we found you at all."

"Do you need a tour?"

James raised an open hand and said, "That won't be necessary, I just need to know where we meet."

"Oh, well follow me!"

James looked back and beckoned with his nose. Together, they followed the older Drekkubus through the hall. Once he opened a door, James stopped in his tracks at the sight of a younger one. "Who's that?"

"Sinja one of our youngest."

"So, what's the plan?"

"Get us out of here."

James snapped his fingers and said, "Right away! Good thing I've got a ship with plenty of room for everyone, and more!"

James beckoned to them and sang, "Come with me, and you'll be in a world of pure imagination."

All of a sudden, Takeo struck James on the back of his head. As James fell unconscious, Takeo said, "Stupid song!"

* * * * *

He sat up and waited for his eyes to adjust. His head thumped like a drum. Once his eyes adjusted, he found that he was back in his bedroom, alone. The window showed the stars above.

He stumbled over to the wall and looked down through the window at the land below. Then, he went to the door and tried it only to find it locked. He turned the switch and pulled on the knob, only to find it locked. "Red Comet, can you open this door?"

"Not yet."

"Not yet? Is something going on?"

"Yes. Emily says she has a surprise, but she won't be back for another two hours."

"Two hours?"

"Yes, she went to pick someone up."

"Well, on another note, do I have any new messages?"

"No new messages."

With that, he sat on his bed and unzipped his jumpsuit. He stood up, peeled out of it and walked towards the bathroom. Right as he opened the door, he heard a knock. "Come in. If you can open the door."

Suddenly, the door flew open crashing into the wall. He jumped and yelped, "Jesus!"

"What? Don't you like your kids?"

"No, not that. It's the fact that you swung the door open like that."

"Oh, sorry!"

"Anyway, I heard you had something planned."

"Oh, yeah. Brother, sister!"

James' eyes widened upon hearing this. "What?"

He marched out into the hall and stopped in his tracks when he saw none other than Josh and Sasha. He rubbed his eyes and blinked. There they stood, Sasha with her leg bandaged. He took one step towards them. Then another. "Is it really you?"

Josh nodded, and he took a couple more steps closer. Before they knew it, James was face to face with Josh. Slowly, awkwardly, he put his arms around him. During their embrace, James tried to hold back his tears. Then, he disconnected and asked, "How did she find you?"

"She had a similar scent."

"Well, now that you're here, we might as well do what we ought to have done all that time ago."

"That is?"

"Take you up with us. So, to the bridge?"

Josh nodded and said, "To the bridge."

With that, James led them, all three of them, down to the control room. Suddenly, right before James could sit down, a face flashed on the screen. A colorful, raptorish face. Xevog, lord of K'Tann. Josh screamed from surprise, and James jumped and staggered behind his seat. "Xevog!"

"Oh yes, Jamsie!"

"How did you find us?"

"Oh, just a little hacking and interrogation."

James went back to his chair and took hold of the arm. "What do you want?"

"Oh, you know what I want!"

"Well, she doesn't want anything to do with you."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really. And, I'm not telling you where she is."

"Oh, you're making a big mistake by not telling me!"

"And, why should I?"

"Then, if not, I would have to destroy you."

James scoffed and said, "I'd like to see you try."

With that, Xevog's face vanished giving way to the image of pods flying towards them. James spun around to face everyone else and barked, "Everyone, buckle up!"

Then, he looked up and barked, "Red Comet, initiate combat protocol!"

James sat back down, took a deep breath and crunched a lever forward. The ship rocketed into flight smashing one of the pods along the way. As the fire and smoke receded, the wipers swished over the screen. Then, the ship's cannon fired at another pod. Another shot fired within seconds, and the pod began to smoke. "That all you got, feather boy?"

Then, a cloud of pods came from the cosmos. James gulped and croaked, "I guess not. That's it."

James tightened his seatbelt around his chest and said, "We're kicking into hyperspeed."

That time, as they practically teleported, they left a hole in the cluster of pods. Not only did Xevog lose his target, he also lost a whole division. He screamed at the screen, indescribable screaming, and kicked. One of the guards came closer to him only to take a fist to the nose. As Xevog went to punch a wall, Others came and dragged the soldier, who had nos nose broken, away. One of them approached him and asked, "Any requests, sir?"

"Just get out of my face!" he screeched.

"Yes sir."

The soldier took a couple steps back, turned around and ran.

Once they slowed down, James pointed at Tacit and said, "Tacit, see if you can find any other Drekkubus here."

Emily came over to the dash and said, "I'll help!"

"Good."

James turned around and saw Takeo, and he asked, "Hey Tak, are you thinking of staying wherever we drop them off?"

"I possibly can."

"But, do you plan to?"

"Not really. I do have go back to Kuron eventually."

"We could arrange for that, unless you feel like rearing more Dreks."

"How long does it take?"

"I don't know."

"I guess I can do this once."

"Alright."

After a scan, Tacit looked up and said, "Zhere's a planet nearby wizh a steady population of zhem."

"Red Comet, can you tell where that place is?"

"Twenty miles north."

"In that case, full speed ahead."

With that, the AI took control of the ship leading it towards the planet. It only took about an hour to get there. "Well, that was fast."

James leaned forward, engaged the landing gear and turned the ship down. "Where to?"

"Where ever, I'll be slaving and breeding like a rabbit."

James tilted the ship to the side so that he could land in a field. Then, he pressed a button and called, "All ashore!"

He turned to Emily and asked, "So, shall we make another seed?"

"Possibly."

With that, James unbuckled his belt, stood up and headed to the door stopping when he came face to face with the older Drekkubus. "Thank you," said the elder.

James nodded and said, "Any time."

Everyone left the ship and searched. James, on the other hand, remained on the ship retreating into the lab over a planet seed, with Emily close behind. "Now, the next one I'm planning on making the base for our private army.Now, what materials to use for the base seed?"

"Up to you, you are the creator."

"I think I want to make it a rough place to live, but have it so that life could form there."

Emily nodded, turned to face the coding machine and typed on the keyboard. James looked over her shoulder at the list of elements. Reading over the list twice, he found iron, helium, hydrogen, oxygen, gold, plenty other metals, along with silicon, plenty of radioactive materials and many more. As the machine came to life, he asked, "Is it able to produce life?"

"Oh, yes."

"Good."

James looked at the slot and watched as the seed rolled out. "Perfect."

"I know it is. I made it."

"You mean we made it."

To this, Emily raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"How man buttons did you press and, coding did you do?"

James threw up an open hand dismissively and said, "Let's just launch this thing."

Emily hit another button, and the seed rolled into a tube, which led to the cannon. "I'll go tell the others we're launching."

James turned and marched into the hall, up the stairs and into the bridge. He leaned over the dash and said, "All crew members of the Red Comet, we are casting off in five."

James leaned back in his seat and listened as the crew ran around downstairs like headless chickens. After five minutes, he leaned forward and threw a lever forward. He disengaged the landing gear and drove the ship up. "Red Comet, where's the nearest open Goldilocks zone?"

"Two thousand miles."

"Oh, so this one has an open spot."

"Yes."

James narrowed his eyes and said, "Ah, I think I'll go to a different system."

"Why is that?"

"It might collide with this planet. I'd rather not take that chance. Now, everyone, we're kicking into hyperspeed."

James threw a lever forward, and the stars appeared to extend. James shut his eyes right before he began to feel immense pressure. After a moment, he reached forward and, with all his strength, pulled the lever back. He then opened his eyes to find asteroids all around them. "Perfect spot, you think?"

"It looks great."

With that, James pounded a button. The cannon fired the seed, which immediately absorbed with an asteroid. James stood up and asked, "How about a round downstairs?"

"Okay."

One by one, they left the bridge. Altogether, they went downstairs to the mess hall, and James stuck a series of quarters in the drink machine. "That went rather well. I wonder if Okuda there will be fine."

"We can always pick him up later."

"Agreed, I wonded what kind of Drekkie he will choose to roll in the sheets with."

"Who knows?"

As James filled a glass with beer, he said, "What I do know is that it looks like we're entering a war."

"Well, I say you started this."

"Well, no way we can change this, except either conceding or fighting."

He pointed and continued, "We have no time machine. Anyway, was I supposed to let her be a victim of that uh..."

"I don't think you could. We should make a clone."

"A clone? To appease his demands?"

"Yes."

"You can do that on your own time if you want. Me, I'd rather fight."

"And get your whole family killed."

"I'll have an army of my own."

Then, Tacit stepped forward and said, "Ya know, it would be nice to do somezhing ozher zhan hide."

"Well," replied James, "be my guest."

"Then," said Emily, "we'll leave you!"

"What?"

"We don't want to be hiding, we actually want to live!"

"If you don't want to fight, I could always send you to Kuron, or Li-Ming."

"Please do!"

"Maybe, I could have your feet be bound in Li-Ming."

With that, Tacit ran to the door with his drink still in hand. "Take me to Li-Ming!" said Emily.

"If you insist," Tacit sighed on the way out.

"What, do you think they will cook you?"

"No. Maybe."

"What, Xu Fai to be exact?"

"I don't know, I've never been zhere."

"He's been on the ship before. Also, father was jealous of Xu Fai's son."

"Well, I don't remember seeing him."

Emily marched over and lowered a picture into his view. "Must've been asleep when he showed up."

Emily showed a picture of Xu Fen to James to see his reaction again. Instead, he just raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why am I seeing this?"

"Because, you normally get jealous of him."

James waved a hand and marched up the stairs. Tacit looked up at her and asked, "Honestly, how did you expect him to respond to having a picture stuck in his face?"

"To get mad or flustered again!"

"Well, looks like you definitely annoyed him."

"Job well done!"

"Now, let's get up to zhe bridge."

Tacit ran up the stairs, through the hall into the bridge and jumped into his seat. With one hand on a lever, James turned to Emily and said, "By the way, if you change your mind, you're always welcome here on the Red Comet."

"I know, but I'm sick of being dead, or turned into minced meat!"

"None of that happened yet."

"So? Also, I hate being on a ship!"

He showed an open hand and said, "Okay, I gotta admit that hyperspeed is not the best means of long distance travel, and it can get boring here."

"That doesn't explain it."

"What about it, then?"

"Its horrid!"

James sighed, rubbed his eyes and asked, "Do you mind pointing out something specific?"

"Everything!"

He threw up his arms convinced that she would never get specific with her grievances and said, "Let's just go!"

"Blah, alright!"

He shook his head as he threw the switch. The whole ship hummed to life. Lights turned on, and the ship rumbled. Then, James disengaged the landing gear and threw the switch further, and the engine roared to life sending them into the distance.