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Deep Space Zero By: Pent Ghelsburg

Disclaimer: The characters depicted in this work are purely fictional. They are the original and rightful intellectual property of their creators. I use them with permission and respect. This work contains underaged content. You have been warned.

"Curiosity is the essence

of our existence."

-Terry Pratchett

It is night. Look above you. What do you see? The vast beyond, infinite darkness with speckles of light and the occasional planet. Some see space as a predictable pattern of orbits and of cycles. But of course, the cosmos are not something so mundane. The galaxy beyond us is an amazing thing, Something to respect, cherish, and watch with great reverence. There are those of us who consider space in high regard. Often with lofty dreams of working with NASA or beyond.

In our youth such goals exist within the greater purpose of ourselves. Sometimes dominating our every thought and our entire being. But this is alright, for having such focuses is never a bad thing. Some kids even take it as far are pursuing it beyond the realm of hobby. However, the vast majority see it as an opportunity for play. Pretending that such things are nothing short of reality. It is in these times that we must cherish the innocence of those who wish to indulge in it.

Gin was a girl who lived in Florida, right along the region known as the Space Coast. Her family had moved there from the northern part of the country, as they had grown rather tired of the cold climate. It had been a year since that had happened and frankly, the girl's parents were rather happy with the move. The family was a pack of Arctic Foxes, which was pretty odd to see that far south. However, you did have the occasional snowbirds whom they seemed to fit right in with.

At 12 years of age, Gin was now in her second year of middle school. Like most arctic foxes, she had a snow-white pelt, often keen on keeping it just as clean kept as her brown hair. She was very much your typical girl who liked hanging out with her friends. Despite being a pretty social pup, the fox didn't have many friends yet. She had managed to befriend a small circle of fellow furs and was pretty content with what she had. Her best friend as a similar aged boy who went by the name of, Lemmy.

Lemmy was in the same classes as his friend was. A skunk with your typical black fur striped with white striping around his eyes and in his bushy tail. Gin and Lemmy had taken a liking to each other rather early on and hung out on a regular basis. Many considered them to be closer than they actually were, but to them it was all just for fun. One of their biggest commonalities was their love for role play, whether it was in live-action or through the median of gaming it mattered not.

The weekend was fast approaching and Gin wanted to try out a new board game she had gotten through some extra cash she had earned through doing chores. It was called Race for the Galaxy and the developer had released a third version of the game. Whereas the first and second versions focused on conquest, the third version focused on actual colonization of different planets, both real and fantasy in make. She was rather keen on trying it, especially after seeing the figures they had added to the game.

It was a combination of humanoid soldiers, some furry ones, and an equal amount of weird alien species to boot. Gin had always been fascinated by the idea of aliens and rather liked watching documentaries on them. She even had her own telescope at home, though she never saw anything beyond the usual stars and constellations above. When she got to looking through the contents of the game, she was nonetheless excited to share the experience with Lemmy.

At the end of school Friday, Gin decided to pop the question to the skunk boy. Heading outside, the only thing she could think of. When the girl saw him by the tree, just chilling by a tree, the fox made her way over to see what he was up to that afternoon.

"What's up?" Gin asked once she was within a personal distance of the cub.

Lemmy was only a tad bit taller than she was but it was hardly noticeable unless they were standing right next to each other.

The skunk looked up and met the girl's gaze with his own. "Nothin'. Sup?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to come over and try this new game I got?" The fox kicked her paws in the dirt, nervously awaiting his answer.

Lemmy's ears perked up as his interest piqued. "What game?"

"Race for the Galaxy. It's a board..." Gin was caught off-guard when the skunk lurched forward and grabbed her.

"Really? Heck yeah!" The boy pulled out his phone to text his parents. "Let's go!"

The skunk didn't even wait for a response from his parents. He had heard about the game before and had never played it but it sounded fun. Gin was seemingly dragged towards the bike rack by her friend, who was seemingly more excited than she was. The two of them biked to Gin's house which was a 10-minute ride from the school. Lemmy kept in front of his friend, showing no heed for the fact that she was not as quick as he was. But they arrived at about the same time.

Gin's home was pretty humble, a small one-story house that was on one of the smaller dead-end streets of a gated in community. The parents loved the place especially because it offered security. They worked a lot and their little girl was too old for babysitters now. So they opted out for a gated community even know it was more expensive. Gin had grown use to the place and was rather fond of it since she knew she could see shuttle launches

When they arrived at her home, Lemmy quickly threw his bike on the lawn and looked at his phone to make sure his parents had responded. Sure enough, they had and seemed to be ok with him going over, so long as he was back before dinner. He was more than alright with that. It meant he had a little more than 3 hours to enjoy the game with his friend. The skunk impatiently tapped his paws at the door, waiting for Gin to let him in.

Eventually, the fox opened the door and the two were inside. "It's in my room."

Lemmy ran off as if were a race dog, without even waiting for Gin. The girl giggled a bit and closed the door behind her before locking it. She soon joined him in her room. Already the skunk had found the box, which wasn't really hard to find since she had left it right out on her bed.

"So how do we play?" The boy felt foolish asking but didn't want to go in blindly.

Over the next few minutes, Gin shared all of the pertinent information necessary to play the game. Once that was done, they began arranging the board to begin the game in earnest.

Gin pulled a card from the deck and began reading it. "The mission: should you chose to accept it, is to establish a relationship with the Dogong, of the Nexus Galaxy. They are in need from Assistance from Earth and face a threat from the vicious Pozan of the Manar Galaxy. The method of how you achieve this means is up to you. Good luck, ambassador."

Lemmy stood up, his school uniform replaced by a latex space suit in bright green, blue, and grey lacing. Holding his two paws up, he made a gun shape. Soon the shape materialized into a make-shift lazer emanating a humming sound from its body.

"Let's go! The galaxy needs us. First Mate, Lemmy Reporting for duty!" The skunk decided to give the honor of captaincy to his friend.

Gin stood up and smiled at her friend, but wasn't about to be outdone by him. Taking her paw she slowly guided it across the length of her body. Soon replacing her own getup with a navy blue officer uniform. On her breast, the lapel of her space ship "Star Cub."

The room whirled and fizzled into a green light. Soon the girls room began to fade, de-materializing into a white blur. Beeping and buzzing soon becoming ever-present as their surrounding was soon replaced by the metallic intake of a ship cockpit. Two leather seats sitting near the helm of the vessel, with a large computer appartus in front of them. To their sides a map of the cosmos, and in front of them the galaxy spread before them.

"Coordinates, Captain?" The skunk brought himself to the map module.

Gin stepped over towards the captain's stand, which had a small 3d layout of the ship, showing it's hull integrity. "21 , 6, 15, 91"

Lemmy pressed a few brightly lit buttons as they made loud beeping sounds. "Destination confirmed, Captain. Nexus Galaxy Planet Dod."

Gin pushed forward a nearby lever that caused a light buzzing sound to reverberate through the ship. "Light speed Activated."

The fox turned her gaze forward and all at once the dark span of space before her began to blur. Sparks of light dashed by as the ship entered into warp mode. It was mere moments before the ship came to an abrupt stop. Neither of them even felt the stop. The gravity centers and stabilization on the ship seemed to be quite advanced.

"Captain, transmission patching through." Lemmy announced as the gaseous planet came into sight.

A screen flickered in front of the girl as an unfamiliar alien face appeared. "State your purpose, please." The computer translated the words as the alien spoke.

"We are here on a diplomatic mission from the earth. These are our credentials." Gin pulled out a rather official-looking letter from her pocket. "We seek permission to land."

"Very well. Permission granted. Arrive at dock 9, please. Map transmission commencing." The screen flickered and was soon replaced with a map of the local area and a bright red dot signaling where they would land.

The skunk flicked a switch as an light alarm sounded. "Landing sequence initiated."

The space ship made its round to right above the red spot and then began to hover over the spot as it began descending into the atmosphere. Both of the cubs onboard held their own as the ship shook a little bit while entering into the stratosphere. The arrival process took a good 3 minutes before a loud thud was heard.

"Ship bridge descending, bay one." A loudspeaker could be heard bellowing through the travel hub.

Gin and Lemmy left their stations and soon departed from the ship. Once they made their way down the ramp, the bridge soon retraced up to the space ship.

Looking around the two cubs could see the place was a travel hub. All sorts of space ships were around. Behind them was an opening leading to a force field. Beyond it was the great beyond that was space. Gin couldn't help but stare a bit, seeming lost in the moment.

Lemmy soon poked her and snapped her out of it. "Captain?"

"Oh, yes. Let's carry on. We have a mission to complete." Gin straightened up her uniform and began to follow the signs towards the exit of the complex.

At the end of the building was a large hallway with three distinct hallways., each going a different direction. To the right, a large contingency of lizard people stood waiting. Two of them began to approach the cubs. As they got closer, Gin realized that they were much taller than anything she could recall.

"Are you the Earthlings sent by Galaxion?" A smaller red lizard spoke, not seeming as well dressed like the ones behind him.

Both of the cubs bowed deeply. "Yes, we are. Pleased to meet you." The two responded in unison.

"And you as well. I will be the translator. Her excellency does not speak your tongue. You may call me Catar." The lizard extended out his hand in a gesture of greeting familiar to earthlings.

Gin shook the hand first, then Lemmy followed. "I am Gin and this is Lemmy."

"Come with me. I shall present you to the her majesty." Catar took the lead as they began to lead towards the awaiting royal proceeding.

The awaiting woman was in a very luxurious gown. The dress was long and touched the floor. It was quite colorful with a very ornate yellow and green pattern. Over her neck, she wore a medallion which shone quite radiantly against the artificial light on the ceiling.

Catar knelt in front of her, the two cubs followed suit. "You're majesty. I present to you the Galaxion earthlings."

She spoke in a foreign language which Catar translated after she finished. "She says...Welcome to Dod."

"So, what's going on?" Gin asked before the man translated her speech.

The woman spoke again before her consort translated. "We are facing encroachment from the Pozan. They threaten our civilization with their warlike ways. We need you to stop them."

"Right and I'm guessing Diplomacy hasn't worked?" Gin nervously tapped her foot at the thought of having to use violence to achieve her means.

The royal crossed her arms defensively. "We have tried and they have not responded."

"Very well and if we get them to stop, you will ally with earth?" Lemmy asked since apparently the caught had caught his friend's tongue.

The larger lizard nodded and her entourage followed suit. The skunk looked at his captain who seemed lost in thought.

The boy nudged her softly. "Come on, Let's get going." Eventually, Gin came around.

The two cubs made their exit and headed back towards the space ship. As they approached the bridge descended and they entered back into it.

"Set coordinates for the Manar galaxy." Gin requested and headed back to her command station.

Lemmy went back to his area as well and did as he was told. "Liftoff systems initiated."

The ship made its way back into open space, going back into light-speed in order to get to Manar as quickly as possible.

It wasn't that long of a trip and took only a few minutes before they arrived into the orbit of Pozan. After a short conversation with ground control, they were given clearance to land on the planet. Unlike Dod, the planet wasn't nearly as developed. The place they landed was an open area that was nothing but dirt and open area. Only a single building in the distance and a very beat up spaceship, which didn't even look like it could take off. Upon arriving, they showed themselves off the ship and made their way onto the dirt runway.

"Looks, pretty desolate. Where to, captain?" Lemmy couldn't see anything off in the near distance.

Gin squinted and struggled to make-out something on the horizon. "There...maybe there is a speeder nearby?"

"Doesn't look like. Let's just walk?" The skunk saw nothing around except for the beat-up spaceship and their own.

Gin nodded and the two began walking. The planet was a dusty one and it was very windy. The entire time they walked, they had to shield their eyes from several dust storms. The dark spot on the horizon began to grow as they neared it, the place seemed to be an outpost of sorts. The two cubs couldn't be glad but be out of the open. Even if the wind was still squalling, the few structures that dotted the area offered a little more protection to shield them then their own hands.

Everyone walking around had their heads wrapped. It seemed that this was an everyday occurrence and looking around they couldn't make out what people looked like. Eventually, they happened across a person that appeared to be a police offer of some sort.

"Uh, is there a communication center around?" Gin asked the man who simply shrugged at her, not seeming to understand her speech.

Asking around didn't seem like an option, so Lemmy began to see if he could signs of a satellite dish.

The skunk pointed at the only one he could see, poking out of a small building near the center of town. "There!"

The boy led on with Gin in tow, eager to get out of another dust storm that was raging in the town, picking up dirt and throwing it around all over the place.

Once inside of the small building, it was obvious enough that it was a communication office. It seemed to have a few stations with computers, as well as a central reception office. No one seemed to be there, so Gin decided to ignore the issue and decided to use one of them on her own volition. The cub assumed there had to be an emergency contact system. She figured it could be used to get them in touch with the administration of the planet in hopes of talking them down from attacking the neighboring planet.

The computer station booted up. It was slow and took a few minutes before the screen lit up. It definitely seemed to be older technology but still appeared to work. When the home screen lit up a few options showed up on the blue screen. Sure enough one of them was labeled with what looked like a medical cross. This was the universal sign for an emergency, so she clicked it and waited. A separate screen flickered on after they pressed it, right above the computer they were using it.

"STATE PROBLEM!" A person in a dark black uniform spoke with subtitles underneath.

Gin shrugged. "We wish to speak to the leader on behalf of Dod. We come in peace."

The screen went blank and then static appeared on screen but no face was shown. A deep voice bellowed as a voice modulator was clearly being used.

"PEACE? HAH!" The modulator automatically translated anything that was spoken.

Gin's nerves we're getting the better of her. "We will offer you the aid of earth if you comply." Lemmy intervened seeing his friend was caught up in the moment.

"EARTH? WHY?" The voice seemed to be curious if nothing else.

Gin eventually regained her composure. "We want to help your planet rebuild."

"LIES! PROVE!" The speech was broken but obvious enough.

The fox reached into her pocket and provided the letter from Galaxion. Silence followed for a few moments.

"WE NOT BELIEVE. SEND HELP. WE THEN NO ATTACK DOD." The voice set his terms in stone.

Gin smirked. "You have a deal. We will call for aid immediately."

"GOOD. WE STOP WHEN HELP." A piece of paper returned from the document feeder, it was a signed treaty.

"Thank you! You will not regret this." Lemmy smiled, seeing his captain fulfill the mission with ease.

The screen blinked and Gin retrieved the treaty with glee. The two jumping and cheering.

"We did it!" Lemmy exclaimed with a huge grin on his face.

Gin fist-bumped her friend. "Great job!"

They headed back to the space ship, where they informed Galaxion of the deal. The organization not having much issue with giving aid to the planet in exchange for peace. After all, peace hadn't been achieved in the region for ages and now it very much seemed plausible.

Upon their return to earth, Gin and Lemmy were given a huge celebration for their success. The president of Galaxion, personally meeting them and awarding them medals of honor. All in all, everything seemed to have gone swimmingly well. When the ordeal was finally over, they were given a dinner to celebrate their mission. Everyone from the consular of Dod, to the princess, and the president of Manar was there. It really seemed like peace was possible.

As the two friends exited the hall, they returned to reality. The glorious reception of fantasy had ended. Both Lemmy and Gin were very much still in the girl's bedroom. The board game still in front of them. The two galaxies now covered in blue, which meant they were at peace. It was really a small part of a bigger puzzle.

"Time for Lemmy to leave!" The girl's mother beckoned to them.

It seemed the day was over and the skunk couldn't help but smile. "Thanks, I had fun!"

"Me too. Thanks for playing, Lemmy." Gin's tail wagging softly behind her.

Gin felt really proud of the accomplishment even if it was all for fun and games, glad to have shared it with her best friends. She couldn't help but think when next time would be...