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She did a double take. She was dead. Something had gone wrong when her starship made the jump. She had ended up at a totally different planet that the one she had been going to, and the reactor had overloaded. Her entire body was irradiated. The blue jay stood up from her chair, dizzy and shocked. She sat back down and put her head down. Then she wrapped her wings around herself, blocking out all the light. Her husband was going to be so mad that she'd gotten herself killed. Her overly rational brain chimed in that that thought was stupid now, it wouldn't matter what anyone thought about her death, since she'd be dead. Not alive to ever know how she'd be judged. She was dead, so nothing could affect her. She fingered the small gold medallion around her neck. It held a ruby in its center. Given to her by her father. It would now be passed onto this lonely planet. How could she have been so stupid.

He couldn't get the medallion to fit in the envelope properly. He'd thought of just leaving it on top of the envelope, but for some reason it didn't feel right to him. He needed this letter to be perfect. Absolutely perfect. His husband walked into the room just as he managed to fit the medallion into the letter. His husband Elijah, a snow leopard, towered over him as per usual. The taller leopard rubbed his husband's wing. "Do you think she'll hate me?" he asked Elijah. Elijah's tail stopped flicking back and forth, and he sighed. "Maybe she will, maybe she won't, I don't know, I just don't know." The blue jay nodded, "I have to do this," he said. Elijah went back to rubbing his husband's wing, "I know you do, the dragons, they won't stop until they've taken the entire system, you're going to be a hero." Despite his husband's words, the blue jay didn't feel like a hero. He felt like a coward.

Selling her mother's possessions felt like a crime. That necklace. Those earrings. Her ring. Her medallion. Her tail rings. Gray wolves weren't known to be a particularly flamboyant species, but her mother proved they could be. She was always adorned with jewelry, perfumes, and the like. Seeing other people rummage through her clothes just felt so wrong. The deer posing in the mirror with her mother's green dress. The fox trying on some of her tail rings. She felt like throwing up. "Excuse me?" She whirled around to face the new voice. She was face to face with a young blue jay, holding her mother's medallion. She sucked in a breath, that medallion. . . She realized suddenly that the blue jay had been talking to her, "what was that again?" she asked. "I would like to buy this," he said, holding up the medallion. She nodded, holding back tears. He transferred the credits to her account. He thanked her, and shook her hand. "I'm adopting a daughter," he said, "I'm going to give this to her when she gets older." At that moment, she didn't give a damn about him or his daughter.

"Oh my god," she gasped when she opened the lid. Her mother's medallion. She had worn it the day of her now famous speech, proclaiming Polis station to be independent from the United Republics. Polis station, 50 years dead. Her mother had only been 20 when she made that speech. This medallion had witnessed history. And now it was hers. She put it on herself. What her mother had done in politics she would do in business. She would be the confident young woman her mother had always been. Had always wanted her to be.

"We need to hurry or we'll miss the shuttle," her father tugged her along the corridor. The young wolf had never seen so many different species in one place before. Avians, mammals, aquatics, scalies, all making their way through the spaceport. So many colors and shapes. And all the noise, she wanted to put her paws over her ears and close her eyes. A glint of yellow and red caught her eye. An elderly shark was curled up on the ground. His few worldly possessions lay next to the sleeping shark. As she and her father passed by the shark she quickly bent down and scooped up the small medallion that had caught her eye. Suddenly her father turned around. She quickly hid the medallion in her hoodie, scared that he had caught her stealing it from the shark. He hadn't. He kneeled down. "I know you're scared, but Polis is going to be a new life for us okay? You'll meet lots of new friends, and we can go to lots of new places." He smiled reassuringly, and then father and daughter boarded their shuttle.

"How the hell could we get any money from that dumb old rock? That's the question you're all asking me right? Well, that's probably what someone said about solar power once, or oil. How could that make us money? It sounds impossible. But they proved it was possible then, and we will prove it is possible now." Applause. It was easy for the shark to lead on his audience. After all, this conference was all about space development, his audience was already invested in turning the solar system into a way to make money. Usually he had to make his pitch to far more skeptical officials of the United Republics. His assistant held his arm and helped him down the steps. His left leg was hurt in a boating accident years ago. The dignitaries from the Makuyami family approached him. They were a famous family of crows, who had made the original investment into colonizing Yu, the smaller of the two moons that circled the world. One of the crows presented him with a small box. "This heirloom has been in our family for generations. It was purchased 2,000 years ago. Until now it has never left the vault upon which it was stored the day of its purchase," the crow explained. His assistant opened it for him. Inside was a small gold medallion, with a ruby in the center. He held it up. "It's beautiful."

The Ibex clutched at the sword that had been forced through her stomach. She slid to the ground, eyes wide in shock. The medallion slid from her paw. The crow stepped on her wrist, she whimpered and clawed at his foot. He picked up the medallion and held it up to the light. "No way any commoner could have afforded that," a well dressed snake said over Makuyami's shoulder. "I agree," Makuyami said, placing the medallion on himself. The snake fingered it, his arms around Makuyami, "why not give it to me? After all, I'm the one who found that Ibex. Plus I'm much prettier." The crow chuckled, "how about I put it in our vault. We can both wear it. It'll belong to the family." The snake kissed his cheek, "I love that idea." They left her there, in a pool of her own blood. She was tired. So so tired. Maybe she should just close her eyes for a minute.

She gasped for breath, emerging from the water. In her hand she held something that could save her family. Her husband had tried to cheat the Imperial soldiers. He had only given them 15% of their crop last year, instead of 20%. This year, because of his attempt to steal, their family owed 50%. She understood why he did it. They had three children, they needed the food. But in saving their children's lives he had also killed them. But no, he hadn't. What her husband called her "useless scrounging," her dives into the ocean coming up with shells and crabs to sell, had saved her. If he had saved her family last year, she saved it this year. They would be able to eat. Able to live.

The ship was on fire. Sailors screamed and jumped overboard. The elderly dragon, weighed down by his ornate clothing, knew he wouldn't be able to swim to shore if the ship went down. "Don't worry father," his son, the prince, put a hand on his shoulder. "We may not have expected the rebels to have this weapon, but victory is still assured." The aged emperor wasn't so sure. Rebel ships launched balls of flame at his armada. On his own flagship, sailors raced to put out the fire. His son droned on about their superiority. Fool! He decided that his son needed to be killed. The younger one would be so much better as heir. The prince began to stutter as a wedge of rebel ships managed to break through the line. They watched as the rebel ship slowly approached. The flagship tried to turn, but it was not fast enough. It crashed into the ship, the jolt knocking the Emperor from his throne. His son and an aide grabbed him under the armpits, lifting him up. "We will get my father to safety," the prince said. They led him to the back of the ship, away from the danger. "Father," his son said, "if you had massacred the rebels at Jumain last year, this disaster wouldn't be happening." He nodded, "the lives of my people are important to me son." His son seemed to mull this over, "won't be to me when I'm Emperor." Then, the prince grabbed his father around the waist, and threw him over the side. The Emperor floundered in the water, failing to stay afloat. That bastard!

"Wait Emperor! I have one more treasure I discovered." The fox reached into his pocket, and from it produced a beautiful medallion. The Emperor relaxed. He wouldn't have to kill the fox after all. He motioned for the fox to bring it over. The Emperor held it up to look at the brilliant ruby in the center. "You will be paid the usual amount," the dragon said. The fox bowed, he had been trembling. This medallion had saved his life. Everything else he had brought back was of no interest to the dragon.

He flicked his tail. What an interesting place. He knew his way around ruins, but this, this was something totally new. Entire villages being made as one building wasn't new, but an entire building made of metal? Whoever had inhabited this place before must have been extraordinary blacksmiths. He entered a new room. He identified one of what these strange people had used for chairs. He sat down in it. These people had made chairs that could rotate. Incredible. He spun around in circles, making himself dizzy. That's when he saw something. An incredibly small drawing, small enough to fit in his paw, and yet, incredibly detailed. He picked it up. It depicted a blue and white avian. He was wearing an extremely bulky set of clothes, and under his arm held an extremely bulky smooth hat. Or was that a helmet? The avian was standing in front of some sort of metal structure. The fox squinted at the drawing. How could so much detail have been achieved? It was as if the artist had exactly replicated their memory of the bird. He set it down, and let his eyes wander. That's when he saw the medallion. Brilliant gold, with a red ruby. He pocketed it. That would sell for a lot. Then, he saw another drawing. A black jaguar, wearing extraordinarily bright clothing. Had avians and mammals lived here together? What a crazy thought. But then again, this was definitely a crazy ruin.