FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"One month," echoed Lucien's voice. Olivia was resting in her dark dorm, pondering over his decision to leave her people behind. Waiting a month just to make contact with the UDAS was far more time than she anticipated. Even though the nearest outpost is more than two lightyears away, she knew the journey was taking too long. It's already been two weeks.

Light poured in her room, attracting her attention but it was only Oliver walking in. "Why do you insist being in the dark?" he asked, activating the room's lights with a wave of his claws.

"Less distractions," muttered Olivia. "Were you on the bridge again?" Ever since they left their planet on the shuttle and docked this ship, Oliver has been acting much more enthusiastic than she's seen in years. Although the ship was small, slow and outdated, no one on their planet has been on ship for over a hundred years and Oliver was delighted to explore and learn more about space travel.

"Yes," answered Oliver. He sat on his bunk on the opposite wall. "They're not hiding anything from us. I know we're not on course and we're headed to another several systems first before we rendezvous with the UDAS. I still can't figure out why we're searching these other systems though."

"It doesn't concern us," Olivia mentioned. She stood and paced the room.

"You've been questioning this journey again," Oliver stated, it was not a question.

"Even if we're able to persuade the UDAS, how we will help our people? They will refuse us because of the stories, and most will fight. It'll only lead to another war."

"I doubt the furs will agree to another war. I am glad to hear that you've decided to attempt to help our people at the very least."

Olivia continued to pace the room, her mind racing. Someone of her race probably hasn't entered UDAS territory since the Third Banished War that left billions dead on both sides. Her ancestors attacked them without provocation, nuked civilians cities, destroyed the capital world and polluted their resources. Her doubts have been multiplying during the long journey. Will the UDAS really be so diplomatic to see someone of her furless race? Her father certainly wouldn't, even if he had less of a claim for vengeance.

"What of the crew?" she asked Oliver suddenly. "Do they worry about us?"

"Not that I can tell," replied Oliver. "They seem confident that we can be left alone without supervision. Why?"

"It's strange that most of the crew is female," Olivia answered. "There's few males on the ship, and they're all rather young. I'd like to learn more about their organization and what their agenda is."

"That's one thing that won't less us search freely," Oliver said. "In all honesty I don't think they know what their agenda is either. I often feel as if we're only some type of experiment to them."

"We might be. Can you take me to the bridge, Oliver?"

With a nod, he stood and walked out of the dorm with his sister following. Walking through the rusty metallic halls, the two salamanders passed very few other passengers or crew members. Indeed most of them were female since they only passed one male but they were all armed with some type of a weapon. But they too were armed with their steel swords.

Arriving the bridge, they found Lucien sitting in the commanding chair staring at a view screen filled with text. Once she noticed the two salamanders entering, she stood and bowed. "Prince and Princess Theta, welcome to the bridge. I didn't expect the princess would be paying me a visit."

"Thanks Lucien," said Olivia. "I figured since I'll be on this ship for another couple weeks, I'll explore it a little."

"By all means," said Lucien. She's been more friendly since they left the planet but there was still a coldness to her. " Have a seat. If you wish to gaze upon the stars, I shall open the blast shield for you."

"No thanks," replied Olivia. She sat in one of the officer's chair. They were all vacant. Wherever this ship was scavenged from, it was obvious it is long past its prime. "I'm curious though. How long would it have taken us if we headed straight to the outpost?"

"About three weeks," Lucien answered impassively, swiveling in her chair. "We're not going much out of the way of your trip. We only have a couple things to investigate on the way then we'll drop you off at your rendezvous."

"Can I ask what it is your investigating?" Olivia asked.

"No."

"Very well. Why are we investigating these systems?"

"She believes there is something of interest in them, so we are investigating," answered Lucien. "That is all you need to know."

"Who is 'she'?"

"Listen," said Lucien seriously, leaning forward in her chair. "I know you're curious and you want this trip to be over with but remember that we are not serving you. We are not in your debt. You are in ours. We will tell you what we think you need to know and that is all."

Olivia didn't respond until Lucien relaxed back in her chair. She was right, the salamanders weren't paying any kind of compensation to this organization.

"How long until we reach the next system?" asked Oliver, breaking the silence.

"Not for another couple days," said Lucien. "It's about a quarter of a lightyear away but we're traveling as fast as this ship can go. We will only be there for about a day before he head straight to the UDAS outpost."

"What can I expect from them?" Olivia asked.

"I honestly don't know," Lucien answered and turned back to her terminal. "I'll send all the information that's stored in the ship's database to the terminal you're sitting at."

Oliver walked over to his sister, and slowly typed a few commands into the computer. Olivia has yet to use a computer but Oliver has been studying them for the past two weeks. Several files appeared the onscreen discussing the wars and historical figures that both civilizations have shared a long with dozens of philosophy files concerning the Velmarian population.

Reading, Olivia grew fascinated with the documents that directly contradicted everything she's been taught about the wars, and confirming her own suspicions about her ancestors and the wars, down to the very first and the banishment itself. Stubborn as her ancient ancestors were, they refused to the accept the alliance proposed when life was discovered on multiple planets in their original system. They even caused a war because of their ignorance but they were defeated and banished to a planet that took several years to travel to.

Every war that followed was a result of Olivia's ancestors ignorance and pride, but each war ended with a crushing defeat pushing her people further back in technological and philosophical levels. Down to the very last when the UDAS crippled their space travel abilities and cut all contact with them.

An alarm sounded while Olivia was reading a document titled "Reestablishing Diplomacies with the Banished". She didn't realize how much time had passed but it was now several hours later and Lucien was typing furiously at her terminal.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I don't know," answered Lucien. A view screen came to life at the nose of the bridge but only stars could be seen. "It's a proximity alert. There's another ship nearby. This might be what we're looking for but it's too far from the system."

The cheetah typed in more commands until the ship slowed down enough to travel at slower than light speeds. Still only stars were on the screen.

"All officers, report to the bridge immediately," Lucien commanded over the intercom. Olivia stood from her seat to stand next to her brother. They watched the view screen, searching for any sign of another ship. More crew members arrived on the bridge and took their seats at several terminals around the perimeter of the bridge.

The screen suddenly zoomed in, and the rough image of what looked more like an asteroid than a ship came into view. Long dark tentacle-like limbs were spreading out from it, wriggling in space.

"What the hell is that?" Lucien demanded. "Why did it show up as a ship?"

"Readings show a thermal signature and the asteroid is not following any straight path," answered one of the crew members. "It keeps changing course like it's reacting to our presence. It knows we're here!"

The ship and asteroid drifted closer together. Lucien's crew scanned everything available on the unique asteroid but it was drifting too close.

"Keep your distance," cautioned Lucien. While their ship changed course, the asteroid did the same. It continued to drift closer. More details started to come into view now, and they all realized it wasn't an asteroid at all. The tentacles were part of a larger body that covered most of an exotic spacecraft. "What the hell is it?"

"It almost look botanical that overgrew on the ship," suggested one of the officers.

"No organic life form can survive the void like that," commented another but she immediately returned to her terminal. "Something is breaking off. It's coming straight for us!"

"Fire all defense lasers," commanded Lucien without hesitation. Nothing was seen on the screen and the projectile didn't flinch at all.

"No effect! Impact in ten seconds."

"Evasive maneuvers," yelled Lucien gripping her seat. "Destroy that projectile anyway you can!"

Several projectile based weapons fired at the oncoming projectile but even with direct hits, it was not destroyed or altered course. It disappeared from the screen.

"Two seconds. One-"

The ship shuttered violently followed by a dull thud and groan. The salamanders were nearly thrown to the ground.

"Get us out of here," Lucien ordered. "Evacuate any affected areas and seal them off."

"The engine room was hit!" informed one of the officers. "We can't run or risk losing the ship."

"Two dead confirmed," reported another officer. "Hull was not breached but several compartments collapsed under the impact."

"Damn it," yelled Lucien. "Where is the ship?"

"Still on an intercept course."

"Fire all weapons," she commanded. "Destroy it! Get repair crews to the engine room immediately."

A couple of the crew members on the bridge left at the order. The crew was small, and many of them had multiple tasks to perform throughout this voyage.

Missiles appeared in the view screen, headed straight for the strange ship. Several crude projectiles also followed the missiles and impacted upon it, but to little affect. When the missiles drew closer, the tentacle limbs reached out and swatted them like flies. They exploded on impact but only caused minor damage to the ends of those limbs.

"Incoming another projectile!"

The ship shuttered more violently than the time before, throwing several crew members to the ground including the salamanders. Oliver landed roughly on his paws and gasped in pain, spraining it.

"Boarding parties has been sited in the engine room Lucien!"

"How?"

"They must have hitched a ride on the missiles and somehow survived the impact. I'm losing contact with all crews in that compartment. They're losing!"

"Is the ship going to be taken?" asked Olivia, helping her brother back to his hindpaws.

She was ignored while Lucien sat quietly and thought for a moment. "Turn the ship around and engage in a direct collision course. We're abandoning the ship. Princess Theta, I'd suggest you take your brother to the shuttles."

Without another word, Olivia led Oliver from the bridge and for the launch bays. Another alarm sounded, signaling to abandon ship. Muffled gunfire could be heard from several corridors but she did her best to avoid any firefight. Before they arrived at the launch bays, Lucien returned with most of her officers.

"Hurry," she insisted, pushing pass them and leading on with her gun at the ready. "The ship is going to crash into the enemy in one minute."

"Will that stop them?" asked Oliver, following the best he could.

"I've programmed the autopilot to engage it's docking ramps and self-destruct once they're engaged," answered Lucien without even glancing back at them. "Hopefully it will destroy the ship because we're not going very far in those shuttle crafts."

By the time they reached the hangar, the firefights were already threatening to spill in. Several personnel were on the other side, firing down a corridor with similar projectiles being returned. No one in Lucien's group could see the enemy, and no one really wished to do so either.

"Get in," commanded Lucien opening a shuttle craft door.

The team obliged, with Olivia and Oliver entering first. It was the same shuttle craft that they left the planet on. Lucien was last to enter and she closed the hatch behind her. One of the personnel was already making herself comfortable behind the controls while she activated the engines. In the front blast shield, another shuttle could be seen leaving already.

The shuttle rocked violently as the ship took another hit. Engines were at full power and the shuttle jumped toward the exit, free of all docks. Just as they passed through, Bridging Albatross crashed into the enemy ship, lurching the hangar upward causing the floor to smash into the bottom of the shuttle.

Roughly spinning, the shuttle managed to leave the ship but not unscarred. The pilot could be heard swearing while she fought for control and attempted to flee the ship as quickly as possible.

Olivia glanced out the rear view screen. Another shuttle left the ship, but it was badly damaged. The strange tentacles could be seen wrapping themselves around the Albatross while it's docking gear attached itself to the enemy ship as well. The Albatross was easily twice the size of the enemy ship. Fire blossomed along the hull of the ship, several compartments exploding violently until the ship disappeared silently in a bright illuminating light.

The light faded, and debris and smoke could be seen spreading out from every direction. The enemy ship still intact, but badly damaged.

"Damn it!" cursed Lucien, watching the scene as well. "Those engines were nuclear based. How did that damn ship survive?"

"It's moving off," mentioned the pilot with more relief. "Probably to repair itself."

"Send out a distress signal," ordered Lucien. "And tell the other shuttles to report who is on their ship. I want to know who is still alive. Let's hope help finds us before they decide to return."