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CHAPTER 5 : Retcans: A noble alien race.

A thick silence engulfed the unlit Command Bridge of a massive alien ship. Only the minor buzzing that came from the control panels broke the serenity of the room. The glass dome- like ceiling permitted the stars to softly flood the room with their light. Sitting at the front of the bridge, in a big throne-like chair, a creature was softly caressed by the dim blue light of a small control panel that stood besides it. Hands together, close to its short muzzle, the furred creature with the noblest stance, sat pensive. Its eyes shined with the reflection of the soft lights of the place.

"Contact me with Titan." The majestic creature ordered. The voice had a very soft and gentle tone, yet somehow it made you feel an immense respect for it.

"As you wish, Captain." Another creature, very similar in appearance followed the orders.

Not two seconds passed, and in what appeared to be a massive glass window in front of the throne-like chair, an image appeared. It was yet another of those creatures.

"Titan. I need the status on the finding that you made." The creature asked. It was now clear that this was the Captain of that ship.

"There is no doubt about it. The huge readings were accurate, though we still need to pinpoint the exact location."

_ _"How much time it would take?"

"Not too much. Probably a couple of hours. We are very close, but the problem is that the target seems to be moving."

_ _"Any idea of what could it be?"

_ _"It is definitely not a ship. It could be an asteroid, or comet of some sort."

"Good. Contact with any intelligent life forms should be avoided at all costs."

"I understand, Captain. I will be cautious."

_ _"I know you will. I trust you like no one else in this ship, Titan."

"Thank you, Silver... Captain."

"There are things I need to check with the D.E Development Team. If things are going as planned, it would be appropriate that they helped us with this."

"I agree with that. I'll get to work right away."

"Thank you, Titan."

The communication was ended. Who were these aliens that knew about our D.E project?

"Bo. Open communications with the D.E Cruiser."

"Right away, Captain Silver."

It was early that day at the D.E Cruiser. Two weeks had passed after I joined the D.E Development Team. Our Captain sat in the bridge, making preparations for that day. Andy woke up very early that day also, and was serving K9 some company.

"I hope you don't mind being up so early. You guys still had two hours left for sleeping, but I required some help."

"Don't worry, K9. I'm always glad to help you." Andy yawned contradicting his statement.

All of the sudden, a small light flashed in the main panel. The main screen at the bridge activated.

"Incoming message, Captain. It's from R105!" Andy adverted.

"I can see that. Open communications." K9 replied. He looked excited and at the same time nervous by the origin of the message.

Immediately, the image of one of those mysterious creatures appeared in the D.E Cruiser's screen.

"Good morning, Captain K9. I was not mistaken when I though you were awake so early this morning." The same creature in the throne-like chair saluted.

"Captain Silver. I'm so glad to see you again." K9 replied courteously.

"Likewise, my Evocanis friend..."

In the screen, a creature with the whitest fur saluted. Its large almond-shaped bluish silver eyes gazed intensely at K9. There was a feeling of mystery behind these creatures, though their appearance was close to what you would expect from a creature of our own characteristics. These were the Retcans; our friends... our saviors. And this was their leader and Captain; a female former Retcan warrior known as Silver.

"I'm calling you because I need status on the D.E Project."

"Yes, Silver. We have made some advances in the tests. We still have a long way to go, though."

"Any new recruits?"

"Yes. A brother Evocanis named Husky. He joined our team a couple of weeks ago. He's young, but very knowledgeable."

"Captain K9, we need to hurry the development of the project. Two D.E Cruisers are almost finished here at my ship's hangar. We need D.E1 to be fully operational with its definitive crew as soon as possible. I know it will be difficult, but by the end of next year, I hope it is done."

_ _"I have faith that it will be possible. For that I need to finish all the necessary tests for this ship and head back to Canis Major to make preparations for the new D.E training. Three friends of mine are working with accommodating a whole Zone Complex to turn it into a training facility for the ones that wish to become part of a Defense and Exploration Squad. "

"We will help you with anything that you need, K9. We also need you to gather the best Engineering Scientists of Canis Major, so my own crew of scientist can train them to build the D.E Cruisers and any other thing that is related to the D.E Project. We want to make sure that your species is able to do all this by your own. You are very capable and intelligent creatures, so I know you will. As for the preparations of the D.E cruiser that you are in right now, the faster that is done, the better."

_ _"I'm aware of that, Captain Silver. Right now the best thing that we can do is get more Evos to help us. I believe that if I have a crew of at least thirty members, we can all work together to complete the development process as soon as possible. I will communicate with Canis Major to persuade more of my brothers and sisters to be part of the D.E Development Team."

_ _"Good, Captain K9. Now, there is another reason why I wanted to talk with you. My scientist team just found something of much importance for us as it is for you."

"I'm listening, Silver."

"First of all, has your team already tested the Wolf500 Fighters?"

"Negative, Captain. I was hoping to get started this week, after finishing other preps."

_ _"I need your team to work on the Wolf500 Fighters as soon as possible. And by that, I mean today." The female Retcan ordered, yet with a very delicate but neutral tone.

_ _K9 was surprised by that. Somehow he was holding the fighter exercises till the last. He probably felt nervous because of how delicate this will be. Andy wasn't saying too much, but he probably was bursting in excitement in the inside.

_ _"K9. How many of your crewmembers are capable of flying the Wolf500 fighters?" Captain Silver asked.

"They all received training in the simulators, though only three of them were very capable of handling these ships. Husky, Fx and this big guy by my side; Anubis. The all got exceptional skills."

"More than enough... Get these three ready. I want them out as soon as possible." Silver ordered. She gazed at Andy, and let out an almost unnoticeable smile, like if she knew how excited Andy was, although he didn't seem a bit.

"Right away, Captain." K9 answered somewhat confused. "But if I may ask..."

K9 was interrupted by Silver. "I do apologize. I never told you the reason. You see, as I was telling you, my scientists have encountered a very powerful source of energy near our current location. We believe that a high concentration of Blue Mineral could be the cause."

Blue Mineral, or Blue Crystals. This is the main energy source for everything that the Retcans use. After restoring Canis Major, adaptations were made to take advantage of this power source as well.

As we know, the entire universe is made from the same ingredients. Some of these ingredients hold very special capabilities. Blue Crystals are actually a common mineral in the universe, and it is known by many civilizations with different names for it. But only with the correct treatment, it can become one of the most powerful and lasting energy sources that the universe has to offer.

By itself, the Blue Mineral is incapable of producing energy. Not until a delicate process that turns it into Blue Crystals is performed. As far as it is known, Retcans are the only intelligent life form that can treat this mineral and turn it in almost perpetual batteries.

Although we have plenty of blue Mineral at our disposition, it is never enough. That is the reason why finding an external source of this mineral is not taken lightly.

"Silver, this is incredible. Could we be of any service to you and your crew?" Although K9 seemed calm, he replied stumbling between words.

"That's why I called you. If we find this source of Blue Mineral, I need your team to help us harvest it. That will be of much help for the D.E Development Team, since it will put to the test all of your equipment. Also it would be perfect for practicing procedures of this kind, if you ever find yourselves in this situation in the future. "

"You can count on us, Captain Silver. I will make the necessary preparations and let you know."

"Easy, K9. I need your team of test pilots to get acquainted with the real Wolf500 fighters first. My scientist team still needs to verify some details about this mineral source. If there is in fact a large source of Blue Mineral, your team will help us with some recon flights before anything else is done. I will let you know."

"Very well. We will get started as soon as possible."

"Good, then. I wish you a good day, K9. We will stay in contact."

Probably for the first time, Retcans and Evocanis would work together in a very important mission. We respect the Retcans so much. Not only because they saved us and taught us everything they know a bout the universe, but because we feel very identified with them. Somehow this feeling is mutual. Reason is unknown, but most likely it is because we are very similar creatures. Even though Retcans are millions of years ahead of us, they are very basic. As the typical mammalian life forms, we share common traits. Retcans have a very similar built than us, being slim creatures with a delicate physique.

They usually don´t weigh more than 120 pounds nor stand higher than 1.70 meters. Their soft and short fur is usually of light colors. They have a relatively large head with a short muzzle, usually half the size of a normal Evocanis. Retcans have very small ears, but are definitely not short of hearing. What impact the most about them are their eyes; large almond shaped eyes gaze at you with a very large iris, with light yet shiny colors. We find Retcans to be very attractive and their presence is very pleasant for some reason. They have confessed they feel the same for us. We understand each other perfectly and somehow share a very special love for each other. We feel that's the reason that we are still together after more than a decade.

"So what should we do now, Captain?" Andy asked. K9 didn't say anything after he ended the conversation with Silver. Much was going through his mind. This would change our whole itinerary.

"Captain?"

"Uh, YES!" He finally reacted. "Go wake the others up. We need to have an urgent meeting. I'll wait for you in the strategy room in ten. GO!"

Without loosing any time, Andy ran to the living quarters to wake us up. He first stopped by the twin's room. Grouchy, not liking the idea of being woken up so early, the Dingoes had no choice but to comply. They fixed their fur quickly, got dressed and headed to the strategy room.

I was dreaming so pleasantly, cuddled up with my baby bro, when the world around me started shaking in chaos. I realized I was in a dream and I just got awaken by our big brown and black friend.

"What is it, Andy?" I said. My voice sounded raspy, and the words seem to come out by reflex rather than me thinking them.

"We are required in the strategy room ASAP. Come on!" Andy looked excited, but very happy. His tail didn't stop moving the whole time.

"What's going on...?" Fx asked. Andy's excitement woke him up. "Gosh... it's 0452..." He said when checking one of our ComPods laying in one of the room's wall compartments.

"Sorry buddies." Andy said, as he gave us a friendly hug. "I know you're all warm and comfy, but K9 needs us. It's VERY important."

We had no choice. Besides, because of the look on Andy's eyes, this was definitely not only important but something that interested us greatly.

Fixed and ready, Fx and I headed to the Main Deck. In the Strategy Room, K9 was waiting for us. Kala and Zulu where already there. Still stretching and scratching our eyes, we greeted our friends.

"Well, crew. First of all, let me apologize for waking you up so early. I promise I'll make it up for you guys. But there is something of much importance that you need to know." K9 seemed very happy. We all wondered what he was up to.

"Let me go right to the point. I just spoke with Silver not ten minutes ago."

Curiosity started to invade our minds. Why would R105's Captain get in contact with us so early?

"We are changing our plans for today. I know we were working with the ship's engines, but that will have to wait. Something important has come up, and we need to start the Wolf500 tests today."

We all looked confused. This was the "such important" thing that Silver told K9 to do? Problem was that we thought we were going to work with the Wolf500 in a mechanical point aspect of it, as that was what we were doing for the last couple of days.

"You don't seem surprised." K9 wondered. "What I meant by tests, is that you will be getting in the Wolf500s and start flight tests."

"We are gong out to space and fly the 500s?" Fx asked for all of us. We were in complete disbelief.

"That is correct. Silver needs you to get acquainted with the Wolf500 fighters as soon as possible. Reason is still unconfirmed, but it is highly possible that our assistance will be needed in a reconnaissance mission."

Speechless, that's how were at that moment. What we were waiting for since we placed paw in the D.E Cruiser for the first time. Of course we weren't D.E defense pilots, but as tester pilots, we would be the first Evos to ever fly a Wolf500. This was the culmination of our dreams as D.E Developers.

"This was coming eventually, and you all know that. You should feel excited." K9 added.

"We are, K9..." I confronted our Captain. "But... I mean, isn't it too soon? Not that I don't have the desire to do it, but..."

"Easy, Husky. You are ready for this. You've have all been trained for it. We are going to take it easy at the beginning, so don't be worried. Now, as for the reason why we are doing this, like I said, it is not confirmed yet. Apparently, the scientist team in R105 has discovered a possible source of Blue Mineral."

We could hardly believe what we were hearing from K9. First the flight tests, now this. The Planning and Strategy room was a mess now.

"Calm down guys, listen carefully..." K9 ordered us. "Like I said, it is not confirmed yet. But if it's true, this cannot be ignored. Taking advantage of the situation, Silver has decided that this would be the perfect occasion to put our tools and procedures to the ultimate test. With that said if later on we are confirmed that this is true, we WILL take part of a possible exploration and recollection mission. Understood?"

We all agreed. This was probably the best experience that we could ever wished for as a Development Team. Fears and doubts aside, we were extremely looking forward for this.

"Ok, then. Before we get started, go and stretch for a while at the gym, have some breakfast and I'll let you know. Team, dismissed!"

"Yes Captain!" We all replied.

That promised to be one of our best days at the D.E cruiser... But little we knew of how really intense things would turn for us in the next days...