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** CHAPTER 43** The Ophiuchus

The grey furred alien slowly recovered consciousness. Still trapped between being asleep and awake, he started to grasp reality as all the memories of what had happened to him and his brother the past weeks came back. He finally managed to come to his senses and opened his eyes.

When did I fell asleep?

Looking at his surroundings, Zonda noticed that the arid place was no more.

Where am I?

Feeling his body, he felt his soft fur being as clean as it was used to. No more parasites, no more blood and dirt; just the fresh scent of citrus fruits.

Covering his body, he felt a thick sheet just as comfortable as the ones that he remembered from home. He slowly took it off and decided to walk and examine this intriguing place.

As he stood up from the bed, he felt how his body started to cry of pain. As his wounds pounded, the memories of how they were inflicted returned. But still, he had problems putting together all the events that took him to that place.

It hurts. He thought. But his wounds were treated well as he confirmed by the freshly clean bandages.

"Alpha?" He called for his brother. The place had this well known thick silence, and the pressure in his eardrums made him realize he was probably under an artificial atmosphere. Walking around the cold but cozy room, he encountered himself with a mirror. Looking at himself he saw that he was dressing a strange outfit.

"'Adidas'... What does this mean?" He said, as he recognized the language in which the letters in his outfit were written. "Am I in a ship?" he asked himself again as he noticed pure blackness coming from the windows around him. Walking towards it, he noticed space and a light brown planet below. That must be the hellish place where he and Alpha crash landed some time ago.

"You are finally awake, little one." A female voice said behind him. Zonda turned to face who had spoken to him and saw a female human. He didn't recognized her, and felt a bit defensive.

"Calm down, Zonda." she spoke to him again as she approached the Retcan slowly.

"How do you know my name? Where are we?" Zonda demanded. He didn't sense any hostility in this human that appeared to be of the same kind of Mayra Morrison.

"Relax, sweetheart. You are onboard the Ophiuchus. This ship belongs to Eagle of Freedom's defense fleet."

"Eagle of Freedom..." Zonda uttered. The name felt so familiar. "I'm sorry if I'm confused, but..." The Retcan seemed dazed as he held his head and tried to put the pieces together. But suddenly, someone very familiar to him entered the room very excited.

"Zonda, my friend!" an orange furred creature seemed so happy to see him awaken.

"Ginetta," Zonda said. A smile of relief could be seen in his face. He didn't doubt a second to greet Ginetta with a warm hug. "What's going on here?"

"You've been unconscious for close to eight days in that planet's time." Ginetta explained too much shock of Zonda. "Many things have happened, my friend."

"Your friend here has taken so much care of you, Zonda. Your kind is very lucky." The human said.

"I've been treating your wounds, and taking care of your heart condition. Thanks to Morrison's friends, their equipment and medications, you are now ok." Ginetta said. Zonda could see a spark of life in Ginetta's eyes like he never saw before. "I gave you a bath too. I didn't know your fur was almost white behind all those blood stains and dirt." Ginetta smiled in such a friendly way.

"Morrison's friends," Zonda said. He had walked back to his bed and sat on it. "Now I understand why that name was familiar."

"You lost consciousness shortly after we were taken to a refuge in the city itself that same day that we were saved." Ginetta explained. "The plan that Emperor Ullas had thought of worked and within a couple of days most of Turann's army deserted, surrendered or fell. Morrison, Alpha and part of Ulla's army managed to regain control of the castle. Emperor Ullas gave us a chance to use his communicator device, and Morrison contacted her friends."

"I wasn't able to contact my brothers" Ginetta continued. "I don't know how to reach them. But it doesn't matter, I will find a way."

"What about Alpha; did he managed to contact our brothers?" Zonda asked.

"Something happened, Zonda." Ginetta said.

This worried Zonda a bit because he hadn't seen his brother since he woke up.

"Alpha said that he needed to recover something called the ComPod in the place where that man called Feastus lived. He was accompanied by Morrison and two other soldiers to that house and managed to find the device. But..."

"What? Where is Alpha?" Zonda demanded.

"That man called Feastus appeared out of the nothing. He had a gun and opened fire, apparently direct to Alpha."

"No, where is my brother?" Zonda yelled. He feared the worst.

"I'm sorry, Zonda. I didn't explain myself. You see, this language is difficult for me. Alpha is fine, but unfortunately the bullet hit the ComPod, shattering it to pieces."

"Your brother is down in the planet in search for your ship, Zonda." the human interrupted. "He's with my friends, so don't worry. We need the core of your ship's systems so we can adapt it to one of our ships that we are giving you. That way you will manage to return home."

Everything made sense, but Zonda was still confused of what was going on there. The human told Zonda to walk with her around the ship and explain the situation better.

Everywhere they went, he saw humans. They were not like Harena Sanguis humans, but held the same clean appearance that Morrison had.

"I know it's kind of loose." The human told Zonda when she noticed that his pants were starting to fall. "Those old clothes were the smallest we found; still, too big for your anatomy."

"It's ok. Tell Adidas that I thank him for his kind offer. It's better than having those dirty and shattered pieces of suit."

"Oh, that's... don't worry sweetheart."

Zonda, Ginetta and the human made it to the hangar of the large ship. There, Zonda noticed a large number of fighter ships and other assault vehicles. This was not a defense ship; it was more a war ship.

"Let me ask you a question," Zonda said in a serious tone. "Where are you from?"

"Let me answer that." A voice was heard from behind them. There, Morrison, a group of other humans and a grey furred creature with red eyes stood.

"You're back!" The other human said.

Zonda ran towards Alpha who just stood there with his eyes flooding in tears. Both Retcans held each other in the sweetest and warmest hug they've ever given each other. Their warrior title didn't care anymore.

"For a second I feared that something had happened to you." Zonda said as he buried his muzzle in Alpha's fur.

"You are ok, brother." Alpha whimpered.

It was a heart warming moment. Both Retcans not only hugged because they were glad to see each other, but because they knew that their ordeal was finally over.

"Earth," Morrison responded to Zonda's questioning. A few minutes had passed and they all sat in a lounge. Morrison finally explained the situation.

"Earth!" He said surprised. "I knew it! When in the cell you told us that we looked like wet puppies. 'Puppies' is a word that we've heard..." Suddenly, Zonda stopped in his tracks. He didn't want to reveal not only that their pioneers once came across with early inhabitants of Earth during their journeys, but where they had heard that word before.

"We are not exactly from Earth, you see." Morrison continued. "We are independent, sort of speech." Morrison took a sip of a strange fragrant dark beverage.

"Earth saw days of peace once, but our nature wouldn't let it last for long. It didn't take time until soulless bastards started controlling everything. Governments started to appear again, thirsty of power."

"But some people didn't want to put up with this anymore." Morrison continued. "Their ancestors had worked so hard to free the world from religion, politics and many obsolete beliefs that harmed not only our society, but out planet."

The Retcans and Ginetta listened very carefully. This was something they didn't understand. The Retcans did have a better understanding of other societies, especially those of the unfurred ones, but they still had a hard to understand their ways.

"Fighting would be useless." Morrison continued. "We had fought for millennia just to manage not even two centuries of peace. We have had it." She said. She had another sip of the beverage before continuing. Some other humans sat close, listening to the story that they knew very well.

"I know that we humans are evil, but in Earth there are others who are at least conscious and follow a path of logic, peace and understanding. In secrecy, for many decades, a group of these humans started looking for others who shared these ideologies of peace and logic, forming a massive army. But their purpose was not to fight."

"Forming a new society," Morrison said with some pride in her words. "Bringing back peace; we knew we couldn't manage to do that in Earth, so at least we would find some other place to do it."

Morrison asked for a controller that manipulated a screen in that lounge. She showed the Retcans their plans, and how they ended up in space. All their purposes, their technology and old archives where shown to them.

"Some scientist from our liberation group heard of rumors that our plan was not something new. In the past, another group of humans worked in secret to desert from Earth." Morrison said as she went through some pictures of ships and other things. "Apparently, they had built a series of space colonies that they would board eventually and flee to space in them. They were never used as Earth finally came to peace."

"What they didn't know is that this peace wouldn't last." A large man said.

"But still, this was just a rumor; a mere legend." A woman added.

"The scientist in our group managed to decipher these plans, and that lead us to a dwarf planet in our solar system." Morrison said. "In this planet, the mysterious group was supposed to have a secret engineering outpost where they built these colonies. What we found there shocked us."

Showing pictures of the surface of this rocky dwarf planet, there appeared to be reminiscent of activity. Zonda and Alpha watched very closely, as these revelations were starting to tell them something very important.

"There was indeed an old engineering outpost there. But that place seemed to have been abandoned for so long that there was little that could tell us what happened there. But then, we managed to find an old computer that still had its core intact. That was what finally revealed the truth to us." Taking another sip of the sweet smelling beverage, Morrison showed what appeared to be some old blueprints for strange, apparently massive ships.

"This is what we found. These blueprints depict what appear to be massive colony ships. Our scientists concluded that these ships were possible to built, and surprisingly enough, some appeared with a 'completed' status. Ursa Major, Pegasus, Orion, Scorpio, Draco, Canis Major and Canis Minor; within others that shared the name with constellations and important stars from our galaxy. These ships were apparently finished, but there was no physical evidence of this."

The fur in the Retcan's arms, neck and back puffed up because of the breath-taking revelation from the human. They both looked at each other without saying a word when they realized the finding that they had just made. But they couldn't just tell the humans that they knew of a massive colony ship called Canis Major. They needed to confirm the facts. It could be a coincidence.

"Because of the sheer size of these ships, it was impossible that they were populated and left without Earth authorities knowing it. Getting out of the planet was already a dangerous and difficult task for a small group of maybe ten or twenty. Such a massive exodus would have been noticed and stopped." Morrison affirmed.

"But that didn't matter to us anymore." She continued. "What mattered is that we could use these blueprints to build a new colony for our group. My great grandparents were still children when Project Aquila started, and as they grew up waiting for its completion, they prepared alongside others for the future battle that would await them. New Earth authorities wouldn't let us flee that easy. When the ship was done, my great grandparents were around twenty years old. Project Aquila was ready be boarded. We baptized it as Eagle of Freedom."

More pictures scrolled through the screen. They started to reveal what appeared to be a gruesome battle between Earth's humans. The Retcans were more shocked by the confession of not seconds ago, so they really didn't pay attention to these pictures. Could it be that Evocanis were really linked to Earth as they always suspected? But if this was true, then why was it apparently unknown to these humans.

"Diplomacy didn't work," Morrison explained. "Earth leaders wouldn't let our new society leave the planet. They were hungry for power without the slightest regret for other's lives. For them, if we left, that would mean that their power would be sensed as weak and just an option to follow. They needed to maintain the status quo; be the only power. Besides, this would mean that others would try to flee Earth as well, and what good would be for them if there was no one to control? Of course, we wouldn't let just any ordinary human join our society."

"The war lasted for almost ten years," a man said. "Many were lost; others sacrificed themselves and stayed behind to serve as decoys. But at the end, Earth forces decided that it was a waste to continue fighting and they let us go. It was a great victory for Eagle of Freedom."

"We have been in space for three generations already." Morrison said. "So far, everything has gone well for us, until a few months back in our current time. Earth forces have seemed to be hunting for us. Apparently our ideologies have inspired many others in Earth and that's no good for Earth's leaders. They want to fight us again and kill us all to prove their point."

The screen was turned off and Morrison looked at both Retcans to the eyes.

"That's why we can't help you get home for now. This ship needs to head back to Eagle of Freedom and fight off those imbeciles that try to ruin our peace."

"Zonda," a man said. "We have been preparing a ship for you."

"Yes brother," Alpha added. "We just came from Harena Sanguis and recovered Pioneer001's core. That will help us get to R105."

"Yeah, I heard what happened to the ComPod." Zonda said, remembering what he was just told about the situation with Feastus.

"As for Ginetta," Morrison said. "We will find a way to get you back home, but right now we need to take care of some priorities, so you are welcome to stay in Eagle of Freedom in the meantime."

"That won't be necessary." Zonda said seriously. He approached Ginetta and placed his hand-paws in the orange alien's. "Ginetta, I want you to come with Alpha and me."

Ginetta's eyes opened wide. Zonda's proposal was the most beautiful thing he has heard so far after all the suffering that he went through.

"Look, I don't know how long it will take us to find your home planet, but in the meantime, you deserve to be at least with furred creatures like you. You will be respected, taken care of very well and even loved by our kind. I give you my promise."

"Really?" Ginetta responded in awe.

"Yes, my friend." Alpha added.

"I would be honored. I mean, I don't want to cause any problems to you." Ginetta responded, stumbling within words.

"Don't say that, Ginetta. We want you with us. It's were you belong right now. I humbly ask you to come with us." Zonda continued.

Ginetta didn't respond. He just held on to Zonda and assented with his head. The orange alien was so happy that this ordeal had ended for him. This nightmare was finally over.

A few hours after, Zonda managed to eat something and recovered from his week slumber. Alpha got to relax a little bit before continuing his works in the ship. Adapting Pioneer001's core to the human's transport ship wasn't easy, but with collaboration between Alpha and the human engineers, they managed to do it within hours. The ship had been fitted with enough supplies for at least two months of travel. It would be risky, but if the tracking protocol saved in Pioneer001's core worked well with the human's ship navigational systems, that would lead them to R105 or Canis Major within just a few days.

Almost at 11pm in the human's time, the ship was finished. With Emperor Ullas finally in command of his city and the humans not having anything to do in that planet anymore, it was time for the Retcans and Ginetta to part away from that solar system that once threatened to become their grave.

The three of them were given last moment indications before they left. Morrison stepped forward and spoke with the three of them for the last time.

"I would never guess that one day these little furred aliens with their serious stare would appear out of the nothing and helped me free myself from that hell that I endured for so many years. And Ginetta, your brave effort despite all that you suffered from that scum; even though you are such a fragile and tender natured creature, you risked everything. Because of you three not only we are alive, but that whole city was saved from that tyrant."

"We did what we had to do." Zonda replied. "Without you it wouldn't be possible, Mayra Morrison."

"We, the citizens of Eagle of Freedom owe you big time, Retcans and Ginetta."

"Before we go, I want to say something," Zonda said. "Before what happened these past days, we Retcans always held a grudge against humans; unfurred ones as we call them. But we've learned that not all of you are evil. Even thought there will be things that we don't agree with your kind, it is very refreshing to know that there are truly intelligent, self-conscious and righteous individuals within your kind. Retcans will always remember this and we will be forever grateful."

"My race, the Lepidus will know of this as well." Ginetta added. "I know that you always cared for me, Morrison. I could feel that. And I thank you for that."

"Whatever your fight is, we wish you luck. I hope that your kind changes their ways someday." Alpha also spoke.

"Thank you for your wishes, my furred creatures. I will never forget our interactions. Meeting you was the most special thing that has happened to me so far and I will hold this moment in my memories forever." Morrison said. She shook hands with both Retcans and the Lepidus.

There was nothing more to say, so the three furred aliens boarded the ship and prepared to depart from Ophiuchus. One of the hangar's sub gates opened and waited while the ship taxied through the runway as it sealed off and pressurized.

The humans continued their duties as if nothing ever happened, but one of them, Mayra Morrison, hid a tear that escaped one of her blue eyes.

"The tracking system is working fine. We have a faint signal of Canis Major's current location." Alpha said as he pushed a lot of buttons and moved some levers. "I've made some calculations and we will require doing two separate jumps before reaching our target."

"You are the pilot, brother. I trust you." Zonda said as he sat down in the co-pilot's seat. Ginetta just kneeled in between the two seats, enjoying the front view.

Something happened while they approached the exit gate. A great sensation filled the three of them; that very pleasant feeling in the pit of their stomach caused by the emotion of knowing that they were finally leaving all those gruesome memories behind. A sense of freedom; a sense of peace.

"Systems check," Alpha confirmed. The ship finally made it through the sub-gate into a massive decompression chamber. Soon, another gate opened before them. The endless ocean of stars awaited.

"Are you two ready? It's going to be a long flight, but I hope it's a pleasant one." Alpha smiled at both Zonda and Ginetta. Their hearts pounded in excitement.

"Whenever you are ready, Captain Alpha." Zonda replied.

"Since when you decided to demote me, General?" Alpha asked playfully.

"Since you are in charge of taking this ship home, smart eyes." Zonda replied also with a playful tone and a smile, despite his deep tone of voice. "Tell you what; you take us home, and I'll make you Vice General."

"Nah, I rather have my Major badge back."

Both laughed as the USS Ophiuchus became smaller and smaller behind them.

"Well guys," Alpha said as he went through some commands in the ship's control panel. "Grab on to your seats. Ginetta, please have a seat and adjust your strains. This might be a bumpy ride."

After a few seconds, there was a strange colorful aura surrounding the small transport ship. From the nose of it, a beam shot into the darkness of space, opening a wormhole a few kilometers away. Slowly, the ship gained speed as it approached it. Soon, warp speed was achieved and the ship with the three furred aliens disappeared into the perpetual darkness of space.