She let go and brandished a wide smile on her seemingly innocent face.
< It may not seem like it, but I’ve had a long life, and seen many things. Far too much of it witnessing conflict, whether it be from the Endervars or even from within.>
Julian looked at her, skeptical. To him, he was staring at a young woman just entering the adulthood of her life. But in his mind, he sensed the sophistication.
“I have to ask, how old are you really?” he said.
She was not at all surprised by the question.
***
Julian had known other New Terrans before. They were humans like him. Only different. Very different.
Haven was not the only colony mankind had settled following the fall of Old Earth. Historical records claim there were six seed ships that had escaped. Each one traveled in different directions to ensure humanity’s survival.
One of those seed ships had founded the colony that would be known as New Terra. Unlike Haven, its history would follow a different path. The New Terrans would be the first to initiate contact with the powerful Ula race, and then with the Alliance itself. Early on, the New Terrans would involve themselves with the Endervar wars years before the people of Haven had even found their new home.
That involvement had led to many technological breakthroughs for the New Terrans, some of it to extremes the people of Haven had only dabbled in. Not only could they build living bio-ships, but they had even genetically altered themselves to include alien DNA along with their techno-organic implants. People like the specialist Alysdeon were practically immortal and could speak to anyone solely using their mind. They used those abilities to communicate with alien races, as well as their own starships.
Julian toured the commander’s vessel, expecting to find other crew members. But he saw none, the grand hallways all eerily vacant.
The commander explained that there was really no need for any personnel to operate the ship. Like any organism, the vessel could sustain itself. Specialist Alysdeon, however, was constantly linked to the ship’s so-called consciousness. This allowed her to “guide” the vessel with her every thought.
She had taken Julian to the ship’s central core, and half-expected to find a standard energy reactor, built from machinery and quantum particles. But instead, he confronted what was a living organ, contained within a vat of liquid.
He peered at it through a crystalline wall, the so-called brain housed inside the large tank. Julian could hear the organ rumble, and noted the thick veins and tentacles across its shimmering white shell.
The commander fondly touched the crystalline wall. Julian initially thought nothing of it, only to see that her hand had begun to fall into the wall. Eventually, her whole arm sank through. In another step, she was on the other side, immersed in the chamber of alien fluid.
The commander swam through the liquid, and waved back at Julian. Not once did she gasp for air.
Julian was about to place his own hand on the crystalline wall, before he pulled back, afraid of what might happen.
“I envy you,” he said, unsure if she could hear him. “I always wished I had my own ship, to travel the stars.”
The commander nodded, her hair lifted in the lagoon-like water.
< Yes. I am lucky. Unfortunately, I fear that things are changing. Soon, the stars themselves may no longer be safe.>
She placed her hand on the vital
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