Dreams – Chapter 01

He ran along the corridor. His footsteps making soft sounds on the steel beneath his boots. He heard only a faint rustling of fabric behind him. Signaling that his companion was keeping up with him.

"We are nearing the reactor room" came the words in a clear feminine voice.

He gave a slight nod of acknowledgement to her ,and as usual reached forward with his senses. As he concentrated , the previously vague feeling of space and volume around him became sharp and irrefutable.

The steel tunnel appeared in his mind. And further along after a turn there were three armed guards approaching.

„There is three of them coming. All of them armed.”

She turned to him, in her blue eyes a look of calm determination" We can take them down without killing them, try to disable" she whispered.

As they reached the corner they crouched in the the shadows. Laying in wait for the ambush.

Two figures blocked the light coming from the corridor, both large and well armed, human.Clothed in a black fabric with a metallic sheen. Pieces of dull white material protecting the vital areas of the chest, abdomen, and the back. In their hands they held standard army issue carbines.

When the two armed men reached their hiding spot He went into motion, his body surging with fluid power. He dashed towards the nearest one ,his right hand flying toward the soldier's chin. With the blow connecting He felt him fall backwards, his consciousness blinking out before he hit the ground. He turned towards the other , and felt Her slide past him , aiming to go for the straggler.

The surprised soldier hesitated to fire his weapon for a second. That crucial moment sealed the deal. By the time charged metal flew His way, he already shifted under his arms, evading the storm of bullets ,and made a quick strike towards the side of his torso. He felt bone give way as the man growled in pain and collapsed to the ground.

His part done. He focused his gaze further down the corridor. The last fighter was clutching his arm , his carbine fallen to the side. The scent of burnt hair and flesh lingering in the air.

She was a few meters ahead of Him, Her pistol aimed at the crouching man. Calm and collected. Everything was under control.

Then he saw a glint of metal. The cornered man reached for grenade on his belt and pulled the safety.

After a brief moment of silence, fire burst forth as the energy released from the broken vial disintegrated his body and seemed to devour everything around it. The soldier, him , and the walls around them. Until he was left in the dark empty void of space. Deaf and unseeing. And alone once more.

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Thane woke with a start. His mind a whirlpool of worry, confusion and pain. He tried to embrace himself and rub his arms to steady himself. It felt so REAL.

" Just a dream... It was just a dream.." Thane chanted to himself, trying to calm himself. Even while the feeling of danger, the gripping feel of loss still lingered in his mind and body. Seeming to freeze the blood in his veins. With a quick look around himself, he noticed he was in his room, aboard the Albatross, a medium sized trading vehicle currently on its way to Neith, a small celestial object loosely orbiting Venus.

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As his hearth beat started to slow ,his thoughts also began to flow in their natural rhythm. Thane started going trough the dream again. Not a hard task as it was still burnt into his mind, crisp and clear.

Someone moved along a tunnel made of steel , probably a spaceship or a station . There were three guards dressed in military attire and He assaulted them. Unbelievably They were both knocked out seconds after they noticed him.He moved with such frightening speed, his hands almost a blur as he hit the guards. And he felt light. Like his body weighed nothing at all. He could feel everything around Himself, from the cold touch of the steel walls, to the low rasping sound of the carbines , to the presence of the third soldier coming behind the rest.

There was an other person too. A woman...

But no matter how Thane tried ,only a vague feminine shape wielding a pistol came to his mind, along with a new dose of worry, and fear. And some new found shame. He was so fast,. He could have grabbed Her out the explosion's range, but still didn't act in time... And She was gone ... Lost forever. And the stars shined dimmer with the loss.

It was strange. Thane felt these emotions almost as strongly as his own, if not stronger. it wasn't he who moved trough the air like a wisp. Nor was it he who lost a companion in a fiery blaze. Yet they felt close to him, familiar even. He hasn't felt anything so strongly since they left Earth, or what remained of it...

He reached for the picture standing on his cupboard, showing Terra in her former glory. It is one thing to lose the place you call home. It is quite an other if the very ground under your feet falls apart, leaving your whole race fending for it self in the dark abyss of space. In those dark years before the Earth's final collapse humanity took everything they could take from the dying planet and left skyward, forming caravans and colonies in deep space, hoping to find refuge on the planets of the Milky way.

During these nomadic days came the Xir. This closely human specie reached their hand to us first. Giving us refuge in our time of need. We were hopeless. Most already gave up hope, some were on the edge of suicide. The ships were floating in space for 5 years with no end in sight. To them the Xir with their blueish colored skin were messiahs. Our saviors. And for some years that was how it looked too. They gave us supplies and for first time in eons humanity knew it wasnt alone. Our solitude was overshadowed by curiosity. What were these aliens like. They didnt look much different than us at a glance. The Xir were fairly average for human standards. Two legs, two arms , two eyes, a nose. The only piercing difference was the pigment of their skin. It was a a light glacial blue. With the aid of our top linguists and the Xir's unconditional openness, language barriers were soon abolished. That was when the first problem came to light. The Xir word boldo'szolga didnt mean friend or companion as we thought, but vessel or underling.