While Gregory went back to his place inside the mountain, I grabbed another cup of coffee. I sat on my rocking chair, pondering our conversation. Something doesn't feel right. Why would Joshua send me ahead of an invasion? He knows I wouldn't help but hinder him in anything remotely resembling an armed invasion? The only thing that would make sense is if he sent me here to make a peaceful collaboration. This also implies that he knew something bad was coming for the earth. But why not send people to our many colonies unless something happened to them that the public is not aware of?

Another problem with Gregory's story: why, come in a fleet all bunched together, why not build a base of operations in a nearby system then port an army right onto the planets? If I Can think of this, those battle maniacs could develop a million, far better tactics for a system takeover. Shrugging, beating my head against a wall won't help ill ask my new friend when he returns for more information. I began cooking up a couple of steaks with some mashed potatoes on the side with a plan in mind.

Half an hour later, Gregory walks in after parking some hovering vehicle out front. Sitting down to eat, I notice he didn't bother with the grub this time. Smiling, I eat my own. Between bites, I look to my companion and ask, "what race are you, anyway."

Gregory looks up, swallowing before responding, "Mountain sprite, but other races prefer to call those like me Goblin." Seeing my confusion, he adds, "we sprites come in all colors. There are the sand sprites there, as I'm sure you can guess the same color as the sand. Then we have our forest sprites. There a darker green and live in forests. Mountain sprites are a mix, only paler than both as we live inside mountains mostly, were also shorter than the rest."

"so, where does goblin come in?" I ask.

"The other races didn't enjoy bothering with differentiating us, so they gave us that name, instead of just calling us sprites. because there is another race from the Elven world that has the same name." Gregory explained with an irritated look.

"Okay, interesting... Did the humans attack as soon as they arrived in the system, or do you know?" I ask offhandedly.

"That's an iffy subject, as this took place a very long time ago. I will start with the official version they teach to everyone when young in school. According to history, when the invasion force arrived, someone or something sent a message ahead of the fleet warning of demons bent on claiming all habitable worlds in the galaxy. When the Elven Queen saw the message, she sent out a command. They fought with all the fleets in the system. After a great battle claiming billions of lives, they eventually drove off the enemy fleet's last few ships. Never to see them again."

I raise a hand to pause him. "You mean they never returned, not even to try diplomacy? that seems far-fetched as they would assume you had the capabilities to follow them back."

Glaring at my disruption, he continued. "After the alliance of races spent five hundred years building up our defenses, we left to check out why the invaders never returned, not even to apologize or at least seek to compensate. I'm betting on the greed of Elves in that. Anyway, when we traced the enemy fleet's path back using the captured ship's navigation system, we found a system with no life, just the rest of the original invasion fleet left adrift in space around a gas giant. On the third planet, we found cities that spanned entire continents left empty as if everyone packed up one day and left. When the Queen heard this, she ordered the return of the fleet and confiscation of the rest of the ships as compensation, and we never looked back."

"That's it," I raised an angry gaze. "They took a few ships and left without a single bit of investigation? What if whatever happened to them happens here?"

Gregory scowled as he responded, "Don't blame me or even most races in our system. You need to understand everything is under the Queen's control. We have no right to do as we please. All ships capable of traveling outside the system are in her hands. As well as what they teach to all races."

"Now, the unofficial history passed down in our ancestors' journals." He began again after calming. "According to many of our ancestors, when the Humans came to our system, they never fired a single shot. When the Queen began the assault, they tried to turn and run, but only a few made it. There were also rumors at the time that there were survivors aboard a couple, but as we have not seen them in all this time, I doubt they still live." At this, he looked questioningly at me.

"No, not likely the average lifetime for normal humans is around seventy years," I responded despondently.

"I figured it's close to the same for all our races, but the elves, who as far as we can tell, are immortal unless killed," spat Gregory. "Worse, according to many dwarven engineers, those ships never had weapons. They barely had the necessities to survive the trip."

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I sat in thought for many minutes when it hit me. "You said continent-sized cities, right?"

"Yeah, why do you ask," replied Gregory, confused.

"My world, while the cities were massive, they were nowhere near spanning continents. They may be different people entirely and look similar to mine. Besides that, we had no fleet of ships. We could barely build enough freighters to mine and occasionally send out messages to our colonies."

Gregory thought for another moment before nodding. "Makes sense. I, for one, have never heard of someone time-traveling using a portal. But so what that doesn't help us figure out where you're from."

"No, it doesn't, but it gives me a chance I might find my way home, plus I, unlike your queen, am very much interested in those abandoned worlds and what happened there. What do you say, want to explore the galaxy with me, or at the very least learn what might have happened to that race? I believe you all owe it to them, as when they came to your people for help, you destroyed their only hope of salvation."

Taking the last piece of his steak, Gregory stared at my face for several minutes, thinking. When I thought he would get up and leave, he grinned and said, "sure, let's go explore the Galaxy. But I insist we check out that abandoned system on the way, as you say we could have helped."

I was about to offer my hand to shake. When we could hear clapping from outside, and a voice said, "good, I like the sound of that. I never agreed with mother's policy in all that."

We both froze at those words, and a moment later, a tall Elven man opened the door and stepped inside.

The Elf was seven feet tall, had pale wheat-colored hair he kept closely cropped, and a sword at his waist that looked more ceremonial than practical. When he spoke, it was in a casual, friendly way, "Gregory, my apologies, I wasn't aware you had a guest."

Shrugging at the interruption, I stand and offer my hand to the man, "Names Slate Collins, please have a seat," as I wave at a small sofa nearby.

"Jarlen Greenleaf," he said as he accepted my hand then sat down on the sofa. "I am going' to be blunt I want to go with you. The Elven court is a bunch of tyrants using their power to keep all the other races under their thumbs, and my mother is not any better. However, I don't have any authority in the military, so how do you plan to get a ship?"

I should not entirely trust him after what Gregory has told me. I asked, "You just conveniently visited Gregory today?"

Jarlen laughed, "no, the system scan showed a surge of power in this area, and since I Am known to visit this area from time to time, I offered to check it out. I assumed Gregory was blowing up an experiment again, but it was so much more interesting."

"Before you ask, yes, I'm a prince, and yes, what Gregory said earlier about what his ancestors wrote is far closer to the truth. What nobody knows about is the visitor that came to the Queen before the fleet's arrival. Demanding we destroy them as soon as they arrive. To make his point, the entity for it was too powerful to be a mere mortal destroyed a city on our world with barely a flick of his finger." Added the Prince.

"What did this entity offer for this service?" I asked.

"They would leave our system alone when he returned to claim his Galaxy. The Queen doesn't believe that, but the council keeps her under check, so she tries nothing they would consider reckless and anger our future overlords. Don't assume she cares about what they plan for the rest of the inhabitants of our galaxy. Because I guarantee she doesn't. She didn't even bat an eye at the abandoned system or the slaughter of the defenseless refugees. Even the survivors she put to the sword as soon as they finished questioning them." Replied the prince in disgust.

Shrugging, I say, "your Queen or races' moral compass doesn't matter to me, nor does events millennia in the past. However, a future threat does, and finding out the why is just as important as the how. Were these people a threat to them? For instance, that's what the Queen should have asked herself long ago before agreeing to his conditions. For all she knows, those refugees could have helped you all to become an empire strong enough to rival the ones threatening your galaxy."

Both the sprite and the elf looked at me, confused. "You mean our Galaxy, right.?"

"No, while I find time travel completely bonkers, there is enough evidence to suggest overlapping dimensions, or possibly I shifted all the way to a different Galaxy entirely." I explain, "Although that massive planet almost entirely covers that night sky, my A.I. has mapped what stars it can, and it can't identify a single one or grouping for that matter."

At this explanation, they both gape at me, "so you're like a super alien," Gregory said with a grin causing the prince to roll his eyes.