Alex looked around the busy terminal around him. When the Phoenix had docked and the Orbital shipyard extended its umbilical gantry to the hull, the entire gate was swarmed with the family members and friends of the crew. Over time the crowd thinned out until nobody was left near the umbilical's connecting the ship aside from the Military Police guarding the entrance. The gate sealed itself behind for security reasons behind vacuum proof blast proof doors. Alex sat beside his duffel bag on a hard plastic bench watching commuters walk to their intended destination while he waited for his shuttle to take him back planetside. He stared out into the starry void beyond the window before turning to look at the ship he called his own; Its geometric arrow shaped prow gave it a sleek figure which had been ruined by the rest of its blocky design.
Growing bored of staring at others finally had settled in Alex’s mind after some time, prompting him to pick up his bags and peruse through the duty-free shops nearby to ward off the boredom until he heard his departure call. One such shop nearby sold various travelling items ranging from sun glasses to band-aids and aloe Vera gel and first aid items. Methodically scanning the displays until he caught his eye on something worthwhile. One pair of glasses said they were designed as Polaroids and could filter out most of the UV spectrum under intense situations. Around him he could faintly hear the sound of murmurs being voiced with a guttural expression which stood out among the background noise. Alex was quick to place the glasses quickly back where they belonged after seeing the price tag attached, it felt like being with it any longer would suck the money from his account dry.
He took one step backwards before turning around and colliding with the beefy leg of a large creature with scales and a barrelled chest of a majestic beast. Alex looked up to see the base of the neck split itself into multiple stalks each with a head on it; crowned with two sets of ivory horns that had ornate decorative patterns etched onto them, the ears were very much shaped like the horns above them; long and pointy, aiming towards the creature’s rear and eyes a bright shade of yellow. Alex blushed with embarrassment as he rotated eye contact with each head. The polycephalic creature looked down at him with each head sporting a different expression. Two were embarrassed, another two seemed to be indifferent as though this was barely an inconvenience and the last one seemed unreasonably angry. The dark brown scales on its body made the creature stand out against the grey and silver colour scheme of the orbital spaceport while its belly sported a dull brown grey tone which ended underneath each chin.
Shit!” Alex cursed. “I am so sorry about that.”
“It is alright, human, we were absent minded,” The central head spoke. “Pardon me, but would you be willing to assist us? We are struggling to find our way around this spaceport, this being our first-time off Terra and we have no idea where to find our gate.”
“He knows nothing, look at him, he couldn’t even give us the decency of watching where he steps, Let's hurt him!” The far-left head spoke.
“Quiet, Omega!” another head sneered.
The central head looked back towards Alex before speaking again. “I am sorry about him. Our name is Rayaz’Iklan, I am Alpha. My Similar here is Omega'' he pointed to the far-left head. The creature sported five heads as all Hydrans were known for. The central head being Alpha with the closest right head being Beta, closest to the left being Gamma. Far left was Omega and Far right was Theta. Hydran physiology was taught alongside many other species physiologies in school. Alex recalled that each Head represented a particular aspect: Alpha’s typically were calm and collected, often acting in control of the body. Betas were more logistical thinkers and were renowned for being well spoken. Gammas were known for being shy and introverted but were the outlet for creativity. Thetas were known for suffering from extreme cases of overly cautious, paranoia, hypochondria. Omegas were the outlet for anger, frustration and rage.
“We are a counsellor,’ Rayaz’Iklan Alpha continued “And this is our first trip off Terra and as you can guess we are lost.” They handed a ticket to Alex as he continued to speak. “Would you kindly examine our ticket and point us in the right direction?”
In his hand, the ticket had a barcode stretched over the top of the ticket, holographic images shone under certain angles as Alex read the ticket. The Omega made another comment about Alex not knowing anything only a few seconds after being handed the ticket. The contents of which read: Terminal Three, Gate Four. Alex handed the ticket back to the creature before pointing to his left.
“Go back towards the elevator hub, in the center. Terminal Three is also known as Green Terminal so look for the one with the green stripes. Gate four is most likely all the way down towards the end of the Terminal.”
“This isn’t Terminal Three?” Alpha asked.
“No,” Alex replied. “This is Terminal Four, the white terminal.”
The Hydra stowed its ticket back into a satchel that draped over its back and exposed pockets on the sides before all five heads bowed slightly. “Thank you, fellow commuter.” Said Alpha.
“First time off-world is always the hardest. Do you know if you have warp sickness?”
“We… are not certain; however, I took the initiative and purchased some medicines for travel sickness” Alpha said.
Alex shook his head “Travel sickness is different from Warp sickness. My best piece of advice is: close your eyes and count down along with the countdown to engaging faster than light travel. When you hit zero, clench all your muscles. Neck, hands, buttocks, shoulders, all of it. Clench for one second then ease up slowly. You’ll feel better, that’s what works for me. I hear it works for almost every other species.”
“Thank you” they said in unison.
“Where are you off to? Must be good if you are going off world?” He asked.
Alpha smiled. “Work assignment, actually.”
“We are a Transmutation counsellor and some of our clients have moved to Terra-Nova.” Beta continued.
Alex understood the Hydra, counselling those unfortunate humans who lose themselves and can no longer look in the mirror with the same set of eyes. In the years following Revelation Day, unknowing humans with Cryptid ancestry soon started to undergo a painful and often humiliating experience: Transmutation. A painful subject to bring up to relatives of victims; even Alex lost someone because of it. Watching a new creature emerge from someone he knew it was no wonder that there were those who viewed the affliction as a spiritual and physical rebirth or an evolution. Counselling and rehabilitation services were available but a subject like this? Nobody sought help on their own volition. The Hydra spoke of how he has helped people cope with the changes and more so adapt to living among a new species. Learning a new culture and language. Rayaz’Iklan spoke of how studies were conducted to show how former humans can adapt faster to the change than others based on how much their facial appearance changed. The less one’s own face changed then the easier it was to adjust to the trauma and how easier it is for them to adapt.
Echoing throughout the cavernous terminal an announcement sounded off; the voice spoke of a luxury cruiser called: Andromeda’s Embrace allowing passengers to board the ship, what caught both Alex and Rayaz’Iklan’s attention was where to board; Terminal three, gate four as it said on the Hydran’s ticket, followed by its scheduled departure in twenty minutes.
Alex bidded farewell to the Hydra. Alpha, likewise thanked him for helping them.
The creature then turned away and walked off disappearing into the crowd of species. Alex turned his attention to a nearby shop that seemed to be drawing quite a crowd. Upon closer inspection Alex discovered a bookstore selling physical paperback.
Interesting, they are actually selling paper copies of books.
It puzzled the young captain’s mind that people would still want to read a bulky paperback with no illumination and small printed words rather than upload a copy to their personal data device. He approached the stands and observed the cover art of familiar books he’d seen on the Net, but never did he suspect to see a physical paperback, like they were commonly used until the late 21st century. Without even reading the title, Alex picked up a book off the shelf, the cover art depicted what looked like a human in some kind of bulky, padded tactical gear with a bladed gauntlet while towering behind the human a silhouette of a noticeably larger Lykan mimicking the armoured human’s stance. Above the duo a set of dark red eyes with narrow diurnal pupils stared ominously toward the observer. Above the ominous, malevolent eyes was the title in bright white lettering which read: Nolan Everest.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
A smaller title underneath read: Betrayer of Clan.
The front cover was littered with quotes from other authors and notes about the awards it won. Alex began to wonder if this was a recent title or an older one, he flipped the book to read the back of it.
“Interested?” A voice spoke with a soft hiss. Alex looked over to the voice and was greeted by a female Naga. Her body was covered in dark brown scales with intermittent light brown stripes and her eyes a bright blue. She flicked her tongue periodically and her slender body stretched over the entire length of the shop's floor space with a coil forming at the end of her body behind the counter.
“I beg your pardon?”
She tilted her head slightly. “I noticed you looking at that book, I wondered if you were interested in purchasing it?”
Alex chuckled to himself, the thought of carrying the book everywhere with him instead of spending a few megabytes of data to store it into his device’s memory. The book had some weight to it, yet, admittedly, the idea of reading a physical book had brought about a sense of simplistic joy.
“Is it any good?” he asked.
“It’s an old novel written in two thousand thirty four. The premise was about a human who grows up with Lykan heritage and he gets framed for this assassination of another clan’s elder. It has some great suspenseful scenes. There are five other books in the series and it revolves around the main character who has these magical abilities.”
Alex smirked while taking another look at the book and flipped through the pages and looked at the page number on the last one: eight hundred and forty pages.
“Although,” The shopkeeper continued “It was written before Revelation Day, so the whole lycanthropy and magic in it isn’t accurate. That’s the only downside to the book.”
“Why are you selling paper copies? This is obviously your business, if you don’t mind my asking.” Alex spoke with a curious tone. “Surely there isn’t a demand that big, so what got you into this?”
Her tongue flicked. “My mother had this old library in our house back in Portland, Terra. The idea of holding the book, flipping the pages, even that smell of fresh print. I wanted others to experience that joy too.”
“A noble goal to have; spreading a good feeling you once had with others.”
“I am glad you understand!” The Naga said. She lightly nodded. Her tongue flicks sped up in pace and decreased in intermittence. She appeared to be humble
“Alright, you got me. I’ll take it.”
The Naga smiled, her tongue flicking seemingly excited and moved at a rapid pace as she slithered over to the registry and scanned the book’s code into the reader. She placed the book into a brown paper bag before gesturing for Alex to tap his device onto the reader, the screen lit up telling him twenty-four terras have been transferred to the bookstore. The Naga smiled sweetly as she handed Alex his brand-new book. He smiled back and then walked back towards his seat.
It hadn’t been more than five minutes before Alex had opened the paper bag and begun to read the book. The first chapter had already captivated him with its tendrils firmly grabbing him in its captivating prologue. He smiled to himself thinking at how he was reading a physical book in his hands written over three hundred years ago.
“Attention passengers. Planetary Shuttle 975 to Sydney, will now begin boarding in Terminal three, gate nine.” The soft feminine voice spoke, her message carried throughout the large corridors of the terminal hubs. Alex put his book back into the bag and let out a sigh before standing up.
---
“Attention passengers this is your captain speaking, we are about to enter orbit, so, upon re-entry we ask that you fasten your seatbelts until indicated otherwise.” Through the speakers, the captain of the shuttle had a crackle to his words, a slight muffle that would otherwise go unnoticed to the untrained ear. The average lunar trip was two and a half hours long. Alex looked out the window to see the glare of sunlight reflecting off starship hulls in the distance, below them the glare of sunlight reflecting off the ocean made the ships above sparkle like stars. The trip itself may have been short however it had been an insufferable one in the form of noisy passengers who complained about every minute inconvenience to the rumbling of the engines becoming a permanent noise. All he needed now was peace and quiet so he could reflect, however, his fellow passengers had none of the etiquette that Alex required to properly tolerate them. A chime sounded off in the cabin and Alex saw on the display screens the signal indicating seatbelts had to be worn. He fastened his belt and tugged to secure it, the shuttle had begun to rumble. Softly at first then the intensity gradually increased, a sudden jolt to the side and the window outside burst into flames; the shuddering grew more violent; occasionally a sharp jolt would shake the shuttle in one direction. Gravity started pressing against his chest, his breathing grew shallower and a sharp pain struck around his heart causing him to hyperventilate uncontrollably. His heart raced as the intense G forces pushed against him while the shuttle rocked violently. The sound of the engines started to drown out most other noises as they entered the atmosphere, his ears popping from the change in pressure. Suddenly, it ended, the shaking had subsided and the flames outside the window simmered down to a flicker then it faded away. Alex didn’t realise how hard he had been gripping the armrest until his fingers ached. His knuckles a pale colour, veins exposed themselves through his skin from raw strength exerted from primal fear as Alex worked on slowing down his breathing. He brought his face closer to the window to look outside, as he drew closer he could feel the heat being emitted from it. It was warm enough to touch without causing serious burns.
Take deep breaths, Alex. Deep breathes. It’s all right.
Peering outside the window to see clouds pass by; a clutter of dark grey cumulonimbus was spotted some distance away hovering over the Pacific ocean. Momentary flashes of light exploded inside the clouds, capturing Alex’s attention toward them as he tried to spot any of the bolts of lightning that caused the display of light. Much closer to the shuttle were typical cumulus clouds that reminded Alex of cotton after it bloomed from plants. Eventually the shuttle had made it past through the layer of clouds before descending through a beautiful blue sky from behind. Far below the shuttle, the shimmer of sunlight reflecting off water was seen from the horizon, a deep blue mass met the light blue of the sky. Further ahead, land could be seen, Sydney’s open harbour and bottle necked land line could be made from the high altitude. The humming of the machine provided a gentle graceful glide through the atmosphere of the planet. Soon, megacities came into view, towering skyscrapers dominating the landscape followed by industrial parks, highways laid about the landscape like arteries of the city.
The days that followed were short and uneventful for Alex. After landing in Sydney Spaceport, he commuted once more via bullet train to his home in Alice Springs. A busy metropolis in the middle of the desert and vital destination for freight and cargo transportation across the continent which had turned the small city into a haven for the logistics industries. His apartment, crowned the building he resided in which overlooked the entire sprawling metropolitan oasis and the vast desert beyond the city’s perimeter.
In the distance stood the lonely Anzac Hill illuminated by spotlights giving the monument the appearance of a beacon of hope to a weary traveler. In his dark apartment, Alex had grown tired; he did not bother to unpack nor to undress himself, instead he retired to his bed. When morning arrived the next day, the bright orange sun light shone brightly over the orange soil and dull coloured vegetation of the land under its warm glow. When the phone rang later that day Alex was not surprised to see Milo’s name show up on the caller ID. They spoke about their arrangement plans and how Milo’s sister was feeling, her graduation only one day away and she would be able to boss her older brother around.
“Sounds like she is gonna get a kick out of this.” Alex said.
Milo chuckled lightly. “She would, wouldn’t she. But outside of rank I still got authority over her.”
“I caught a message earlier today with a rumour on which ship she will be captaining. It’s a small exploration frigate, Nova class. The U.T.S.S Atlantis. Holds about two hundred fifty crew and is only eight years old.”
“Is that right? I might do some digging of my own. I know a couple of buddies in starship construction, maybe they’ll shed some light on this.” Milo said with a curious expression.
Alex responded with a light-hearted chuckle before his face turned sour. “How’s the family coping with your brother?”
Milo let a pained sigh, months ago his own younger brother had made the stupid mistake of drinking too much at a bar, his inhibitions lowered combined with his already hostile behaviour made him attack two humans and induce Lycanthropy into another one. Milo and his sister, Samantha knew an eventuality like this was bound to occur at some point, mentally they and their parents prepared themselves for something like this to occur but when it finally happened, they realised they were never truly prepared for the damage done. Alex was caught by the police and had to provide character reference for the profile against young Lucius, he never got along with the Lykan pup when they were kids, Milo and Samantha were great company but it was a chore dealing with the hostility of their unhinged sibling and they knew it.
Alex still felt the venomous sting of betrayal when he truthfully told the police of the offender’s psychopathic tendencies, as if by admitting the truth it would stain his friend’s family name and ruin them. Milo spoke of the progress the court hearings have been going, “I don’t know what to tell you, my friend. Every time I am in that courtroom and I listen to that ambulance chaser of a lawyer defend him I feel genuinely sick to my stomach. I mean, imagine listening to him ask the jurors for mercy on their decision because he’s a ‘troubled individual who struggles with self control’. Sometimes I have left the court because my blood boils with anger at having to listen to that shit! He was never troubled nor incapable of controlling his actions, he was a massive psychopath and does half the things he does for the sheer fun of it. The families of the assault victims actually asked the jurors for a lighter sentence… Can you believe that!? I mean, the third victim's family; the one with transmutation has asked for nothing less of capital execution. And I don’t blame them! Hell, I’ll do the job and put him under if the judge wants me to because that thing… is not my brother.”
Alex took a deep breath as Milo continued.
“You know my family well enough to know we were prepared to deal with something like this eventually, but now that it has happened, you can never truly be prepared for these, you know what I mean right?”
“It's just one of those things you pray never sees the light of day. I imagine it is worse on your mum and dad.” Alex supportively said.
Milo sighed heavily on the other end of the call. “Well, you remember what happened back in Year 6 back when we were both in Shackleton Primary school? Some kid didn’t want to play with him and he lunged at him, biting that poor kid on the neck.”
“I still vividly remember the scream that kid made. Took me years to get that memory out of my head.” Alex nodded as he recalled the memory. “That kid didn’t TM did he?”
“No and thank god he didn’t. The teacher broke up the fight before anything permanent occured.” Milo said with relief.
Alex struggled to swallow while reliving the memory of him and Milo playing in the snow of their playground before hearing the shrill cry of a young boy getting bitten by what very well could have been a feral animal for all they saw.
Words had failed to capture the true extent of Alex’s simultaneous relief and pity for his friend and family. “There’s another hearing scheduled in two weeks. We are hoping the jury can come to some kind of decision soon.” Milo said in a lowly voice barely above a mutter. Alex imagined seeing his friend rubbing his face as he said it as a sign of his tiredness.
“I’m sorry you gotta go through this, you’re a good friend and I hate seeing how low this has brought you. Honestly, is there anything I can do to help out? Anything at all?”
“There isn’t much you can do unfortunately; besides, don’t waste your brain cells on that degenerate, Sam’s graduation is tomorrow so let’s just focus on that.”
“Agreed. I have already got an atmospheric shuttle from the Phoenix scheduled to pick me up from Alice airport.” Alex said with a heavy sigh. The atmosphere surrounding their conversation was a dreary one and had already exhausted both men. “I’ll see you outside the front door to the Ceremonial Hall.”