On the bridge of the Mortifera I could see the huge spaceport for Nuvora City that we were approaching. It was long, curved, and in line with the planets curvature with its outer curve facing our approach direction. Craft were buzzing all over the place — it was a busy spaceport, I think? Can’t say I had ever seen one before that day.

The planet behind it was a deep blue except for one large continent that I could see from our distance. It appeared to be a planet that was primarily ocean.

“Stop your approach warship and identify yourself,” a voice commanded over the open channel.

“This is the Miltech warship Mortifera, and I am SecMajor Lori Henderson.”

“SecMajor, welcome, proceed to dock 9. The General would like to meet with you on your arrival to the surface.”

“Sooo how the hell is this possible,” I asked.

“Well remember when you were on Biterra, and how we were gone for a few weeks but had been years for you? Like that, but on the extreme end.”

Entering the spaceport was some futuristic madness, well it was the future I guess you could say. It was like an orbital airport, departure and arrival gates lined one side of the port and large windows allowed you to see down to the world below. Crafts docked to the outer curve, while shuttles down to Nuvora arrived and departed from the inner curve of the station.

As we made our way across the port to the shuttles, I had noticed a large monument with a plaque that stood boldly in the midpoint of the port. There wasn’t only the one either. I could see slight variations of the same monument spread across every hundred metres or so

No way, it couldn’t be, could it?

As I approached the monument I noticed that the plaque contained an acknowledgment to the first settlers of Nuvora that read.

‘ To the initial settlers of Nuvora, we thank you. Thank you for standing firm against enemies and allowing human civilisation to flourish and progress further than ever before. Giving us the ability to build Nuvora and continue the human species.

Civilisation pods one and two from the Transporter Haven of Earth.’

It scared the absolute shit out of me reading that plaque. I was almost certain that Alice and Lilly were on the Transporter Haven and I hoped to god that they weren’t in the pods that created Nuvora city. A city and planet that seemed to have stood for hundreds of years already.

I kept my composure the best I could as we made it to the departure gates, I didn’t need the others to know or want them to know that my primary focus was finding them both.

Luckily after only a short stroll the attention was off me and on the shuttles. They were fairly small, only seating about twenty people at the time but they looked impressive. They were sleek and almost looked like our Miltech fighters in the way they were designed. Capable to operate both in space and in atmospheric conditions.

Despite the shuttle size, the entry down to Nuvora was relatively stable and felt like a gentle glide down to the surface rather than the bumpy bull ride kind of journey I became used to when leaving and entering orbits for that matter.

We landed directly into the middle of the city, with a burst of thrust setting us vertically down on one of the many landing pads behind a string of massive buildings. As we hopped out a man ran over to us, we were gifted it seemed with a special baby sitter for our visit to the city. Our very own chaperone who led us away as the shuttle roared back up and away on its journey for the next lot of our crew.

Overwhelming was an understatement as we stepped out onto the sidewalk. People were everywhere, humanoids too, I only took notice when I saw a Solari stride past us, flashing a smile as he registered my blaring gaze. He was friendly, and his smile disarming as I clutched my arm, the psychical and mental turmoil from Biterra still fresh in my mind. It would take some adjusting to hide my anger toward Solari.

In that moment however, it became a fleeting memory as my eyes followed a building in the background. On the ground it looked like a regular, modern day building back on Earth but as my eyes drew further up it changed.

From about the tenth story the building merged into a sleek futuristic tower that I struggled to see the top of. There were still remnants of the old building stretching up several more floors, almost as if the older building was in ruin and they just built on top of it — a true representation of civilisation roots. It wasn’t the only building like that either, with many others similar looking ones in the same area we were in.

Faaaar out. This is unbelievable.

Cars were zipping by us, some that looked familiar from Earth brought to life on a new world and some totally alien just gliding along the road. It added to the surreal blend of old world and new.

“This is the old side of Nuvora,” announced our chaperone, pulling us out of our wonderment.

Hmm old side, wonder if I’ll be able to break off and find some settler records.

“Is there any historical buildings around here? With information on the first settlers?” I asked.

The chaperone hesitated before answering. “Uh yeah I’ll send it to your slate, if they’re even still compatible with our advancements”

“Carter, we’ve got a meeting with the Miltech General of Nuvora in a couple of hours. Make whatever it is your doing quick,” said Henderson before the three of them continued on their way.

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My slate chimed, the ping the chaperone sent me was for the Novora Archives building just a few blocks away from where I was.

The city was clean, well the part I started in at least. Even the old buildings merged into new looked like it all had just finished being built. No mess on the sidewalks, no graffiti, no riffraff. That was until I started getting to the real old part of the city.

In just a few blocks the bustling streets turned less crowded, rubbish was strewn across the streets, and the more beat up vehicles though rare, roared up and down the streets. The buildings weren’t restored with new futuristic additions, they gradually got smaller and older as I walked.

If I blinked I would have missed it. A small building wedged between two larger ones made of brick had the sign ‘Nuvoru Archives’ punched into the stone it was constructed with. As I entered a little bell jingled upon opening the door, it was a sound that instantly reminded me of home, actual home — Earth.

The jingle of my entry was met with a softly spoken greeting from an old lady, surely in her nineties. She gave me a look like she knew what I was after, gesturing me toward the back, where amongst the computers was an old book on a stand. Labelled first settlers of Nuvora.

There names were all written on a kind of paper. That’s odd. What the hell happened for them to be writing records down manually. I grabbed the book, sat down at the nearest table, and started my search.

A…Ale, nope. Ali, that’s it.

As my finger ran down the page there it was…. Alice Carter.

No no no. Alice.

My mind started to go beserk, I was bouncing my knee up and down in quick succession as I sat there staring at her name, trying to drive the excess energy out of my body before I started to rapidly flip through the pages.

Li, Lill, this is where it should be. It’s not there.

Lilly’s name wasn’t on the record. I had no idea if she was missed, her name withheld, or if somehow her and Alice had been separated. I had to find out for sure.

My frantic movements caught the attention of the old lady who wandered over to me, taking a quick glance at the book before turning her attention to me with a soft reassuring smile.

“You know, there was a coup against the Haven Miltech branch. The new settlers decided they wanted to start from day zero. That’s why it’s all handwritten. They destroyed most, if not all of the technology they were dropped with.

“Of course, however, Transporter Haven came back with more Miltech and regained control. Turning Nuvoru into what it is today.”

My finger traced up and down the book while the old lady was talking, still scared that it might land on Lilly’s name.

“Lillys name won’t be in there you know.”

My mouth dropped and eyes started to well upon hearing someone else say her name. I slowly turned on my seat to meet the old ladies.

“She’s my older sister” she said, still with a gentle smile gracing her aged face. “Or younger? Who knows,” she chuckled.

“I’ve been waiting for the Haven to return so I can tell her that our mother, who to you is Alice your wife, forgave her for running away and how much she loved her.

“When she returns she will still be a child no doubt, it will be hard for her to comprehend but I’m not getting any younger and my time is running low.” A tear slowly ran down her cheek before she wiped it away.

She continued to tell me story of how Alice thought I died back on Earth, thinking that I probably hadn't even made it past seeing them off on the shuttle that day. Not Lilly though, she was adamant that I was still alive and was out in search for her. The old lady told me that Lilly was angry that her mother moved on, angry that she had a half-sister, and angry that me, her father, had been forgotten about. Just before the Transporter was due to leave, she snuck or I should say, lied her way onto a rocket, leaving her distraught mother behind.

Ahh Lilly what have you done. My thoughts interrupted by the chime of my slate. It was Henderson and I was late to the meeting with the General. Before I ran out, the old lady placed nearly folded paper in my hand and pleaded for me to return before we left

—

The General. I still don’t know his actual name, heck maybe that was the name he was born with. Who knows.

You could tell he was battle hardened, he had that occasional thousand yard stare that would look right through you when he was in a daydream, bright scares on his dark skin, and a deep no nonsense voice.

“ To what do I owe the pleasure to for having the Mortifera of the Salvation stopping by our lovely city,” welcomed the General.

A trickle of liquid perked my ears, he was pouring us each a glass and motioned us to sit at his desk. I had the honour of having to stand back though because i was a measley Corporal in Hendersons eyes, and I was late.

“Captain Fletcher, heard of him?” Asked Henderson, getting straight down to business.

The General raised an eyebrow, still not looking her in the eye as he threw back his glass before pouring himself another.

“Can’t say it rings a bell.”

I couldn’t help but smile at the showdown that had already begun between the two of them.

“Captain Fletcher of the Dominus Fleet.” This time she took on a more stern tone. The battle of ego was set in motion.

“You sure you want to bark up that tree SecMajor?”

Henderson slammed her glass onto the table. “It’s a tree I want to cut down.”

The General roared with laughter, even drawing a hint of a smile through her poker face. It was already obvious he knew who Fletcher was, even more so now.

“Oh you original Earthers do have a temper don’t you,” he said in delight as he threw back a second drink.

“I’ll tell you what I’ve told the others….

“Find a planet and make it yours. You’re wastin’ your time and your lives.”

He took on a more serious almost ominous tone when he delivered the warning. It felt like he was genuinely watching out for us while at the same I had a feeling he was telling us to leave the city, and the planet.

He told us tales of eight connected systems, matching the eight transporters that left Earth, they were shortcuts between worlds — Wormholes. These shortcuts however were open and closed at the will of the unknowns, or gods of the cosmos as the General referred to them.

They had calculated that the Transporter Haven should have arrived back already and its lack of return was due to these cosmic gods closing the shortcuts on them. It was a notion that would have seemed far fetched if we hadn’t already encountered the wild unknown the universe had already plunged us into.

“So where’s the Haven now” I asked.

The General chuckled again “the infamous Corporal, Alex Carter. We’ve all got bets on whether you’ll make it back to your ship or not.”

Uhh what the hell, I thought as panic started to run through my body. His chuckle turned into a more boisterous laugh again, he found it entertaining that I had no idea to what he was referring.

“Well General it’s been a pleasure,” said Henderson as she stood up and shook the generals hand.

She was being unusually nice, so much so, that it even caught the general off guard and snapped him out of his laughter. Henderson turned and waved me out first.

“Lewis, how long until Mortifera is restocked and ready to go?” Said Henderson in a hushed tone as we walked along the long hall.

“We promised the crew an overnight.”

“I don’t trust him. Keep a low profile until we’re away from this snake pit.”

“I’ve got something I have to take care of first.”

“Major Lewis is going with you, you can’t be alone,” ordered Henderson before we reached the exit and parted ways.