New Visitors

On the outskirts of the canyon, there was a building that was about three stories high with a large hangar where vehicles and aircraft are stored to come and go. It sat in the deep parts of the canyon, surrounding itself with the high, red walls of rock, which provided a great barrier of protection.

There was a separate building that remained a station of sorts. That was a teleduv teleportation device used as a central hub for any soldier or cargo pilot to use to travel to any planet and/or galaxy within a certain distance.

These hubs have become more popular after the war, being used for imports and exports of goods and—unknown for most people’s knowledge—weapons, which come and go from different planets from faraway sectors in different galaxies. They are located at central cities that have a large influx of diverse population that were reported to the Galactic Alliance of the Republic.

And, these hubs were greatly funded by the Garrison—thanks to a well-known officer and paladin, Katie Holt (also popularly known as Pidge). Her hair had grown, just hitting above her shoulders. It was naturally light, while it stuck out in waves, but she preferred to have it pulled back, clipping the loose strands back to prevent them from getting in her face. She wore tinted glasses that covered over her light brown orbs, not just for reading, but for multitasking. They would share the data from her computers onto her lenses, while also being able to access other files as she worked—she wanted to make sure her notes were right there, if she needed them. She wore a lab coat while over her loosely fitting scrubs that were used as pajamas and work clothes.

She usually worked in the laboratory on the first layer of the building, neighbors to the large hangar. The lab was large, with high ceilings that had hanging lights. Along with the lights, unfinished projects like a robot would hang around with their insides showing gears and other nuts and bolts while they were plugged to some near outlet. The lab was a place where time was forgotten and only a relative thing it was because Pidge’s life seemed to happen all at once inside this workshop of hers. Projects, like the unfinished robot, had been continuously worked on for years, but new ones appeared every single day when Pidge had the sudden bulb of epiphanies to strike her inspiration. It was almost miraculous to see that she was able to organize everything—the mess—inside it.

Drones, robotic parts, pieces of old computers laying on a table, scattered blueprint designs, and broken, overused pieces shared a space with long-forgotten projects that never reached their completion. The space expanded, used as a laboratory and a space of sleep. A messy futon that lied at one corner of the room with three pillows and a throwaway blanket waited for the long days where Pidge would sleep in after a long night of working. There was a small dining area, next to the futon, that had a open cardboard box that had some many-days-aged pizza inside with used juice pouches on top of a box that was used as a table that carried binders of information.

The late night was the dawn of her day, and Pidge was working by a large table where a hologram of a model of a future device that she was going to start working on. She had the idea in a dream, and she thought she would see how it would look in person.

  She tapped her chin. “Hm. It doesn’t seem to fit the scale that I want.”

Chip came waltzing in, peeking over the table to look up at the hologram. Pidge and Chip’s head tilted to the side simultaneously as they both gave it a deep, contemplative gaze.

  “What you trying to use it for?” Chip wondered, analyzing it with his visual scanning system.

Chip is an A.I. Robot that was built by Pidge’s older brother, Matt Holt. He was Pidge’s assistant when it came to inventions or anything technical as he was able to catch up with Pidge’s quick mind and building, but he was also like a close friend and younger brother to Pidge. He has the heart of a young teenager, approximately about 15-years of age, but his intelligence is ever growing, making him wise beyond his robotic years.

He was about five-feet and slender, while his metal was silver and grey and his attire mocked the Garrison uniform but navy blue-white pattern instead of the original orange and white. He wore large spectacle glasses over his eyes that had thin, silver wire—it wasn’t really for vision because his vision is able to spot anything at a great distance but for appearances.

It is the Holt Look™️.

  Pidge hummed, “I’m not…quite sure, yet.”

  “It sort of looks like a suit of armor?” Chip claimed, gazing up at Pidge.

  Pidge nodded. “Yeah, it seems it does. I was thinking of trying a thinner material that is light-weight for the wearer.”

  “Hm, that could work…” Chip replied, his eyes flashing as he thought.

There was a loud uproar that rang from the hangar while a sound of an alarm about the gates opening blared through the empty air.

Chip and Pidge rushed out into the hangar to see an aircraft along with vehicles entering the facility. She noticed the familiar black cars and the aircraft which were specifically designed by her family—they arrived. And, the thought crossed her mind about why they were here all of a sudden, but she noticed that the aircrafts were carrying a unknown ship by metal wires.

  “What is that!” Chip wondered loudly, gawking at the foreign ship.

Pidge had no idea. It was of an unknown design that was not from earth. The metal appeared silver but when the light of the hangar hit the ship it showed the metal glowing a light golden color with windows that were tinted blue. Its shape was the most interesting to Pidge. With a pointed nose of a swordfish, its body was rounded with flight propulsions at the end making a ship with a tail.

Like a sigh, as the ship was landing close to the floor, it heaved out a puff of dust when the ship touched the ground. Pidge quickly ran towards it with eagerness. Her eyes sparkled with stars as she scanned the ship.

Once the vehicles parked and the aircraft comfortably landed onto the ground, Krolia came out down the rear ramp. The Galactic Officers with their cases of evidence and samples came marching out one-by-one while the men in suits remained standing tall by the vehicles.

  “Pidge!” Krolia called out.

When the young scientist turned her head, her beady eyes glimmered with joy to see the ambassador and the ambassador was glad to see her too.

  “Krolia!” Pidge beamed, running up to her to give her a quick hug. “It has been a while!”

  “About a year your time.”

  Pidge blinked. “Really? I feel like it has been longer. Staying here really makes it hard to keep track.”

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  Krolia let out a light chuckle. “Regardless, it is always nice to see a friend.”

Pidge beamed, the corners of her eyes wrinkling with joy.

Krolia then revealed to her about the ship, which Chip was so enamored and fascinated by. He was running around the ship in circles, scanning it and taking notes about the ship.

  “Where are the pilots?” Pidge wondered, standing near the ship with Krolia by her side.

  “Don’t know. Kulivan went on a search, but they were no where to be seen,” Krolia replied with her arms crossed.

  Pidge clicked on a small button on her glasses’ frame. “So, I’m assuming it is here because you want me to find its registration number and dissect it.”

  Krolia chuckled. “You are the expert.”

Pidge had a devilish smile. She was. She is able to pinpoint anything throughout the galaxy. With the new laws, all alien ships, when manufactured, must have a registration number for the sector it was made in—it helps with organization. But, also, she is able to study the ins-and-outs of any ship technology.

She called for Chip, beckoning him over to assist her in their investigation. Krolia ordered the officers to bring the samples they found on the site to Pidge’s laboratory.

  “We also grabbed samples from the inside and outside of the ship,” Krolia mentioned, “If you don’t mind.”

  Pidge, almost half her body inside the ship with her legs kicked out, waved her hand. “No problem. It should be a piece of cake! Chip! Scan those samples, would you!”

  Chip saluted. “Yes, boss!”

Chip quickly scurried away, determination burning in his eyes—a robot sent out on a mission.

Krolia watched Pidge completely disappear inside the small ship, curling on the floor with her knees close to her chest as a small tablet was carried in her hand. Cords were connected to the inside of the control panel, downloading data from the ship to the tablet. It only took a few seconds for it to be successfully downloaded, and Pidge began tapping away on the screen.

  Krolia peeked inside, seeing Pidge huddled on the floor between the driver seat and the panel. “Did…you find anything?”

Pidge showed the tablet close to Krolia’s face. Krolia jumped back, noticing the blue screen of the tablet so close to her face.

  “Military grade. Sector 900. And, this small tank is only an escape pod. But, this little guy has some pretty wicked weapons.”

She scanned through her tablet, swiping up and selecting an item on the registered list. From the top of the ship, a small canon gun appeared. The brunette turned her gaze to look up at Krolia, a beaming grin sketched on her face.

  “You find excitement in the oddest things, Pidge.” Krolia said this with the utmost endearment.

An alarm was ringing in the hangar, catching the two ladies’ attention.

  “Ambassador! Ambassador!” a Galactic Officer ran to Krolia. She quickly saluted before her.

  “What’s the matter?” Krolia wondered. Pidge peeked her head out, watching them.

  “There’s an alert about five bougies. Four reached past the atmosphere.”

  “What about the fifth?” Krolia wondered.

  “Its already on Earth.”

The alarm continued to blare throughout the facility, shining its red light to warn everyone inside about the intruders. Krolia began to holler demands and orders, yelling to every soldier to get into their vehicles.

  “Ms. Krolia,” Chip spoke, catching the ambassador’s attention. Pidge and Krolia gazed down, along with the soldier. “I have their locations, they are heading this way.”

Krolia grabbed the GPS device from Chip’s metal hands. She gazed at it, her sharp eyes narrowing when she noticed the four red dots slowly make their way to the base; however, her eyes noticed the straying red dot just outside.

  “I need specific divisions to surround the perimeter!” Krolia demanded. Soldiers banked towards their vehicles, the engines roaring loudly as they woke. “Sky patrol, come with me! Pidge.”

Pidge nodded when she met eyes with Krolia. Chip was ordered by Pidge to remain inside the laboratory, along with other scientists of the Garrison that were able to help.

Air vehicles began to take off in the sky as the remaining officers, along with Krolia and Pidge, took more of the ground road.

Krolia remained at the passenger seat while the officer drove. Pidge remained in the back, noticing the GPS system from the center console showing that the bougies were heading towards their direction.

  “They’re heading right for us!” Pidge commented.

A loud roar rumbled the earth beneath the vehicle, the piercing sounds of a large vehicle’s engine vibrating the air. The car swerved on the road, everyone inside screaming.

  “What the hell was that!” the officer yelled, trying to regain control on the steering wheel.

A loud rumble erupted underneath them again, but the windshield of the vehicle noticed a large object break the ground and caused a large cloud of sand to puff into the air.

  “Look out!” Pidge bellowed, pointing forward.

The officer flinched, cursing loudly, turning the steering wheel and breaking the car. Krolia held onto the handle on the roof, bracing for the impact. Pidge was holding onto Krolia’s seat in front of her, her nails digging into the seat like a frightened cat as she was screaming.

The car swerved onto its side, the tires of the vehicle digging into the dirt as it ran into the large object. The impact caused the car to flip up, the passengers inside screaming on the top of their lungs, and then falling back down, the screams still continuing.

The dust slowly settled around them, everyone inside gapping in pure shock and confusion. Krolia was the first one that regained herself, taking the chance to slowly exit the vehicle. Yet, when her sharp eyes landed on the object they ran into, her body was stilled with shock.

  “Pidge…” she called out to her.

  Pidge was shaking. “W-what?”

  “You have to see this…” Krolia answered.

Pidge, with a shaking hand, opened the car door. It hissed open, and with shaking legs like a newborn calf, she stood. She looked at Krolia, noticing how her sharp eyes were wide as her jaw fell to the floor. Her brown orbs followed Krolia’s gaze, and Pidge felt her heart drop into her stomach.

What stood in front of her was something she had only dreamed of seeing. She couldn’t believe herself for what she was seeing—she probably is living an unconsciousness reality—a dream—or she could be disassociating after the accident.

For what the young scientist saw was a large lion that had bright, lively yellow eyes. Its legs were silver like steel, yet they appeared worn from a long journey as the green paint that accented its design was chipped and old. It stood before them, towering over them with intimidating heights—yet, when Pidge saw it, her heart grew two sizes more with nostalgia.

  “Kitty Rose…” Pidge muttered, shocked. She took a step forward, her eyes never leaving the beast before her.

The lion gazed down at her, and in Pidge’s heart and mind, she can hear the rhythmic sounds of purring. Her eyes glazed with her tears, her hand resting on the cold steel leg.

  “I missed you too, girl,” Pidge said, her voice sincere.

Then, Pidge wondered, if the green lion was here….

  “Pidge! Look!” Krolia called from behind her.

She turned around, hearing the coming sounds of rumbling of large ships. She turned her gaze upwards, meeting the sky, to see four other lions heading towards them.

Pidge was confused, yet relieved to see the remaining lions, but her racing mind began to rapidly think about why the lions have arrived. It had been ages since she had last seen them—she was only a young girl, about 15 years-old, and now, she sees them just before her once more.

The lions began to make their descent onto the ground. The Blue Lion landed first with elegance and softness as to not startle the earth below its large claws. Pidge was enamored by the view that she saw before her. Her standing just outside the automobile with her jaw dropped to the floor. In over a decade, she never thought to see these lions again. The sight was like something out of a painting. The blue lion stood at the center, the white moon shining down with its glimmering stars surrounding outside its white halo. The red lion stood next to the blue lion with the black lion landing behind it as the green lion and yellow lion stood on the right side—all their yellow pairs of eyes watching the crowd intensely.

More vehicles, including the air ships, finally made it to Krolia and Pidge’s location. The Blue Lion slowly lowered its head, bowing before them, and the mouth began to slowly open. Many of the officers left their vehicles, their guns pointed at the Blue Lion.

  “Hold your fire!” Krolia ordered, a fist raised.

Pidge rose a brow, taking steps forward as her eyes remained on the blue lion. A ramp formed from the lion’s bottom lip, the steps lighting up with rows of blue light.

A young man in shimmering armor stepped down from the mouth of the blue lion, the strands of his hair waving with the blowing wind. In his arms was a young girl, her curly locks draping behind her and over her shoulder as her head rested against the young man’s shoulder. His hands and chest were stained with red blood.

But, even if there were many weapons aimed straight at the young man, he stood tall while his deep-set, brown eyes focused on Pidge’s light brown orbs.

  “For the sake of the queen, we came out for the paladins’ help! Please help us,” the young man announced.