It was the perfect day for a walk in the woods.

The morning air was warming as the sun was peeking through the tree. Rays of crisp sunlight zapped dew that had formed on the tips of pine needles, filling the air with moist air.

Blissfully unaware of the trouble that was unfolding around them, squirrels scavenged for nuts. A deer and her fawn watched the pair while robins sang a merry song.

The brisk walk energized Alex. The trail wove through the woods a quarter of a mile before opening up to a ten-acre field. It then snaked back into the woods around a creek, before ending up back at the house. Boredom had gotten the better of him over the summer and he had attacked the woods with gusto and a machete. The two-mile-long trail was almost finished, a project that he had been saving for weekends.

“If I live through this weekend,” Alex thought sourly. The Saturday deadline loomed over him. He shook the fear off as he quickened his stride to keep pace with Mettan. He had no idea where they were going, but for some reason, he trusted the Elf.

They reached the field in record time. Alex almost ran into Mettan, who had stopped abruptly at the edge of the woods.

Alex looked around the empty field as Mettan tapped on his pad.

“Did someone steal it?” Alex asked

“No.”

“Then where is it?” Alex looked into the sky, but there was nothing there but a hawk.

Mettan took two steps forward and replaced the pad on his hip.

The air smelled like burning dust as the light in the field trembled. It twitched three times then a black bullet the size of a two-story house filled the field.

The exterior was smooth, save for minor, silver marks littered around the short nose. The ship looked like it had been squished. The top and bottom were both flat. A door opened in the back. There were no visible engines or slots for weapons.

“Come.”

Mettan’s voice snapped Alex out of his trance. He had been on a plane once when he was four, but it was nothing compared to the spaceship that Mettan had just walked into.

Alex rolled his tongue back into his mouth before snapping his jaw shut. He jogged to the opening and paused to peek inside.

Crates were stacked to the roof. Some were small; others were nine feet tall and disappeared beside others. The roof was twenty feet from the floor and the walls were fifty feet apart.

“Finished?” Mettan’s icy glare sent chills down Alex’s back

Alex nodded and followed as Mettan led him through the maze of crates that were in the cargo room.

After too many tight twists and turns they arrived at a lift pad. Alex looked around and spied two hallways on either side of the pad.

“Where do those go?” Alex pointed at the halls

“Passenger quarters.” Mettan gestured to the steel floor.

Alex stepped on. The floor was wide enough that he was able to stand in the opposite corner from Mettan and wouldn’t have been able to touch the black-clad Elf.

“Do I get a room?” Alex couldn’t help smiling.

“Not down there.” Mettan stood on the lip of the platform and tapped the pad that was on his belt. In a smooth, steady motion the platform rose to the second floor.

The second floor was a steel grate that ran to either wall and then snaked back towards the back of the ship. In front of them was a hallway six feet wide that ran into a wall. There were two doors on either side of the hall.

Alex stepped off of the platform onto the silver tile of the hallway and followed Mettan down the hall.

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Mettan paused at the end of the hall and pointed at the door on his left. “That’s yours.”

Alex reached out to touch the door.

“Not now. I need to show you other things first” The wall split open. Mettan vanished through the opening.

Alex tore himself away from the door, making a mental note to investigate later. He walked through the door.

The bridge was empty. Not exactly empty, there was a weird couch in the middle of the bridge. It was covered in red leather and shaped like two big Cs with their backs fused together. At the front of the bridge were two desks, each with a control console.

Alex followed Mettan to the front and took the seat to Mettan’s right. The console lit up as it sensed someone in the chair.

“Don’t touch that.” Mettan began typing on his console.

The trees on the edges of the field bent back as the Camadt’s Bite lifted off the grass.

Alex stared out the screen in front of them as they climbed higher into the air.

“Um,” Alex wasn’t sure how he was supposed to address the Elf, “You said I’d be able to check on my family easier here…” His stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten breakfast, “Also, is there anything to eat?”

The dark-skinned Elf sighed and pulled a ration bar out of one of the pockets of his vest and tossed it.

Alex caught the food and smelled it. There wasn’t any scent.

“It’s good.” The Elf assured him, “And it has all the nutrients that you need.”

He had tried a lot of nutrition bars in his lifetime, but they had all smelled like berries or spices or something. He licked the bar and it tasted like he had just licked a glass of water.

“It’s not poisoned.” The Water Elementalist took out a second bar and bit into it, “See?”

Without much of an excuse not to try the strange food, he bit into it. Just like it smelled, there was no taste, but it wasn’t bland. It was almost like chewing water except the texture melted in his mouth like a pie crust. While he couldn’t describe the taste, it wasn’t bad and if he was being honest, was actually good.

“Thanks.” Alex took another bite, “How am I supposed to check on my family?”

Mettan started to say something, but stopped and pointed at the door, “If you go to your room, there is a screen on the wall by the bed. Type in what you want to know and it will look it up for you.”

“Thank you!” Alex started to get up, then paused, “Can I go now?”

The Elf nodded, “Go. And get cleaned up, there are plenty of uniforms in there for you to change into after you have a shower.”

He almost sprinted across the bridge to his room.

For a spaceship, the room was a lot bigger than he had expected. He had seen what living quarters on submarines were like and had assumed that it would be similar. Granted, there was only a bed in the room, with a bathroom off to the side. But it was larger than his bedroom back home.

Which reminded him of what he was doing.

The screen on the wall was very easy to navigate, but it didn’t have anything like locations or information on any of his siblings. But what it did have was a way to contact them. Within a few minutes, he was able to connect to his brother’s cell. Except it wasn’t his brother who answered.

“How’d you get signal?” Kate asked on the other side.

“I…” Alex paused, “You’ll never believe where I am.”

“On a spaceship with an Elf on a mission to save the Universe.”

It took a second for the information to register. “How did you..?”

“This nice Elf told me.” Her voice was cheerful, “So how does it feel to have the fate of the Universe on your shoulders?”

“It’s not on MY shoulders.” Alex deflected, “I’m just supposed to be able to help them find this Triftion thing. Whatever that is.”

“A Triftion is someone with the power to control Fire, Air, Water, and Earth.” His sister replied, “There’s only one in every race, but they stopped appearing in all the other races, so now the Humans are the only ones that can have one.” She let out a short breath, “This dude has been going on about it while he tries to measure our abilities.”

“You have powers?” It came out as more of a surprise than he meant it to. Powers were genetic, which meant that it was only natural that his siblings would have abilities.

“I got Air, while Mia got water. No one else has shown signs of power yet, but the dude says that it’s possible that they’re just late coming into their powers. Something about stress being able to cause a block.” She paused for a breath, “Anyway, he said that once we get picked up he’ll have us all use a power stone to check us for powers, but they’re apparently only in special places, so he doesn’t have one on him, but once everyone gets back, he’s going to try to get the Mages to bring one since we’ve got so many people here.” The last bit of what she said was faint like she had pulled the phone away from her face.

I’ve got to go, but be safe. Love you.”

The line went dead before he could respond. He wanted to march onto the bridge and demand to be taken to his siblings, or bring them on board, but he doubted that would have the end result he wanted. For now, he had to trust that his siblings could protect themselves because that was all he could do.

Alex eyed the bathroom door, then began opening the drawers in the wall by the bed. Most were empty, but there were three uniforms folded nicely inside one drawer. He laid the black uniform on the bed, then headed for the shower. Right now, he was going to focus on the things he could do. And that began with getting cleaned up.