In a dark, empty room, a small figure was sitting on the floor, Hands folded in its lap, white transparent hair flowing over a pale face and narrow shoulders. The person just sat there, complete silent and motionless. A silent whisper, almost unnoticeable hissing came from somewhere in the darkness and the figure slowly raised its head "Princess Serrah, the ship is fully charged. We can restart the cycle now" "Excellent" the figure answered, raised a hand and held it open in the darkness "Kirasza, great mother, wake up."
Glowing symbols appeared on the walls of the round chamber, faintly flickering and blinking and a far thunder made the whole room tremble for a second. "Approach the nearest star and extract any life from the planets. Then use it to animate the emitters" "Yes, Princess"
Serrah slowly stood up. A long, thin tail covered in smooth, white scales unwrapped beneath her and drew almost hypnotic circles in the thick air. A slight smirk on the face, she flicked her tongue and licked over her sharp fangs.
"This is the place...in this galaxy the journey of the Loki will finally end...I can feel it..."
"Private Skritcho?!" In a reflex, the voice of the sergeant made the thin, brown fox immediately sit upright on his camp "Uhm...Sergeant?" The remnants of his dream still in his mind, he had a hard time remembering, who and where he actually was.
"Skritcho, the Lieutenant summoned you in five. It's about your reassignment. You heard me?" "Yes, sergeant! Lieutenant in five, reassignment." he repeated. Of course, like every day during the last 6 months, Gabe Skritcho was at ETAC-Mira, the extra terrestrial army camp located on "Gliese 667 Cc", 23.6 light years from earth. "Mira", as the soldiers called the planet, was one of the few habitable planets within a 500ly radius from earth and the only one of them, able to support independent colonies on its own.
"Alright, let's get this over with" Gabe said to himself, shouldered his rifle and headed for the command centre. A large, bright sun and two smaller fireballs greeted the young soldier at the horizon, as he stepped barefoot on the warm, rocky ground.
As Gabe arrived at the hexagonal building, he noticed some distant gunshots from the training grounds. It didn't happen very often, that the recruits were earlier than him.
Finally at the personnel office, Gabe met someone new.
'Oh god, I hate those flower people...' he thought by himself, when he saw the blue squirrel sitting at Lieutenant Richter's desk. They were already deep in conversation, but when the Lieutenant noticed Gabe standing outside the office, he called him in immediately.
"Ah, there he is. Come in, Private, we've been waiting for you" 'We?'
As Gabe stepped into the office, the blue squirrel rose from its seat, greeting him with a slight bow. The Lieutenant didn't hesitate "Private First Class Gabe Skritcho;
Lieutenant Commander Kila Green from the Terran Space Federations Spec Ops Wing"
"Private" the Squirrel made another slight bow and took a deep breath "Let's get directly to the point. Your superior sergeant Blake recommended you for the DSO Task Force, the 'Deep Space Operations Group'. I heard, you got sharp eyes and steady hands, is that true?"
"Well" Gabe answered "My targets fall. I guess, that's what's important, sir"
"Perfect. The primary task of the DSO is to explore and secure the last galactic frontiers for the federation. In four weeks, we will launch a deep space mission into the galactic Delta sector and we need another 'itchy trigger finger' that is not a member of the federation. Private Gabe Skritcho, will you join this mission?"
At the same time, on the other side of the galaxy, the pale princess turned her head aside and held her breath for a moment, as if listening to something only she could hear.
'This feeling...that's it...the Arc is here...and the key...it calls for me'
A cold shiver ran down Gabe's spine. It was the familiar feeling of being watched. As if this was a test to judge him. "I'll gladly take part in this mission" he finally answered.
Kila Green smiled broadly and took his hand for a quick shake "Alright then, Mister Skritcho, with immediate effect, you are a member of the DSO group and subsequently you are no longer a soldier of the U.T.N., but subject to the independent Spec Ops Command"
"DSO group, Spec Ops Command. Understood", Gabe repeated with a quick nod.
Kila pulled a formal letter from somewhere out of his uniform
"You should read that as soon as possible. The T.S.C. 'Winter Maid' will depart in two hours. I'll be waiting for you at the docks"
Princess Serrah whistled gently with her split tongue, the eyes fixed on the ground to her left and slowly, she put strain after strain of long, transparent white hair behind her shoulders, while she totally focused on a single thought, which raced through her mind at this moment
'We don't have to search any more...we don't have to look for it...the key...it will come to us'
