Chapter 15: October 15th, 2350

“There it is,” Opet remarked as she put her hands up. “PSR B0329+54 or as it was later named the Grisey Pulsar.”

It had been almost a year since the departure from New Olympia. Raavi sat comfortably on the couch in the bridge as they looked at the stellar phenomenon in the Milky Way Galaxy. Being over three thousand light years from home, teleportation made space travel the most comfortable system of movement. The vessel was parked approximately ninety thousand kilometers from a radiating object in space. Its forward thrusters were firing continuously. The seemingly tiny pulsar was nothing more than a collapsed star that had compressed to a ball that was almost thirty kilometers in diameter.

Yet, the pulsar was dazzling and dangerous to behold. The tiny spinning ball was brighter than most objects in space. Two great polls of light were beaming from it and flying out into the depths of nothingness. Deadly x-ray radiation and pulsar winds of the highest degree was being flung out from the polls as the sphere spun. This made the object turn into a giant lighthouse that was dangerous to all known forms of life. The UHN Opet was standing at a fair distance, but even this was taxing on the vessel. As the polls of light would spin and illuminate it, the ship’s bubble-like shields would light up to repel the harmful radiation. Even with this measure, though, the vessel was getting continually bashed by the powerful bursts of light.

“Computer, gather as much information as possible on the pulsar,” Opet said as she was looking at the great display. “How long can the ship’s shields hold and block the radiation before it breaks through?”

A display showed up that showed the numbers. Raavi could see the numbers of about twenty minutes and twenty-two seconds appear as it was going down.

“Good,” Opet continued. “Maintain this orbit and scan the pulsar as much as possible. Be ready to teleport to Constellation Serientus Gamma.”

She sighed as she looked at the celestial phenomenon. The massive overhead screen would dim the light of the pulsar as it spun and beamed its light towards the ship. It was dim enough that even Raavi didn’t have to squint his eyes at it every time it struck the vessel. There were little particle effects that appeared where he could see the x-rays splash against the shields. It was a constant reminder that life was precious. It was both a wonder and beauty to see but a harmful beast to be near.

“Another pulsar?” Raavi remarked.

“Mmm...” she explained. “I always find these pretty to be near. They are like beating hearts of stars that still struggle to live. Where some may see death in them, I still see life.”

He wrapped his arms together. “I always find it odd to hear you say that. Pulsars always tend to be little nuisances out here. They just illuminate everything and bring harm to whatever it’s near.”

“I know ... but unlike black holes, I still see the light from them. Look ... Computer, scan the radiation being given off from the nearby pulsar and convert it to audio so we can hear it.”

The computer began processing the data that it was scanning from the glowing object. There was a brief audio sound of a deep bass drum that would come in and out. Each time the light would hit the ship, it would create the deep thump sound that would echo through the bridge. This would occur almost every second as the light beams spun from the spinning core of the pulsar.

“Do you hear that?” she said with a smile. “It sounds like a heartbeat. It is almost in the same rhythm as our own. Isn’t that right?” she said as she put her hand to her distended stomach.

Raavi looked over to his wife’s belly. Bearing triplets, her stomach was much bigger now than ever before. Where there was one over a year ago, there were now three that resided in her. His patience was more vital than ever before as he knew that the time was getting closer to coming to an end.

“Yes,” he said as he continued to listen to the drumming rhythm in the bridge. His eyes returned to the screen.

“I have enjoyed all this time being out here,” Opet said. “In another month, we will return back to New Olympia. All the data that we have received ... hopefully it will reach the rest of the mortals in the years to come.”

There was a long pause as Raavi averted his eyes at the display. The constant flashing light was still producing a strobe-like effect on his eyes. He instead focused his attention on his wife. She was still looking at the screen.

“I admit, I feel like we just left a month ago, even if it has been a whole year,” he said. “Over a thousand star systems fully cataloged.”

“And there are over five hundred billion more in just the Milky Way Galaxy,” she said as she shook her head. “We managed to explore more this year than our first mission, but even in the end, we have just scratched the surface.”

“We at least did more than Gabatrix ever accomplished,” he said. “Being back on Aphadus ... I would have never imagined this ever happening.”

She turned to look at him. She extended her hand to him. “I can’t even imagine being separated from you, my dear husband,” she said.

He went and gripped her hand. He turned to look at the pulsar.

“It just keeps going, doesn’t it?” he asked.

“It will continue to function that way until it finally collapses into a black hole, or if it doesn’t encounter anything else for the next several hundred billion years, it will simply burn out. Most pulsars that spin like this are already devoid of anything. It is lonely out here even if other objects are in this system.”

“Eventually, it will all become like this?”

“Yes, it will. By then, you mortals will become something else, and so will we. Even a star can be restarted if you have the right ideas and abilities. This ship and our abilities ... even with all our technology and magic, simply can’t cover the grounds of how much is out there. And to think, we haven’t even checked out the other galaxies yet.”

“Hmmm...” She thought. “Computer, what is your analysis on the percentage of data acquired on the pulsar?”

The data showed to be about 85% of the information uploaded into the computer. Raavi looked at the data on the status of the ship.

“Our shields are down to 81% so far,” Raavi remarked.

“We will leave as soon as we get the last of the data,” she said. “Come on. We have seen a pulsar or two already now, haven’t we?”

“True ... but we haven’t been this close to one.”

“The only way to learn is to be up close to it.”

“I am amazed,” Raavi commented. “This ship is so strong and tough against the Itreans and their firepower, and yet it can’t survive against this.”

“This pulsar is way more powerful than the energy generated in just the dreadnoughts we use. Computer, zoom in on the display past the magnetic poles. Display the energy output on the magnetic field.”

The schematic that was being shown was astounding for her. Raavi had a more challenging time understanding it, but he could see the dazzling blue lights of the pulsar’s surface. There were hints of purple and red in the colors as it continued to shine brightly. For something that was so small, the celestial object packed a lot of energy. She was trying to translate the data.

“Let’s see here. There is enough power in the pulsar that for every square centimeter, it is equivalent to an older style nuclear reactor. With a couple of cubic meters, you would have more power than humanity ever generated in its entire lifetime.”

“Whoa!”

“And the surface temperature is way over a billion degrees Kelvin, hotter than most other objects out there.”

“Incredible...”

“Yes, nature has a pure beauty to it. Alone, the pulsar serves as a lighthouse in space. They become guideposts that even the computer uses to help calculate our location in the galaxy. Even your ancient Voyager probe had the star charts of nearby pulsars to help triangulate humanity’s location just in case an alien race was to ever discover it.”

“Heh...” He scuffed a little bit. “Aliens like the Itreans.”

“Hmmm...” She shook her head. “The Itreans didn’t know our location because of one lone probe or the countless others used in turn. In fact ... with the discovery that they found, the humans and Itreans were bound to find one another eventually.”

“Yeah...”

There was a beeping sound as Opet turned her head toward the bridge door. “Looks like Aegus is here to relieve us. Computer, silence the audio of the pulsar.”

With that, the audio ended, and the doors slid open. Raavi turned to see the blue Haetae as he proceeded down the top floor stairs to reach their location.

“I don’t know about you,” Opet commented. “But, I am thinking of a romantic night in the simulator together.”

Raavi smiled at her. “I can’t argue against that. Any idea of the location?”

“Hmm ... I will surprise you.”

He patted Opet’s leg as they both stood up. Opet’s pregnancy was making it a little bit hard for her to stand up, but her powerful legs were winning out. They turned to look at Aegus. Her large crocodile tail slumped to the ground.

“You didn’t bring Jade and Layla with you,” Opet remarked as he saw him alone.

Aegus waved his hand at her. “Layla is wanting to take turns watching over our son,” he said. “Jade will be here in another thirty minutes.” He stopped and looked at the massive display. “Near a pulsar...” he paused as he looked at the data and status of the ship.

“We are finishing up gathering data of the Grisey Pulsar.”

“Shields are currently at 77% ... bringing it in a little close, aren’t we?”

“We are safely out of its gravimetric sheering,” she explained. “We are safe to teleport at any time. Course has been set to the Serientus Gamma Constellation ... star system SGCK-32.”

“The other side of the Milky Way Galaxy...” He remarked as he folded up his arms. His tail wagged as his tone was serious. “Hmmm ... I prefer we get a chance to investigate more of Constellation Harlitin Alpha for today.”

“There you go with wanting to go into Itrean territory again,” she waved her finger almost to scold him playfully. “You know that I can’t allow that.”

“Fine...” He said as he waved his hand for them to leave the bridge. He did not display anger at her. It was just a simple way for him to continue to recommend ideas that Opet could not allow.

The computer finished its diagnostic readings of the nearby pulsar. Aegus could see that there was no further need to be here. He went ahead and decided to end it.

“Computer,” he said. “Take us to our next destination, SGCK-32 of the Serientus Gamma Constellation. Initiate teleport at your earliest convenience.”

With that, there was a momentary hum in the ship. It was a constant sound that Raavi was used to in his entire time of exploration. The whole light of the pulsar began to bend towards the display. Raavi was all too familiar with teleportation. Much like the teleportation of the mythics, the ability to jump from one location to another was instant. It was even faster than the ability to fold space. The catch, of course, was to ensure that others didn’t see it.

Suddenly, a bright flash of light erupted from the display, causing Raavi to squint his eyes a little bit. The ship instantly teleported from one location to another. A mere jump that was made of over 30,000 light-years was made like it was nothing. The bright light faded quickly to reveal a new region of space devoid of the pulsar’s flashing light. The last remains of the x-ray bursts bled off the shields as the ship’s teleportation was complete.

In the far distance was a yellow dwarf star. Much like former Earth, these stars were uncommon to see compared to the red dwarfs that were just about everywhere. In the far distance was a planet, but it was hard to tell with the darkness of space. The brightness and hue of the star caused the world to appear dark.

“Hmmm...” Aegus ordered. “Computer, run your scans of the system. Provide data on the celestial objects of everything picked up in the star’s orbital ranges.”

Raavi and Opet decided to head upstairs towards the overhead balcony that would overlook the bridge. Even with her pregnancy, she could still move around very easily, but the stairs were the only thing that slowed her down. Even Raavi would provide a hand to her as she moved her way up.

“Nothing like a good workout for the children,” she told him. “I need to keep up with the exercising. Even the mythics might feel better if they get out and run around a little bit.” They reached the top of the stairs as Opet grunted a little bit. “Perhaps, we may need an elevator instead?”

She breathed a sigh of relief upon walking up to the balcony edge. Raavi stood beside her as she was looking at the display.

“Hmmm... , “ Aegus remarked as he was overlooking the data. His fingers were pressed to his furry chin. Even Opet was looking at the words that were being provided on the massive overhead display. It was hard to read, so she turned to the projector.

“Computer, provide the data analysis on the projector,” Opet said as she walked up to it. Her tail briefly touched Raavi as he was curious as to what she saw.

A three-dimensional model was displayed of the solar system that they were in. The star could be seen, but at least seven other planets were in a circular orbit with it. As more data flowed in, the objects were being put up. The data, however, was getting odder and odder that even Raavi was beginning to notice.

As the ship was processing the data quickly, the information was being altered of the planets. Smaller objects were beginning to appear that were in orbit of the planets. The worlds were also changing as the environments were being shown.

Among two of the three closest worlds that were in orbit had been cracked and shattered. Raavi could tell that the planet that they were overlooking was the fourth planet in the system. This world was gaseous, but there was additional debris that was being depicted. Opet showed a look of concern in her eyes as she looked through the information. Her smiles had ended as she put her hand to her snout.

More of the data showed the detail of the second planet in general. Not only was it cracked, but it was as if something powerful slammed into it. Rocks and other fragments were scattered around in its orbit.

“These planets were intact once,” she said almost in a whisper. It was barely enough for him to hear.

“Could this have been natural?” Raavi asked.

“No ... picking up radiation and heavy impact craters on the worlds. The information shows that the planets naturally formed when the star did. The star does not indicate instability. The data on the third world shows the same thing.”

More information was being shown as tiny dots were appearing on the screen. The detail of the planets was enormous. There were at least thousands of remote derelict objects in orbit.

“There was life on the two worlds once,” she continued. Her voice was louder. “Picking up organic decay. The impact craters are over hundreds of thousands of years old.”

“Those tiny dots are remains of vessels,” Raavi remarked as he pointed at it.

“Yes ... it only means one thing,” Opet said as her eyes lit up.

She turned away from the projection screen and walked up to the balcony edge. She gripped the fence and looked at the massive display as Aegus was properly analyzing it. She looked pensive as Raavi even had a thought of what it was.

“Aegus, let’s leave now,” Opet told him.

There was a look of agitation in his eyes as he turned and looked up at Opet. “You know what this is, don’t you?” he asked her.

“Yes, it is. We are in dead space,” she explained.

“This is an opportunity to study their ancient weapons,” he countered. “The Itreans never look back at their destruction. All they leave is this...”

He waved and gestured his hand at the screen. Raavi knew what he was talking about. It was the oldest of the Itrean territories of long ago. Following the T’rintar clan database, this was a massive region of space where there was no life. It stretched for thousands of light-years on the other side of the Milky Way Galaxy. The name was appropriate for what they called it. They reached the edge of some forgotten place that the Itreans might have called home. It was little more than a graveyard now. It was a time period where the aliens used any and every superweapon that they could use. Nothing mattered as they tried to exterminate the other clan races with whatever means possible. These weapons were so powerful and so destructive that they would never use them again by today’s standards. It was better to leave a world intact than to obliterate it. A planet was a planet, after all, and making sure that you had land beneath your feet was still more critical than razing a place to debris. Regardless, the worlds were a reminder of this almost forgotten savagery.

For Raavi, it was a cold moment for him. Where there was life once hundreds of thousands of years were nothing but destruction. He knew exactly why Opet wanted to leave, and he knew that it would be challenging to convince Aegus.

“Aegus, we are in Itrean territory,” Opet said as she waved his hand at him. “Get us out of here.”

“Ugh...” Aegus said as he put his hand to his side. “I must protest this action. We must get a chance to study this place.”

“This isn’t my order. It is the council’s order. We were told to explore and not recon the Itreans.”

“This is abandoned space,” he countered. “The Itreans never come back here. They moved away more and more in their ancient history to a closer proximity to our worlds. To them, they look at this as garbage.”

The more and more Raavi looked at the scene on the projection and the overhead display, the more he felt unease. A cold chill began to rise within him. Unlike the pulsar, this was a place of death. It was ominous looking at these worlds as more and more data was being put up. Another planet on the projection was displayed to be fragmented as if some giant object was slammed into it. The power of these ancient weapons was terrifying. It would have taken massive siege weapons with more firepower than anything the UHN could ever field. Even the New Olympian’s power may very well be drawn into question if it could match it. He could imagine the millions or billions that may have once lived in this solar system that were obliterated.

“Aegus,” Opet argued with him. “I might be a lower rank than you, but I can still inform the council of your actions. Pull out of this sector.”

“What a waste...” Aegus remarked as he shook his head. “So be it. Computer set a course for Sector ZKGZ-80 and teleport us to there.”

With that, Opet relaxed her composure. “Thank you, Aegus,” she said as she settled down. She was careful with her words. Raavi could see that she was trying to be friendly but professional. She turned around and looked at her husband. She felt a sense of relief as she began to proceed out the door.

The last of what he heard from the bridge was the ship’s familiar hum preparing to teleport. They walked to the door as the couple left the room together. By the time the door slid closed, Opet had begun to shake her head a little bit as she looked at her husband.

“That is the second time we reached dead space,” Raavi commented to her.

“I know ... the last time was two months ago,” she explained. “An entire solar system that had been ravaged and ripped apart by war.”

“It confirms what the T’rintar clan reported in their shared databases. We are near the area of nothing.”

“Which is why I don’t want to have to be there. It reminds me too much of Earth. The Itreans learned from their mistakes in those places. It took them so long before they finally learned that blowing up planets got them nowhere. All it did was just kill the innocent and made things worse.” She breathed a sigh of relief. “Even being in those areas, I feel like it draws on your life force.”

“We might end up seeing it again at this rate,” he told her. We almost encountered the Itreans once about three months ago.”

“I know ... the Aksren clan cloaked battleship that was tailing us in the Cat’s Eye Nebula. I am thankful that they only got so much information from us before we jumped.”

They looked down the passageway to see another person that was walking towards them or at least was heading towards the bridge. She was human and wore comfortable clothes with her. Her facial features were that of a person that was born in former Argentina. Raavi knew it was Jade by the looks alone. Aegus’s wife, or at least one of his wives, would join him for his watch. It had been long after she had given birth, and she was back to a flat stomach again.

“Hello, Jade,” Raavi greeted her.

“Hello, Raavi. Hello, Opet,” she greeted in her faint Palieran accent. She had a happy and polite smile as she walked past them and towards the door. Both Opet and Raavi walked down the passageway to their quarters.

“So much has happened these last couple of months alone,” Opet said. “Akari gave birth, and so did Jade.”

“How much longer before you do too?” Raavi asked.

She patted her stomach. “Not much longer.”

They reached the door that led to their room. It slid open as they walked inside. Raavi took his shoes off as Opet used her powers to change her clothing to her familiar white dress. The dress itself was more revealing than the uniform. He could see her gray skin much more easily. Her pregnancy was way more pronounced as she often placed her hands to her belly for refuge. Even her breasts were slightly larger now.

“It is good to be done with the watch,” she said. “I was thinking of some changes with the clothing now that my pregnancy is reaching near full term.”

Raavi simply felt a sense of happiness as he touched his beard. “What do you mean?”

“Computer,” she commanded. “Show me a full-sized mirror reflection of myself.”

With that, a large pane of reflective projected glass appeared. She put her hands to her side as she stood proud. “I am Opet...” she said with a sense of pride. “I am the great goddess of Egypt. I am strong and powerful. Bask in my glory,” she commented as she looked at the reflection of herself.

She used her hands and emitted a glow to it. She placed it to the midriff of her dress where her protruding stomach was. The dress began to shift so that it wrapped around her breasts and lower extremities. This caused her belly to be fully exposed. This, in combination with her headband and peace necklace, was inviting to see for Raavi.

“What do you think, husband?” she asked him.

She stood to the side as she placed her hands on the bottom portion of her gray skin stomach. It looked like she was holding onto an overinflated basketball. There was a form of grace and beauty that he could see within her when she did it.

“I think you look incredible,” Raavi remarked with a smile.

She held up her snout and raised it as she held the pose. “Computer, take a picture of me like this.”

It was quick and instant. Standing like the ancient statue of her mother, there was a strong sense of familiarity. Her woven hair and crocodile tail were among the significant differences, obviously.

“I think,” she said as she turned to him. “After this mission, I will go ahead and end my service for now. We will live on New Olympia together as we raise our children in peace.”

Raavi felt a sense of happiness ride him. “That is wonderful to hear.”

She smiled at him. “I feel that I have accomplished much out here. Even if it was just exploring things and things became mundane, you have always been happy.”

“Who would get command of the ship?”

“I don’t know. I thought it would be Aegus, but it sounds like he will be getting command of the UHN Mnemosyne. Fumi is going to be getting command of the UHN Vishnu.”

“Really? They are finally going to let her command it?”

“Yes, much to her excitement.”

“Boy...” Raavi remarked as he folded up his arms. “Aegus didn’t give much indication of it.”

“Yet. I don’t know. He has been eager as always to see if he can get more information about the Itreans. This mission only had the odd occurrences here and there but not enough to satiate his desire for knowledge. Once he gets command of the Mnemosyne, he will be stuck in orbit like the rest of the crews. It is something he would be happy to get command, but this process of exploration will come to an end.”

Raavi looked around the room. “I admit. I am going to be missing this place.”

“Look at it this way. More time for us to properly spend with our children. I want to make sure that they will have our full wanted attention.”

“So much has happened these several months. I am happy my family is alright after the attack on A...”

He was interrupted by a beeping sound that was emitted in the room. Opet looked at the mirror. She had a bummed out look to her as she walked over to the couch in the living room. Raavi knew that it was someone important that was trying to contact her from New Olympia. He decided to go ahead and have a set next to her to see who it was.

“Computer, close the reflection. Open up a channel to the communication signal that is being sent to us.”

The mirror evaporated into thin air as a new projection screen materialized in front of them. The colored pinwheel and paw print appeared on the screen to indicate that the computer was synced up to the channel. A message stated that it was from New Olympia and that it was from family.

The screen revealed that of what looked like a reflection of Opet. In the display was that of another anthro hippo that was like her. Unlike Opet, however, her hair was straight down. It flowed down to her shoulders and almost to her chest. She had a tattoo mark that was on her left eye. She wore a usekh around her neck and had a combination of pink and brown clothes that covered only her chest and lower extremities. Unlike Opet, she was pregnant as well but with just one child. She sat comfortably on her large chair with her crocodile tail that flowed down to her left side. Her left digitigrade leg was perched up to her right as she had a look of happiness on her face. Raavi only knew it as the one and only.

“Mother!” Opet replied with shock. “It is good to hear from you.”

“My precious daughter!” Taweret replied as she extended her arms wide. “I am so happy to get in contact with you. My...” her mouth was agape as she looked at her stomach. “Ah!” she exclaimed in glee as she put her hand to her heart. “Look at you. You look so stunning. You have outdone me.”

Opet seemed almost embarrassed at her mother’s comment. Raavi himself already knew enough of the two. Opet was always more reserved than her mother but only by so much. Taweret, on the other hand, was way more vocal and always seemed to let every person in the room know exactly what she was thinking.

“Thank you...” She said as her eyes looked away a little bit.

“Oh, look at you,” Taweret replied as she waved her hand. “It is alright to be that way. Being a mother has many wonderful advantages to it. We were made to bear children. As a mother for all time, I prefer to be in this state where I can help others where they need it.”

“I know. I know, mother.”

“And Raavi, Ah!” Taweret said. “Of the gods, look at that handsome face of yours. Seeing you two together, you just know how to warm a woman’s heart.”

“How is your day, Taweret?” Raavi asked him.

“How is your mother in law?” Taweret happily corrected him. “I thought you knew better than now.”

The smile was infectious from Taweret. Even if it was separated by 30,000 light-years, her energy seemed like it could consume the room that the couple sat in.

“Mmm...” she continued. “It is a wonderful day as always here. I went to the great dance hall they have set up here near the great town of Apricot on New Olympia. Oh, the lights they use, and the music is just great.”

“I am doing well, mother,” Opet told her. “We are about a month away from returning back to New Olympia ... I ... have discussed with my husband. I want to go ahead and settle down to have our children there.”

“Oh, I am so happy to hear of that!” Taweret replied. “I get to be around the kids all of the time. Oh, you had to see me when her and Stephen were together, Raavi. The children were absolutely adorable, and I look forward to having you with me here on New Olympia. I can’t wait to see you two and your kids together.”

Opet smiled at her. Compared to her mother, her energy was not as strong as hers. “We look forward to it too.”

“Aww, Raavi,” Taweret said as her focus was on him. “I can tell that look in my daughter’s eyes. Even Ahti did her best, but I knew that there was a part of her that was rambunctious, as I can clearly see in my daughter, Opet. She acts like she is serious and a goddess of nature at times, but...” she tapped her head. “I know better. She had one of the greatest parties in Egypt that made mine look like a simple sing-along at a child’s birthday. I was envious ... absolutely envious.”