A Mental Release that Tears Space-Time

Finding One's True Self: Part 21

By Xan Steel

The day started off like any other on board the ACF Kestrel, as it came time to change shifts over to the morning crew. Julyna had been sitting in her Captain's office on the bridge for a good hour, waking up and preparing for her day, as her second officer came in with the night report for her to read. "Ah, thank you Gytaroo," Julyna said.

"Ma'am," Shi said in return.

Gytaroo is a Hyjorian the only asexual species in the galaxy that Daniel would say looked like a kangaroo. They never took mates and reproduce by budding, but only when necessary. "Go and get some sleep Gytaroo, you've had a long night." Julyna pleasantly said as Gytaroo thanked her and left.

The report mostly stated the usual things that they found in this sector of space, no planets capable of supporting life, however, the Alliance could send out a fleet of Mining ships to gather the ever abundant resources. 

She sighed, 'Well, only another thirteen star systems to explore.' She tiredly thought as she hit a button on the comm panel. "Tygera?" Julyna called out.

"Yes, ma'am?" she replied.

"Let's head for the next system on our list." Julyna politely ordered.

"Understood Captain." Tygera is a Phalynian and the First Officer with Tactical Training. She was sharp, quick thinking, strong willed, and not very diplomatic. Her fur is solid black, and her eyes were golden in color. Tygera is also the type to shoot first and ask questions later. The two of them made a good commanding pair in that aspect if a little unconventional at times, it always got positive results when they needed it too.

Julyna left the room and joined the rest of the crew on the bridge. The general shape of the bridge fit the layout of the ship. It was wedge shaped with a high ceiling and six large angled windows that gave a ninety-degree view. There was a large view screen in the middle front of the bridge for communication with other ships, or with Command. She sat in the middle and two-thirds back of the bridge, as Tygera sat to her lower left. 

Raybia a Bulorian, whose fur was a patchwork of grays, blacks, and cream colors, with mocha colored eyes. She sat to Julyna's lower right and was her chief pilot. 

Adreena a Tygorian, a species that Daniel would say was tiger-like had blue eyes and sat just up from Raybia on a lower level, and in command of communications and shield defense. 

Zalina another Derlenian, who had dark brown fur and a light gray pelt and somewhat red eyes, sat to her left and in front of Tygera and was in command of the weapon systems and sensors.

Julyna had been commissioned by Altair to scan this unexplored region of space, as there was a set of twenty-nine colonies that needed to be placed. This area was reported to have over four hundred star systems, but he told her to start with twenty-nine and report back on her findings. So far things were not looking good. Out of the sixteen systems, they had studied, not a single one of them supported life which made her work seem like an impossibility.

Raybia sighed as she ran her handpaws across the console to have the ship move on to its next destination. 

"Miss Raybia is something wrong?" Julyna asked in a concerned tone, even though she already knew the answer. 

"No ma'am just wishing for some excitement is all," she replied. Julyna smiled inwardly. 

It was at this moment, halfway to their next destination that the ship came to a sudden stop. 

Julyna looked at Raybia, "Miss Raybia did you halt the ship?" 

Raybia was looking over the console. "It's not me, the ship itself came to a stop." 

A warning Klaxon started sounding as red lights started flashing everywhere on the ship. Zalina cried out, "By the Master!" 

"What is it?" Julyna commanded. 

“Incoming telepathic wave!" Zalina excitedly announced.

“Where's it coming from!?" Julyna yelled as Zalina was silent while she looked at the console readout because she couldn't believe it. "ZALINA!!" Julyna yelled directly at her.

She jumped and turned to Julyna with a grave look and softly said. "Lady Iris." 

Julyna's eyes went wide at hearing her name, and the sudden emptiness in her mind that she was now picking up. She jumped up and ran to exit the bridge telling Tygera that she had command. 

Tygera turned to Zalina, "What's the strength of the wave?" 

"The system is unable to gauge the power of the wave correctly," Zalina replied while staring at the errors her console was displaying. 

Tygera then turned to Adreena, "Can the suppression system handle it?" she asked.

“I don't believe so, but just to be sure I'll need to push it past its limits, possibly burning the system out." she answered.

"Then do it, or this wave may kill us," Tygera said as Adreena nodded and did so.

Meanwhile, Julyna was running to Iris's quarters hoping to make it in time. She rounded the corridor and saw the door to her room, just as the wave hit. She could hear and feel Lady Iris's pain in her mind. Julyna watched as several crew members fell to the floor unconscious, as waves strength caused her to fall to her knees. She struggled to get to Iris's door, and once she got there she felt the suppression system kick in, which lessened the pain, but she still felt Iris projecting strongly. 

Julyna punched in the emergency code to open her door, and once it open she could hear her crying out in agony. She got up and slowly walked into her living room area where she was meditating and knelt in front of her. "Iris, please control yourself, you're hurting others on the ship!" Julyna begged. 

Iris looked up at her as her tears flowed unhindered, “He took my Rubi from me!" She yelled as she was holding the blade that had been used on him, covered in a red liquid. Julyna looked at it as the smell of Rubicant filled her nose. She instantly put her forehead to Iris's, "Share!" Iris shook her head. "Damn it share your pain with me. I need to know!" she demanded.

Iris reluctantly gave in, and at that moment Julyna knew everything and started to cry herself. By sharing the pain between the two of them, the wave had lessened a great deal. Or so they thought.

In a distant part of the galaxy on a small space station. The GrandMaster feel to his knees as he felt Lady Iris let loose with her mental energy. He struggled painfully trying to keep it contained as best he could, 'Damn she's strong' he said to himself. 

"MASTER!" a nearby student said and ran over to him.

"DON'T TOUCH! JUST PREPARE MY SHIP!" he said excitedly. The student obeyed as he began to refocus her wave to bleed it off into an unexplored region of space. Not knowing what would happen as a result of concentrating that much mental energy into one spot.

Meanwhile, in that region, about ten light years from the Kestral. A tear in Space-Time began to form, getting larger and larger, and drawing in nearby free roaming plasmas, as it appeared to make a new nebula, but once it was large enough, a bright flash appeared. Transforming it into a violent whirling tunnel of energies, as electrical discharges danced throughout it.

In another galaxy, a small ship traveling at warp speed, carrying a crew of four in stasis that was heading to their new home world. Hit the other end of this tunnel, and plowed full speed into it. In a short span of time, it passed through the other end, severely damaged. The only part of the tiny ship that had managed to survive somehow was the main hull, where the four stasis units were.

Meanwhile, Julyna had taken Iris to Medical to have the doctor examine her and the blade she was still holding. Iris was out cold as Julyna laid her on the examination bed, while Dr. Mortora a female Sylurian, one that Daniel would say was a type of reptilian race, with bluish-green scale-like skin and yellow eyes, began her examination. "What the hell happened to her? She's managed to break every one of her mental restraints." Mortora's tone was one of disbelief.

Julyna was there watching Mortora and answered her calmly, "Anger. Her Ex may have killed Rubicant." 

Mortora asked in the same tone, "Wait, isn't that the male on Travaina IV that you mentioned having a relationship with, correct?"

"Yes, Iris, Altair, and myself are involved with him," Julyna answered.

A four-way relationship she thought, even in the best of times those were hard to maintain. Julyna's tone and mood changed to an angry one, "What I want to know is how she was able to pull that weapon he used on him, as well as it being covered in what I can only assume is his blood, through her meditation?" 

Mortora just shook her head. "I don't know Captain, Derlenian telepathy has never been adequately studied because your GrandMaster doesn't wish it to be."

Julyna began to pace the small examination room as Mortora started to run the blood through a series of tests as Tygera came over the comm system. "Captain you have an incoming communication from a Detective Ohm on Travaina IV." 

Julyna walked over to a nearby console. "Patch him through." 

A short pause as he appeared on the small screen that was facing the Examination room. "Detective," she greeted.

"Captain, I can only assume you either know as much or more about what happened here last night," She nodded. "Can you explain it, please?" he asked.

Julyna recounted the full details to Ohm as well as showing him the weapon, and how Lady Iris responded to her Ex's attack. "Thank you, that helps me out allot. Is there any way I can get the weapon at some point?" Ohm asked.

"I'll send it to you as soon as." Julyna started until Mortora interrupted her. 

"CAPTAIN!" 

Julyna hung her head as her voice showed her anger for being interrupted, "WHAT!" 

"I'm sorry, but you need to see this," Mortora said as Julyna turned to look back, as well as making sure Ohm could see as well. 

She looked at the display screen that was showing two different DNA strands. "What am I looking at?" Julyna asked.

"On the left side is his DNA. It's a double helix strand, and on the right is Derlenian DNA. It's a triple helix strand." Mortora explained.

Ohm spoke up. "So he's not compatible." 

"No watch." She had the computer bring the strands together, as Julyna and Ohm watched as the computer mapped out every major component of both strands as they matched up perfectly. "He's one hundred percent compatible. He's capable of producing hybrid offspring with Derlenian females." While knowing this did bring a small bit of happiness to Julyna, it didn't last. "Now here's the real shocker." Mortora separated the two strands and then touched a spot on Rubicant's DNA as it zoomed in to display a protein. 

Julyna lost her composure. "No, no." She shook her head. "Don't you dare tell me what I think that is." 

"I'm sorry, but he carries the protein your species needs to survive. He is your Progenitor," Mortora finished. 

Ohm spoke in a surprised tone. "He's the very thing he doesn't want to be, and this would explain why your GrandMaster has an interest in him."

Iris woke up and grabbed Mortora by her lab coat and pulled her down baring her teeth at her very uncharacteristically and spoke. "You will not mention this to anyone Doctor is that clear." 

"I'm sorry, but the Alliance needs to know," she explained.

Her voice was stern, "No you will keep quiet until I arrive, I will not lose this one!"

Julyna caught on quickly. "GrandMaster?" 

Iris's head turned to look at her. “Yes, my student, this is to be kept quiet, only those who are involved with him need to know. I will be arriving in a few days time." At which point Iris passed out again. 

Mortora leaned up again and looked at Julyna. "Captain I." 

Julyna calmly interrupted her. "Don't even say it, as of right now we only have a piece of debris with some blood on it. Is that clear?" 

"Yes, Ma'am." 

She turned back to Ohm. "Sorry about that Detective." 

"It's fine. When you have the time, and you don't need it, send me the weapon." Ohm requested.

"Of course and thank you." She finished as she closed the link and left for the bridge.

As much as Mortora wanted to argue, the Captain was right. All they had was a blood sample. She sighed as she continued to work on Iris and making sure her mind wasn't damaged when she broke through her mental restraints. When she thought about it, it was weird that this DNA was a complete match, and that Julyna, Iris, and Altair all knew this unknown male intimately. Not to mention their GrandMaster was worried about losing this one. She looked back at her data on the screen. Perhaps a second opinion was needed, but would it be a good idea to send a sample over subspace communications without permission? No, she would wait and bring it up to Julyna later when she had a better way to explain why she wanted a second opinion.

As Julyna entered the bridge, Tygera told her she had a private communication from Admiral Altair waiting in her bridge office. Once she closed and sealed the door, she had it sealed from entry unless permission was granted. She sat down at her desk, she turned a monitor towards her and accepted the link. Altair appeared on the screen from their home. They looked at each other for a moment before he spoke, "I take it you know why I can't sense Rubi." She nodded wordlessly. "What happened?" he asked.

Being able to see him allowed her to mentally send him everything that had occurred in the last few hours. When she finished, he sat there quietly taking in everything. She wiped away tears that had started to form. She desperately wanted to hold him right now for some comfort, because if it was true about what Juren had said, then he was dead. He looked back at her as he felt her need to be with him. "Sweetie, listen, we don't know if he's truly gone. For now just continue as normal. We have some shore leave coming up together, and once you finish the survey mission, we'll meet up ok." His soothing tone helped her relax a bit, as he watched her wipe away more tears and tried to regain herself. 

Tygera's voice is heard over the comm system, "Captain sorry to interrupt, but Zalina is getting a very faint distress signal about ten light years away." 

Julyna shook herself and cleared her mind. "Tygera, you know Alliance protocol, follow it," Julyna commanded.

"Yes, ma'am setting course," Tygera replied.

Once the link closed out, she got a familiar presence in her mind. Her eyes went wide eyed as she turned to look out her port window. "It. It's him," she excitedly said.

"How can you be sure?" Altair asked.

"Can't you feel him?" He closed his eyes to concentrate and began to feel him again before she continued. "How am I going to keep this from the Alliance like the GrandMaster wanted, especially since he carries the protein?" She asked. 

He didn't have an answer for her, "If the GrandMaster doesn't want the Alliance knowing, then that is how it needs to be, your crew needs to understand this." He replied in a relaxed manner. 

She nodded while getting herself cleaned up. "I love you, sweetie," she said. 

"And I love you. Be careful and watch yourself," as Altair closed the link.

Julyna returned to the bridge just as they were approaching the damaged vessel. "Report," Julyna commanded.

Zalina spoke, "The ship is severely damaged, and I'm picking up a faint power source from four stasis units, the rest of the ship is dead power wise. Also, there is also a Quantum Vortex three hundred kilometers away." 

Tygera spoke up, "How big is the vessel in question?" 

"In its current state, it's about the size of a large fighter. We can either bring it into the shuttle bay or one of the cargo bays with outside access." Zalina finished. 

Julyna turned to Raybia and asked, "Miss Raybia can you manage to get the vessel into Cargo Bay 3 without the use of a tractor beam?" 

Raybia's eyes lit up with excitement. "I'll need to use the XZR system!" 

Julyna give her permission to do so as she watched her bound up to the front with such energy. Raybia activated a larger console with multiple screens and flight sticks. This system gave her more control over the ship than the regular system, as this system activated over twenty-five extra thrusters all across the hull of the ship as well as several dozen visual devices. So she could literally see from any direction. 

"Captain I need Cargo Bay 3 secured and the artificial gravity deactivated. This way the ship doesn't drop and damage us, once it's behind the environmental force field." Raybia stated. 

Julyna sent word down to the cargo bay crew to get it prepared. Everyone on the bridge watched Raybia bounce all over the controls, as Julyna could feel her happiness swell as she finally got to be in her element. 

They continued to watch as she got the rotation of the ship to match the little ship, as Tygera closed the windows of the bridge with the blast shields, to prevent upset stomachs from a spinning star field. 

They all watched Raybia do her magic as she slowly managed to get the small ship inside the cargo bay. "Activate Cargo Bay gravity on my mark," Raybia said over comms. 

"In 3, 2, 1, Mark." The gravity was activated just as she had managed to get the small ship to touch down on the floor causing no damage to either ship. Once they secured the small ship, she brought the Kestral back in line with the galactic plane. Julyna commended her for her expert piloting skills, which made Raybia beam brightly.

A short while later Julyna had managed to get down to the Cargo Bay with a security, engineering, and medical detail. Iris was the with the medical detail, as Julyna walked over to her. "Are you sure you are up to this?" She asked. 

Iris had nodded before she spoke, "I need to be here for him. We need to find a way to remove his cranial fluid before we remove him from stasis." 

Julyna nodded as she pulled her into a hug. “All right, try and remain calm though, ok?" 

Iris nodded as Julyna turned and gave out orders to both the security and engineering detail to secure the vessel before sending in the medical detail. A short while later the medical detail gave a sad report. Only one of the four-person crew had survived. Daniel or Rubicant they knew him, they saw in a visual display. Julyna and Iris both knew this would tear him apart if he found out that his Te'dar didn't survive their trip, but they knew they couldn't keep it from him forever. For now, they took his unit to medical to begin taking care of him.