Chapter 1

Princess Moonbeam stirred in the jellylike ooze inside the triple lined transport pod. She was experiencing periodic flashes of memory across her suspended consciousness. In the distance, the sound of an alarm bell was disturbing the delicate balance of her sleep cycle with infinite layers of arousal pricks pre-programmed by the shipboard systems.

The readouts from her physical organs scan and the blood analysis was top grade and the pod was operating at 99.99% of efficiency which was really 100% but the display didn't take the third number. Both the pilot and the co-pilot had transitioned quite a number of earth-years ago but their crumbling life-forms were still present inside their pressurized flight suits as if they were still alive and kicking. The backup auto pilot had been engaged for quite a long time. It was still functioning perfectly and was a credit to their advanced technology.

The ship brilliantly disguised as an errant meteor from the depths of space was not on any radar or any tracking station because it was far too small and much too typical of normal space-junk to be of any interest.

The star system of Princess Moonbeam's point of origin was one that had not yet been subjected to any sort of in-depth review for the possibility of existence of alien life-forms but that was not unusual because there were far too many to expect any sort of complete grading system. The concept of infinity was difficult to grasp but most of those concerned with such thoughts were looking more for signs of danger or trouble rather than establishing contact with others.

When she would exit the pod only six minutes and thirty seconds in Earth time in the future, Moonbeam would see the puddle on the deck that once was Prince Harrison. He was the most handsome of the sons of Quark II royal society and selected to mate with her on the new planet picked as a breeding station for their kind. At this point in the space-time continuum, it didn't look encouraging for Princess Moonbeam being able to follow that agenda without the handsome Harrison to assist her in mothering a new empire. The seeds of Quark would be sorely disappointed to be denied their casting web into the dark corners of surrounding star systems.

The jellylike suspension compound was beginning to bubble slightly now and Moonbeam's hand slowly reached up to scratch her nose still submerged in the icky stuff. There was a sound of hissing from the outer shell of the pod as pressure was released and the seal disintegrated. When the outer shell fell apart, her form could be easily seen if there was anyone alive to witness the re-birth. The inner two layers were transparent and her naked body was starting to twist from its face-up position into the face down stance needed for exiting from the third and final layer of protection.

The jelly was suddenly liquefied and drained from the bottom of the blossoming pod onto the deck not being able to pass through the scupper as remnants of the handsome Prince Harrison were still blocking the slits.

Moonbeam was up on her knees and elbows. Her startling white bottom was exposed as the jelly compound was sucked out of the pod. She shook her flanks and allowed her hanging breasts to swing in unison the way they did when she was back in training school on Quark II. Her eyes opened and she took in the horror of a transitioned crew and a soul-mate reduced to soup at her feet. Things were not A-OK onboard the fake meteor that was carrying her to the surface of planet Earth transforming into a meteorite of unknown origin.

"Shit!"

She expressed her feelings in Earth-speak using the English translation in her vocal cord implant. She was able to communicate in the 25 most common languages found on the strange planet of many languages and cultures. English was not her favorite language. It lacked the smooth flowing grace of the Romance languages like French or Spanish and was not well-suited to flowery insults and dirty words.

Stepping over the puddle that once was her beloved; she entered the cleansing stall and washed away the slime of the transport goo from her skin. She sucked in some of the potable water inside the anti-weightlessness stall and let the stuff drain from her internal systems in the normal manner for her Earth-like life form. Once she was completely clean, she exited and donned the skin-tight uniform of a full Major in the Quark II Star Exploration Force.

As the only survivor, Moonbeam considered the mission to be a probable failure by any standard of Quarkian measurement. It was distressing because she had so much wanted to begin the process of copulation she had heard so much about in her indoctrination classes. It was a process that had not existed on her world for many eons ever since the need for gender had disappeared. She fully liked her "female" status in this new role and was looking forward to steady and prolonged periods of cleaving with the handsome Prince Harrison on this new and exciting world of many contradictions.

She moved to the control panel and took over from the dubious auto-pilot. It was time to strap into the empty pilot's seat and bring this thing to a landing somewhere in the Western part of the large land mass called "America". Moonbeam never could quite grasp the concept of Americans speaking English when it was on the other side of wide water surface and not connected in any way with the old England described in her indoctrination flash tapes.