Chapter 1

Samuel Ray walked out of his house, waving to his neighbors. Getting into his car, he stretched his six-foot frame out behind the wheel. As he moved away from his house and neighborhood, little did he know it would be the last time he would see either of them.

High in orbit above the Earth, an unearthly craft hid among the satellites. Its sleek black skin absorbed all light and energy that came near it.

A tall, blonde, human-looking male nodded at the readout. “I think we’ve finally located the one on this planet that was giving off those energy readings.”

“It’s about time!” a smaller in height and frame female replied. “I want all bio-scanners on this one this time. No mistakes like last time,” the female hissed. “I’ll remove more than an ear this time!”

The male, a hand to the stub-like projection from the side of his head, nodded. “All scans now active, directed at the subject,” the male said as clearly as he could.

The female stood, walking up behind the male. “Hmm, this one has more markers than any we’ve seen before. I’m so glad I suggested we come to this primitive place.”

The male hid his face as he rolled his eyes. Her idea? Slightly shaking his head, he wondered how she’d go on without him. Most of her ideas were actually his.

A slash to his back let him know he hadn’t heard the last thing she’d said. “You worthless piece of scum! I told you to get him!” the female growled.

“I will, Mistress, as soon as he stops moving! We don’t want a repeat of last time, like on Penal-One,” the male said as he winced at the pain across his back.

“Hmm, you’re right. That cost enough to fix, plus we only got half of him. There was barely enough left alive for me to consume. Alright then, as soon as possible,” the female said with a smirk.

Arriving downtown, Samuel had just parked his car and was moving as quickly as he could away from it. A sudden crunching sound behind him caused Samuel to stop; turning, his mouth fell agape. The front half of the very car he’d been in was gone! Looking closer, Samuel saw a blue glow emanating from the rest of what was left of the vehicle.

Turning back toward the building, Samuel took a step to run; suddenly, he was enveloped in a reddish light. Blinking his eyes hard, he saw that he was somewhere else! Two tall, well-muscled women in strange uniforms were pointing strange guns at him. Both had startled looks on their faces that quickly turned to anger.

“Inona! Iza io?” the tall, blonde-haired woman of the pair said.

“Tsy azoko antoka,” the tall, Auburn woman next to the blonde replied.

When Samuel only stood there with his mouth open, the Auburn woman touched a button on the console. Just as quickly, a strange beam shot out of the bulkhead. “What the hell!?” Samuel almost shouted as he jumped back, the beam following him.

“Ah! Much better!” the Auburn-haired woman said. Pointing her gun straight at Samuel’s chest, unwavering, she started, “Now just who are you? Where is the criminal Mellos Thymp?!”

Shock registered on Samuel’s face as he swallowed hard. “Look, lady, I have no idea what you are talking about!”

A frown came over the Auburn woman’s face. “I am not one of these ladies that you speak of. I am Thellus Wron of the Intergalactic Patrol. This esteemed one,” Thellus said, indicating the blonde, “is our sector Commander, Drivas Flot. You WILL refer to her as Commander!” The Auburn woman pushed her gun barrel into Samuel’s ribs to emphasize her point.

“Sure! Whatever you say, lady,” Samuel said as he raised his hands and arms.

With a low growl, Thellus backed a foot away from Samuel. “Lower your arms now! You will be destroyed if you make an attempt to take my weapon! Now then, identify yourself,” this command came out rigidly.

Swallowing hard again, Samuel replied, “I am Samuel Ray, I work at the World Bank downtown.”

Thellus’s face hardened as her grip on the weapon tightened. “I know not of this ‘downtown’ on your planet; stop lying...”

“Enough, Thellus! Tell me, Samuel Ray, is the name of that planet ‘downtown,’ or does it perhaps have another name?” Drivas asked, indicating the blue and green planet visible through a huge window that dominated the wall.

“Oh my god!” Samuel exclaimed as he fell to his knees. “There’s no way!”

Drivas shook her head with a sigh. They would have to wipe this one when they were done, a most unpleasant duty. “So you know the name of your home, good. I’m sorry you’ve never seen it before. I apologize...”

“Huh? Of course, I’ve seen it; we all have. It’s just rare that anyone but military personnel gets to see this much of it these days,” an almost exasperated Samuel told Drivas.

“Ah! So your people are much further along then. Perhaps a wipe is unnecessary. So, please, what is its name?” Drivas smiled at him.

“We call it Earth,” Samuel replied.

A shocked, then worried look crossed Drivas’s face. Stunned, she turned toward Thellus and yelled at her, “Send him back NOW!” Drivas’s voice grew louder with each word.

“But Commander, shouldn’t we first...” a confused Thellus began.

“NO! NOW! Send him now before he emerges!” Drivas was now screaming.

Thellus nodded as she immediately pressed another button on the console. Another reddish beam enveloped Samuel, who stood there a moment with nothing happening. Looking down at his body, he noticed a golden glow emanating from within the red beam. Then, just as suddenly, he was standing back in the parking garage.

Shrugging, Samuel turned toward the elevator. Taking but a step, he was again enveloped in a blue beam. Again he shook his head, then rolled his eyes as nothing happened this time! Waiting a moment more, he shrugged again and stepped out of the beam, then walked away from it easily.

Mellos Thymp cursed as she kicked the male off his feet, then hard into the bulkhead. Landing with a thud, the male crumpled into a heap. “How dare you miss the target!” Mellos raged.

“Mistress Mellos, I didn’t miss!” the tall male protested. “My god! He’s reading almost the same makeup as you!” the male said as soon as he limped back to the panel.

Quickly snapping her head around, Thymp looked at the reading on the panel. Her eyes flew wide as she whispered, “My god, he’s reading more pure, if not more than myself! We must capture him at all costs!”

“Ma’am!” the tall man shouted, looking at another reading. “I’m detecting an Intergalactic Patrol command ship nearby!”

“Damn it!” Mellos said as she tracked the other ship. “So! It wasn’t your fault after all! Hmm, I might have to reward your efforts after all. Don’t count on it,” she sneered at the tall man, “though we’ll see.”

The tall man nodded, shivering at the promise of a reward. If it was anything like the last time, it would be well worth it!

Samuel looked at his watch. Damn it! That little delay was going to make him late! Opening the stairwell door when he saw that the elevator was at the top of the building, he cursed. Twenty-five floors!

Taking a step into the stairwell, Samuel was suddenly staring at the twenty-fifth floor’s door. What in the hell was going on?

Grabbing the door handle, Samuel pulled it in a hurry, seeing that he had a few more minutes before he was late. Suddenly gasping when not only the door, but the frame also came away from the wall in his hand! Crap! This day was getting stranger and stranger. Putting them aside, Samuel was glad he was at the back of the room where no one else was.

Several people stared, then snickered as they saw him pass on the way to his cubicle. Staring hard, Samuel sat with a thud when he saw that almost all the space on his desk was taken up with huge stacks of reports piled on it. Shaking his head, Samuel thought there had to be at least a week’s worth of work here!

His boss walked up at that moment. “Samuel, I need you to read, comment, then do a complete write-up on each of these.” Samuel groaned as the man started to walk away, then the man stopped, returning to Samuel’s desk. “Oh yeah, expect to stay after since you were the last in. You best have them all done when I come in tomorrow. I’m presenting them to the CEO.” With a snide laugh, the man walked away without a thought to what he’d just done.

“What an ass!” Samuel whispered under his breath, staring at his boss as the man walked away as if he had lost his mind. With a sigh, Samuel shook his head, reaching for the first report and a pen.

Thirty minutes later, Samuel put the last down then wrote a comment. Reaching for another, Samuel was surprised when there weren’t any more! Blinking and looking up, Samuel saw that he was completely done with all but the last write-up.

Again shaking his head, he thought about what he’d just read. Turning to his keyboard, he started to type at a furious pace. A mere two minutes later, he blinked again when he saw that he had eight pages done! Saving everything, he could only stare at all the work he’d finished. What in the hell was going on?

Thinking about the events of the day, he remembered the blonde Commander saying that he was emerging. I wonder what the hell that had been about? Too bad I can’t ask her, Samuel thought.

[“Who the hell is this?”] Came the sound of Drivas’s thoughts in her voice.

‘What the hell?’ Samuel thought, ‘just what was that?’

[“I will have you locked away! This is illegal telepathic communication with a commanding officer of the Intergalactic Patrol! Identify yourself or be prepared for immediate incarceration!”] Drivas’s thought said.

Shrugging, Samuel thought he might as well. [“This is Samuel Ray, I have a question for you.”]

[“Samuel Ray?”] Samuel swore he could almost feel Drivas swallow hard. [“I ... I will allow you one question.”]

[“You told Thellus that I was emerging ... What exactly did you mean?”] Samuel asked.

[“What!? You mean you don’t know? Then I am afraid I am not allowed to tell you. The patrol has been trying to find others like you for almost four hundred years. At present, there are only two left alive, yourself and the criminal Mellos.”] Drivas explained.

[“Only two like me? What do you mean?”] Samuel asked.

[“I’m sorry, I’ve already told you far too much.”] Drivas’s thoughts came through in a panic.

Sighing, Samuel was starting to get more than a little pissed. [“What the hell! Just tell me!”] Samuel’s thoughts asserted forcefully.