Chapter 2

"Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life."

-Eric Hoffer

Six Months After Takas'na's Assassination

With the ping from his speakers indicating a newly arrived TransNet letter, Pre'tu awoke, turning the chair he had fallen asleep in towards the computer monitor built into his room's wall. He saved the progress he had made on the genetic tailoring program he had been using, and quickly pulled up his inbox. It was from the investigator in charge of his father's assassination.

"Dear Ecaep Family,

I once again express my sorrow to your family. Takas'na was a great man that will be missed. We have, however, finally made some headway into our investigation. The man, named Gerald Hughes, that killed Takas'na, was invited to the preliminary ratification as a representative of the opposition to the formation of the Inter-Galactic Alliance. It was not known at the time, however, that he was also a member of the extremist Terran political group called the Nazis. Most Terrans seem not to care for this group, even some of the more prejudiced ones; it has simply represented too much pain and suffering over the course of Terran history. Over eight hundred years ago, in the 20^th Earth century, these Nazis took over Germany, which is now one of the twenty or so political powers on Earth. However, at that time, there were more than a hundred countries on the Terran home world. The Nazis then spread from there to most of the continent of Europe, using superior military tactics and technology to overcome most of their enemies. This was known as World War II, and I'm sure you all know about it from your Xenoculture classes. Anyway, the Nazis were defeated. They remained an ever-present force through the 22^nd Earth century, mostly in the form of teenage gangs, who styled themselves as Neo Nazis. They were not so much a military threat as a domestic threat, and were basically ignored. In the late 22^nd Earth century, however, when the first Terran encounter with extraterrestrial life occurred, the popularity of the Nazis increased ten-fold. There was another war, this one claiming only two million lives- insignificant compared to the number lost during World War II. It was thought, after this war, that the Nazis would be gone forever. Not so. They just managed to hide themselves better. They've existed as an underground cult now for several hundred years, carefully disguising themselves from public view. Their more influential members managed to purchase a small asteroid field in which they made their primary base about a century ago. Since then, they have operated completely separately from the United World Governments of Earth. This assassin, Gerald Hughes, must have been trying to send a message that the Nazis were returning; he used an old German Luger to kill your father- it is a very, very primitive weapon. The Skree Council is attempting to get authorization to assault their asteroid bases, but unfortunately, the Galactic Council is forbidding military action. It is saying that the Nazis are simply another political group, and are not responsible for the actions of one of their members. I will contact you if I receive any further news.

Chief Inspector Taren'la"

Pre'tu sighed in resignation. So, they were going to let them get away with this. There was nothing Pre'tu could do, so he pulled up his genetic tailoring window, beginning to modify the genetic code displayed there. All Skree adolescents had to genetically modify themselves before they would actually be declared as adults. Most looked at it as non-important now, and just threw in standard strength augmenting lines, making them slightly superior physically. That was all Pre'tu was planning to do as well, until his father was killed. Now he planned to make many intricate and precise changes to his D.N.A., to make him not only stronger, but smarter. Normally, intelligence could not be modified through genetic therapy; geneticists did not like to mess with living brain tissue, and neither did computers for that matter. However, Pre'tu had devised his own way- he was going to create a small micro-sac in-between his shoulders that would include the biological equivalent to power lines, as well as a new nerve cluster. He could drop in a few computer processing chips, enhancing the resources his brain had to call upon. He had been working on his code tirelessly for a while now, and he was nearly finished. He had made a few changes that no one had even researched before... something that was outlawed under normal circumstances. He saved the code and logged out, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Tar'a smiled at him as she walked into his room unannounced.

"Working on your messed up genetic code again?" She asked him teasingly.

"My genetics are your genetics," he replied jokingly, "did you get the letter from the investigator?"

"Yeah. You know, this really smells. The Skree'Varian should send out the fleet anyway and blow those freaks away."

Pre'tu looked at his sister sternly. "You know that dad worked his posterior off to get the Galactic Council formed; we can't very well go against their decisions when we are the reason they exist. Besides, the English expression is 'this stinks, ' not 'this smells.' As long as you're here, by the way, I would like to perform the Ritual of Adulthood."

"You want me to be your witness?" She asked him in an incredulous tone. "And the expression is, 'worked his ass off.'"

"Why not?" He replied. "I would have asked dad to do it, as I require a first-degree relative, but since he is not here, you seem as good of a choice as any. Our mom has no interest in helping me with the ritual; she doesn't like how extensively I am changing my genetic code. According to the records, I am changing more than twice the genetic material as the currently most modified Skree."

"Is that level of change legal?" Tar'a asked in a conspiratorial whisper.

"Nope." He replied with a smile. "I'm going to become a felon just to be radical. Of course it's legal; I requested special authorization from the Council. Apparently, they still feel bad enough about dad's death to grant me a few privileges. Now, if you would please accompany me to the medical room..."

Tar'a nodded and followed him as he led the way to the small room down the hallway from his own. Most households would not feature a fully operational automated medical laboratory, but most households did not have funding directly from the Council due to a family member's death in the line of duty.

Tar'a frowned as Pre'tu took his seat on a metal chair that was surrounded by more than twenty different types of medical instruments and monitors.

"You know, this could really be dangerous brother."

Pre'tu's expression became stony as he replied. "So was our father's task, as was proven. I merely follow in his footsteps."