Chapter 1

The noise had finally ceased. However, the few survivors knew that it was merely the calm before the storm. They began to make their final preparations on the device. It began to hum mechanically before it burst to life. There, before the four remaining people and small child; a portal appeared. The adults all wept openly, knowing this may very well be the last time they ever saw one another. They placed the child within a small construct and attached 3 small metallic orbs to the underside of the craft. The craft sealed shut with the baby inside it. As they began to push it through the open portal a series of explosions rocked the planet's surface. The machine emitted terrifying arcs of electricity as some of the inner components became exposed.

The group forced the construct through the portal as it wavered and expanded. The baby began to cry as it passed through the portal only to be silenced when it blinked out of existence. Moments later the humming stopped as the machine ceased to work.

The construct whirled through the wormhole that consisted of a multitude of colors. All the colors seemed to blend into one another in huge swirling patterns that shifted back and forth. The colors abruptly ceased and the construct entered normal space. It began to slow itself until it came to a complete stop. A small screen blinked to life inside the constructs as its programs began to come on line. They started to monitor and evaluate each planet inside the solar system. As the construct picked the third planet in the Sol system it gave a small shudder as it altered its course.

It rocketed towards the selected planet and continued with more in-depth scans. The construct began nearing the planet known as Earth. It used all of its resources to obtain information from the current computer systems on the blue planet. As the craft drew nearer to the planet it decided on the continent of North America and aimed somewhere towards the southeast. The computer's memory banks began to fill to capacity as it absorbed all the knowledge available to its inhabitants while filtering out all the useless or wrong information.

A small stream of pale blue light emitted from the blinking monitor onto the child's forehead. The beam grew brighter and brighter and then suddenly ceased. The ship was beginning to near the atmosphere when a small piece of debris slammed into the bottom of the craft, causing one of the orbs to break away from the hull. It was sent screaming across the sky.

The construct set down in a small town in an ally by the local hospital. The construct's form began to change as it enacted its final commands. Its shape began to change into that of a wicker basket and a small book that appeared in the baby's lap. The small orbs that were connected to the underside of the construct were transformed into a choker around the baby's neck. A small cloth blanket covered the naked child.

"Hey guys I am going on a smoke break," the EMT worker told his partner. He walked around the corner of the building and nearly tripped over the basket. The baby looked up at the man and reached out its tiny arms. The man dropped his cigarette and let out a sigh.

"Hey Tom, we have a call man! We have to go now."

Tom picked up the basket and brought it around the front of the Hospital. He had heard of babies being left on the steps and wondered who would give up their child in this manner. He raised the basket in his hands so Sam could see what he had found. She looked a bit sad and nodded to him. She would let the dispatcher know what was going on so Tom could take care of his newfound problem.

Tom walked up to the Triage nurse and set the basket in front of her. She looked up from her papers to see what the problem was and clucked sadly.

"I'll take care of this Tom you go ahead and leave if you need to."

Tom nodded to Rebecca and headed towards the door. She picked up the phone and called the Department of Families and Children. She thought to herself that maybe this one would be given a chance.