Chapter 5

Kess never liked the way her world was run however on her world she could do nothing about it. Kess' childhood was not an easy one, for she was the only daughter of a ruling dictator and his wife and kess was a woman. Females were not respected whatsoever. No female was aloud to command a starship let alone set foot on one. Kess did not like this rule, she knew that she wanted to fly a magnificent starship but every time she would mention this to her father he would beat her raising big gray welts on her back. Kess soon realized that it was her father's fault that she would never achieve anything; even at the age of ten Kess was being fitted for suitors. She knew good and well that her family linage was important, strong, and powerful it was just she wanted to fall in love, not be suited. Kess' father had been infected by a human when he was younger, and after Kess was born she had the human infection as well.

When Kess turned eleven she hid on a trading vessel she thought was heading to earth. But when she got up to look after they landed she was attacked, put in shackles and knocked out. When Kess awoke she was tied in chains to a stone podium in the center of a slave trading ring. She was scared to death, she had heard stories of these rings, and not many children survived their first few years with a slaver. As Kess looked around she saw there was a boy tied up as well. He was placed several feet a way from Kess, just waiting to be bought. Kess didn't realize it at the time but there were several humans in this crowd of buyers. After around ten minutes a tall, thin, blue, monkey tailed man came out and began, "WELCOME! ALL YOU LOVELY PEOPLE, LADIES GENTLEMEN AND ANYTHING IN BETWEEN THESE TWO ARE A CATCH YOU WILL LOVE TO RECEIVE. NOT ONE BUT TWO SAPACIAN CHILDREN, RIPE FOR THE PICKING. DO I HEAR 200 RONES, I SEE 200, DO I HAVE FOUR, I HAVE FOUR HUNDRED, SIX... SEVEN... TEN THOUSAND... GOING ONCE GOING TWICE, WAIT I SEE TWENTY THOUSAND RONES AND THEIR SOLD TO THE HUMAN IN THE FRONT ROW!" the human paid the twenty thousand then went to collect the children. The man was rough, he grabbed the chains, yanked and said, "Let's go." The children obeyed fearfully.

When they got to the humans ship the human shut the door, then abruptly took off the children's chains and asked them to sit down. The children obeyed then the human began "I am so sorry I had to be so rough on you back there, but I had to make it seem genuine, I did not hurt the two of you too badly did I?" the children shook their heads. "Alright then, my name is Mr. Hannibal Chow, I heard that two Sapacian children had been captured. I don't like slavery as it is, but kidnapping two Sapacian children is heartbreaking. You guys have helped our race so much, even with our primitive ways you still stuck around. So I will just get this bucket of bolts started and I'll take you two back to Sapacia." The children stood up and yelled simultaneously, "NO!" Chow was startled, "why on earth would you not want to go back home?" "Sir," said Kess, "I was not kidnapped, I ran away." "Wont your parents miss you?" "No, sir, they won't even know I am gone, my family is so big, and I am just a burden to them." "Why do you say that?" she then lifted her shirt and showed them the welts, scars and scratches her father had laid upon her. Chow ran his fingers over the scars, and then asked, "Why would your father do this to you?" "Because, sir, I spoke out, I told him that I wanted to be a starship captain." Chow nodded, thought a moment then said, "Alright then, the two of you are welcome to stay with me." The children answered simultaneously, "Thank you sir." "Now were going to have to do something about your coloring, I don't think walking down a road with two Sapacian children would be very intelligent." The children looked at each other then changed their skin turned pink, like a humans, their tails went up next to their spines and their ears shrunk. Chow laughed, "Now that's an impressive trick."

When the children and Chow landed on Earth, Kess and Maximus were surprised at how big his home was. It was in southwestern Montana and you could see the sky so clearly, the mountain tops perfectly, and you could even see the moon colonies! The home was wonderful it was a long cabin but it was huge, big enough for twelve people to live comfortably. They soon found out that Chow owned everything within a twenty mile radius of his home. The children were aloud to play where ever they wanted but they had to be careful for not to long a go the Space Agency let two Bengal tigers loose here, and no one knew how dangerous they were. After the children got settled in they asked, "Mr. Chow can we go exploring?" "Yes, but on one condition, you stop calling me Mr. Chow, my name is Hannibal." The children nodded and went off to explore. They weren't out in the open but an hour before they ran into the two Bengal tigers, but what they didn't expect to find was three cubs! One was white with orange stripes, one was orange with white stripes, and one was white with black stripes. Maximus and Kess proceeded with caution and just watched the tigers for a while. Some time later that Kess heard one of the tigers talking! She couldn't believe it, but then she remembered that her birth father had been infected by a telepathic being long ago, therefore she was telepathic too. As she listened to the animals talk she and Maximus began to sense that the tigers knew they were there. The tigers came cautiously up to the two children and said, "Who... are... you?" Kess, who wasn't afraid of them said, "My name is Kess and this is my brother Maximus." "Hello" said Maximus quietly. Maximus was a cautious person and wanted to protect his sister, the way he always had. As the two adult tigers spoke with the children the tigers began to trust them. Then all of the sudden a shot was fired from a laser gun knocking out the female tiger. "POACHERS" screamed the children. As the male tiger struggled to hide his children he and two of the babies were struck down. With his last breath the male tiger said, "Protect Rou, please take care of him." Kess and Maximus could only assume that Rou was the last remaining tiger, the only one the male had gotten hidden. Kess and Maximus watched in horror as the poachers came and took the tigers away. Luckily they didn't find Rou. As soon as the poachers were gone Kess ran down ad retrieved the baby tiger. Hannibal was skeptical at first about allowing a tiger to live with them however Maximus made a good argument saying, if you are willing to take in tow Sapacian children, what harm could a baby tiger do? Hannibal laughed and eventually gave in.

Many years later when Kess was sixteen she discovered a beautiful eagle's nest. She adored the birds so much that she asked the mother if she could have one of the eggs. The mother eagle agreed however if she found out that Kess harmed her baby in any way there would be hell to pay. When Hannibal and Maximus saw what Kess had brought in they laughed and Hannibal said, "Remember, he's your responsibility." Kess hugged Hannibal and said, "thank you so very much!" Kess loved her animals and protect them with all her strength.

Then one day after Kess' seventeenth birthday it was rumored that a Sapacian ambassador was coming to discuss a treaty with Earth. Kess and Maximus were both afraid for they knew that the only ambassador that earth had was Gerard Cortezz. Hannibal and the children went to the landing area where many had come to see the Sapacian ambassador. Kess and Maximus stood next to Hannibal praying that Gerard would not recognize them. To there luck as Gerard passed he did not ever notice his two Sapacian children posing as humans. As long as Gerard was on earth Kess and Maximus were incredibly careful as to not do anything that might tip Gerard's hat as to who or where they were.

As the memory faded away Kess began to wake up and as what had happened and all her memories came flooding back she cried and cried and cried. Eventually Kess gathered up enough strength to get up off the flood and clean up the ship.

The amount of time that Kess spent on the ground was unknown. It was possible that she laid there for an hour or 100 years. Once Kess was up she began to stitch her leg together very roughly, and remove the bodies of those she loved from the crucifixes. Kess then began the tiring task of making coffins and headstones for her family and crew. It took Kess many months to build all the coffins and headstones however when she was done she didn't know where to bury them. She wanted some place pure, beautiful and untouched by the evils of the universe. Once Kess got up the strength to fix the Valkerie into minimal working order she and the Valkerie set up on the task of determining how to create a planet hidden from the rest of the universe. After Kess and the Valkerie determined that to create a planet and the solar system that it existed in they would first have to implode one of the solar Flare generators even when it didn't work to move the ship, it was still capable of creating a sun. Once the pair had discovered a far off area of the galaxy that had no planets within a thousand light year radius their task became much more difficult. The Valkerie was still incapable of movement and the generators would never be able to move the ship again. Kess spent weeks trying to figure out what to do when she thought of something. Val tried to persuade Kess against it. Her plan was to hook herself up to the ships power grid and use her energy to power the ship. Val knew that there was no way to persuade Kess against it now that she had made up her mind. Kess did what she had to do, Kess knew that it was going to be one painful task but it was worth it. Once Kess was hooked up to the ship, Val turned on the engines. Kess screamed out in pain and Val did her best to block out the screams. There was enough power within Kess to move the ship to the areas of empty space in less than ten years.

As soon as they arrived Val unhooked Kess and let her lay on the ground healing herself. Kess was unconscious for weeks; as she slept Kess remember her childhood and things about her life that she had wished never to have to relive again. When Kess awoke Val sensed something powerful within Kess that was stronger than anything she had ever felt. Val also knew something about Kess, she was pregnant. Val didn't understand how this could have happened for Kess had been hooked up to the ships power gird for ten years, she wasn't pregnant before, there was no way that Kess could be pregnant, but Val wasn't going to worry about that right now, for they had to create a solar system that could be hidden for millennia. While Val created the star Kess used her new but unknown strength to create the one planet in the suns orbit. As Kess created this planet Val watched in awe for Kess had never shown such a great amount of power before. Once Kess was finished with the planet she places artificial moons around the planet allowing them to send out a shield protecting them from intruders. Around the solar system laid a large and incredibly dense nebula that let off a very deadly feel. Once that was done Kess just sat and stared at what the two of them had created. It was strange to Kess, she was all alone. She had never been alone, not even as a child had she ever truly been alone.

Once their new home was finished Kess and Val decided that their best bet would be to hide the Valkerie and the best way to do that would be to submerge that Valkerie in one of myth's oceans. When the Valkerie was submerged Val went to discuss what she found with Kess. "Kess, there's something I have to tell you. " "What is it Val" "your pregnant" "WHAT!" "You're pregnant Kess." "Are you sure!!" questioned Kess in a panicky manor. "Yes, Kess, I'm sure. I have quadruple checked the results but what I don't understand is how you got pregnant. You haven't been around a man in over 12 years and I sure as hell don't have the resources for artificial insemination." "I don't know val. I'd say cryogenics but that would have been undone when I first touched the engines. "We'll figure it out Kess. And at least you'll have a living companion." "Thanks val. I couldn't have done this without you," Stated Kess. Kess would have hugged Val if she were not a hologram.

As Kess packed what belongings she felt she would need and headed to the cargo hatch. Val had only two minis and faith was already outside the ship to take Kess to the surface via teleportation. As Kess took one last look around the ship Kess shed a single tear then turned around and left. Once the doors closed plants began to grown from the single tear that Kess had shed. Kess had faith transport all the coffins and headstones to a secluded island. Once they were buried Kess said her respects and her goodbyes to those she had loved so very much. As Kess mounted faith she did not take her eyes away from the graves for a very long time.

Kess knew she wouldn't be able to survive if she were alone on a planet like this for very long. Kess decided to create a kingdom; she went along one of myth's many coasts and built a castle. Near the castle she built peasant villages which would soon be bustling with people. Once the buildings around the castle were in place Kess scattered a number of there villages around the planet, on all but one continents. As Kess slowly began to create people for her world she failed to realize how powerful she was becoming. The more her child grew the stronger she became. Once the villages were in place Kess went to her deserted island with faith and began to build her own home. Once she was finished Kess finally began to relax. She relaxed into a deep sleep, a sleep that lasted almost six months. Kess awoke one day and she felt something strange inside her... She could feel her child moving, she could feel his strength. A few days after she awoke, Kess gave birth to her son and named him Angelus, Angel, for short. Angel was a very good boy, who from the day he could talk he did nothing but try and protect his mother. Angel was becoming a very curious boy and one day asked his mother if they could go and see one of the villages. Kess knew the two of them had been cooped up by themselves for too long. So she agreed but first they had to build a ship.

The ship was beautiful and faith adored it, she thought it was very cute. As Kess and Angelus at sail towards the castle faith flapped her wings furiously sending them in the right direction. Faith did not accompany Kess and angel for she was going to go diving. It took Kess and angle two weeks to hit the shore. When they did they both thought it was beautiful as they approached the dock many strong and athletically built men. One of the men offered a hand to Kess and helped her off the boat. Angelus, who was still holding his mothers hand, was in awe, he had never see this many people before in his life. Angelus and Kess were going to find a place to stay when the gentleman who helped them off the ship asked, "Would you care for some assistance madam?" "Yes, thank you." Responded Kess politely and he took Kess and Angelus' bags and showed them to a warm hotel. After Kess and Angelus were settled in they bought some horses and began to explore the town. Kess, who was still sporting her Sapacian appearance, and was drawing quite a bit of attention, went and bought a deep blue velvet cloak, as they proceeded though town they ran into that nice man who helped them out, the man introduced himself as Jacob and said that he would be more than happy to show Kess and Angelus around. Kess and Angelus both said thank you and accepted his help. As they received a wonderful tour of the city, which they thought was coming to an end, Jacob said, "now there is one last thing you must see." "What's that?" questioned Angelus. "Cair Miniver, the castle." Angelus was in complete shock he really wanted to go and see this place, "mother," he said, "can we go see the castle?" "Sure, baby." She responded calmly, however in the inside she wanted to see the castle just as much as her son. It did not take them long to reach Cair Miniver, and when they did they saw a beautiful sight. The castle was huge and covered in vines. The castle was made with beautiful gray stone; however the most remarkable part was the great stone tower that could be seen from miles away. Atop the tower was a beautiful silver spike with a glow that could lead travelers in the dark. As they approached they went through a stone archway with only two guards which paid no heed to the people on horse back. Once they reached the stair to the castle a few men came out and took care of the horses.