Chapter 1

'Nothing…floating…darkness…'

---

"Welcome! I will be your Captain, but you can call me Brahk." He looked around towards the five young adults that will be joining his crew.

From left to right he looked at them. Mystreioj was quite the smart young man. Every subject he touched, he had a high level of understanding within it. Though, he seemed detached from orientation. Brahk knew he was looking forward to getting off the ship, but it seemed more like he was distracted.

Thevhei, next to him, was jittery. Both nervous and excited based on her facial expressions. From his earlier conversation with her, he knew she was ready to go on their journey.

Then the rebel glanced back towards him. "Are we going or not?" Brahk would have been frustrated if no one could speak their mind. Also if he was honest, he didn't really think of Glex as a rebel. It was just that most people he dealt with kept quiet and to themselves. The fear from the nobles was enough to turn everyone away like that. Glex just happened to be an individual that disregarded all that had already been there before.

The last one was now pinching her nose. Sidarce really struggled with standing next to Glex right then. Probably out of embarrassment. They were alike the two of them, but she hid herself behind a mask of will. That strength made them alike and gave her a friendly, neutral, quality. Rather than an abrasive and blunt one like Glex had.

"We aren't leaving just yet. That will be in two days. Just familiarize yourself with the inventory and ship. Make sure not to forget anything, it will be a long journey."

Glex looked angry at him for a slight moment of embarrassment and separated from the rest. The young ones just opened their data pads and separated. Finding something that interested them and going through the lists he had already prepared ahead of time. Instead of taking it easy they started their work right away.

Honestly he wanted to talk with them more, but they would have enough time for that later.

"We celebrate today under a banner of unity. The attacks brought us low, we all lost something or someone. I lost my wife…"

Brahk was currently going through the inventory. Watching over the others and being there if they had any questions. He was familiar with everything around him, so it was easy for him to find.

He could have finished this already when put his personal items, or lack thereof, in his personal quarters on the ship. It would give him time to sit back and interact with his soon-to-be-crew. But if he did that, they might look at him unfavorably.

So he wanted to do his work in front of them. Show them he was someone they could depend on. That his quirks and implant weren't everything about him. That-

"Merssa is gone, but you all know my story. The news has already told you everything about me and my 'Star'." He took a deep breath to calm himself. "Today we need to shed a light on those stars that left us. The stars that have dimmed in the light of our city. The stars that have lost their light. The stars who have been forgotten. Today we come together as one and remember those who fell. We shine a light on those fallen stars for all of us here."

A bright light caught Brahk's attention. "Do you need any help?"

"Ah! Captain, yes we…" Thevhei looked at Mystreioj next to her. "I could use some help. Do you know where I can find nanite injectors and replicator?"

"Section Eight-Five-C in cross section D."

"Thank you Captain."

"Your welcome!" He waved her off then turned towards Mystreioj. "Do you need any help?" In reply all Brahk got was a shaking head and a back turned his way. So he walked back over to the other two.

"We acknowledge those who are lost. Remember those fallen stars today. Remember them. They give us hope to make our lives better. Grab hands with those standing next to you. Let's give these stars a moment of silence so that they may shine better."

Brahk looked around. He thought he heard something in the distance. Moving his body, he checked to see if someone needed help.

As he pulled his cart along, he called out in the direction in front of him. No one answered. From what he could tell of that voice earlier, it wasn't someone from his crew. He twisted and turned down the maze of shelving. The whole cargo bay was as vast and as limitlessness of space suggested. That was if you were lost and Brahk had been here many times before, he could never get lost.

An explosion knocked Brahk to the ground. He jumped over a large box and slid under the shelving. His implant helped him with his speed and precision. He could see Glex ahead of him about to be crushed by a metal support beam. Rushing quickly, he lifted the teenager off the ground and chucked him out of the way. He weighed more than Brahk expected so the pressure it put on to his legs made him stumble.

"What is the point of all of this! They're all dead not stars. You're just making fun of us!" The floating figure of a young man shouted at Brahk. He wore a faded red and black suit with a cape whipping with the wind behind him.

A piece of a stone and brick building came flying towards him. Brahk ran and jumped out of the way. There were so many people around him that he didn't want them to get hurt. They were all running in every direction but one. An empty field. One of his security team tried to stop him, but Brahk didn't want him to get hurt so he dodged out of his grasp.

The man floating in the air screamed in pain while throwing anything he could get his hands on at Brahk. The young man was crying, another star dimmed by that tragedy.

"Something wrong?" Sidarce tapped on his shoulder.

"No, I'm fine." Brahk stood up. The metal flooring beneath him felt so foreign and distant. "Do you need help in finding something?"

"We're looking for our Captain."

"What?" He looked behind her to see his crew all staring at him.

"That's not my name! I hate that name! My real name, the one my dead mother gave… Jastrous." The voice sounded so defeated. "I loved her. Why did she have to die? Why?!?!" He screamed his way.

"Life has a way of making us regret our time with our loved ones. Your mother shouldn't have died like that. It was a tragedy-"

"I don't get it. I don't understand! Why?? Why?! Why!"

Brahk walked over to the young man. He was sobbing on the ground. A crater had formed from where his fists had dug into the ground and formed cracks meters away from him. Side stepping over those cracks and avoiding the clear holes, he wrapped his arms around him.

"It's okay. It will be okay, Jastrous."

"Why?" The sobbing continued and Brahk just embraced all the snot that was getting on his shirt. Not that he was worried about it. The main issue was the young one in his arms. "I wish she was alive. Her cookies were the best."

Jastrous returned the hug. With his strength he could hear his bones creaking under the pressure. Still he refused to let Jastrous go.

As he winced in pain he could see bystanders around him. They had their cameras on and were all looking towards him. Honestly, he wanted them gone. This was a private moment and no one needed to be here for it.

"I'm sorry." Jastrous let him go as he started having a tough time breathing. Jastrous looked around, even with the snot and tears on his face. He quickly wrapped his cape around his face and flew away.

---

Brahk tried sitting up. He couldn't see anything. In a fit of panic he quickly stood up and saw a little bit of light before falling. It was so dark that he couldn't see anything. He tried to grab or latch onto something, anything, but his hands just seemed to pass through nothing.

But then something tugged at him. He grabbed onto that feeling. He followed it back climbing with everything in his body. The light was like a huge breath of fresh air.

---

A plain room. Single bed fit for one person sat in the corner with a man laying there, sleeping. Wood lined the floor which increased this plain room to one fit for a noble. A closet in the corner next to the door with a mirror. The folding door opened large enough that Brahk could see into it. Suits were fit for nobility. Sharp and made perfectly.

"Why am I here? How am I…? Waaah!" It didn't take too long for the confusion to wear off and to look at his hands and feet.

He found himself floating and partially see through. Still wearing the same Captains attire instead of the space suit he had on. But that split second where he freaked out sent him flying upside down, through a wall and into the ground.

He tried to grab something… and remembered a similar situation to this earlier. More like 'before' as it seemed so long ago, but he couldn't remember anything in between then and now. As his memory showed there was a cable or what he felt to be one so he looked around for it. There was a connection and he latched onto it for his life.

---

When he climbed it upwards, he wasn't using his strength. Not muscles or bones, but it was his will. A bit more instinctive than he thought it to be.

It wasn't normal and he still had no idea what was going on. One moment he helped out his crew… 'No, that wasn't right. I was fixing the slipstream drive and… Is this normal?'

He wasn't in the same room as before, but he was in the same structure or it seemed that way. Looking around he was in a hallway and he could see the door that was closed before it opened and the man on the other side was no longer in bed. The whole place was filled with light and that made it all the more obvious that light was going through him. He could see his hands wave in front of the light and still see through it.

'I'm transparent? How?'

It was a good question he needed to ask. He felt it was.

So if he thought about it logically, well it wasn't looking good. The fact he was flying or hovering as he tried to stay a float was challenging. He really had to focus and he was even trying to get his feet back. He didn't think he was on a ship as he could see out a window. He was on a planet, but gravity wasn't really affecting him.

If gravity wasn't having an effect or much of it, then things were getting crazy. Now his body being see through would be strange normally as he would see into his insides, but that wasn't the case. It was his skin and captains uniform, but he couldn't touch or interact with either. It was like a picture that he couldn't touch and just went through. Actually he couldn't touch anything in the house either. Not the comfy looking light tan colored carpet or the walls made of some weird material with metal accents. Now that he got closer, by floating, it seemed to be a rock that had been polished. 'Marble?'

"Who are you?!"

A tall man appeared in front of him. The same one he saw sleeping earlier. If he had to guess they were about the same age. He had a sharp presence, one of authority. A beard that was barely thick enough and wrapped around his upper lip and down to his chin. The brown hair on his beard matched the short, slightly messy, hair on his head. His green eyes pierced into Brahk's entire being. He was also clearly muscular just from seeing his bare arms.

"Dad, what's wrong?"

A voice came from the room the man was partially in. He sounded close to Glex in terms of deepness. If he had to guess they were about the same age. Though from where he was stand- floating he couldn't see the young boy.

"Valooth stay in your room and call for help." The man proceeded to rip off the lamp lighting the hallway to use it as a weapon.

"Whoa, I don't mean you any harm. I don't really know what is happening or where I am." Brahk put up his hands in surrender. He found himself slowly floating away from the man in front of him.

It didn't take long for people, completely dressed, to break into the house.

"Over here!" The man wielding a lamp shouted.

"Sir, are you alright?" A woman wearing a black suit close to what Brahk had seen in the closet asked the man in front of him.

"I'm fine, just protect my son. That man over there…" Brahk still didn't have control over where he floated to. As he and the man locked eyes, he floated through the ceiling into the hull of the house. Metal beams sprouted from the sides and across the structure. Then he slowly ended up outside in the air.

It was beautiful. As everyone on Subhillaj had seen before, the colonies were amazing. Just the same as historical pictures of their home world. Since his daughter was going to be sent down to the colonies, he had invested more time in research. So he had seen pictures and footage of what it would be like.

Tall buildings of metal and glass were standing tall. Streets lined with maglift transports or something like them moved along the roads. Lights forced the darkness of night away with the two moons in the sky. Both green trees and grass were spread out between housing units. Each of them were close in design, but had something different to vary them. The house he came out of was two stories tall and had a wide back yard with a fence. The one next to that house was just a single story and had blue paneling rather than the while marble looking one he had floated out of.

He watched as people buzzed around the house in search of him. They were loud and seemed to be waking up the neighbors.

A strong loud noise caught his attention and he looked up. It seemed like some type of aircraft, using some primitive rotating engines flying above him. He wasn't close to it, but it was loud.

Another thing he noticed was one of the people below him had shivered. The man pulled the coat he was wearing tighter around him. Brahk didn't feel cold. Now that he thought about it, he didn't even feel any pain. No hunger either. He was content because he just felt comfortable. It was nice.

As one the maglift transports started moving away, Brahk found himself being pulled along towards it. He started floating in that direction without his consent.

---

Eventually Brahk had just let his little ride happen. The city was beautiful. Buildings climbed high above him. The lack of smells surrounding him where he expected them did help with his concentration. It brought him out of his thoughts about his situation and let him rest. It was a much needed reprieve.

What really caught his eye was a man holding onto a wire. Well it was thin and hard to see in the dark, but it seem connected to an animal next to him. Light brown fur wrapped the quadruped. The animal was swinging its tail quickly back and forth with its head on the ground sniffing and ears flopping about.

Either his situation was so normal to these people that they didn't bother looking his way or they couldn't see him. There was one person… 'What was his name? Valooth? No, that was his son.'

That thought brought him back to his situation as the vehicle, clearly not a maglift transport, started to slow down and come to a stop. So far all he knew is that this situation was going to require help. However it happened and not to mention how it was possible, will take time and research.

The group of people, including the man and his son from earlier, entered a building. Brahk wanted to follow. It didn't take him long to realize that he still didn't really have control over his movement.

It was time to learn.

---

The star in this solar system was rising up. Light shined onto the buildings around him and they reflected all of it. He had seen the trees and bushes in the distance swaying as the wind picked up. Even the flags nearby flapped wildly.

A part of him felt disappointed that he couldn't even feel the wind or touch objects. Just being comfortable at all times was weird, but he wondered when it would get annoying.

During his three hour or so training, he tried grabbing onto a pole. It held lights that changed from red, green, and yellow. When the red one brightened up, the transport vehicles stopped. At that time he tried getting their attention, but he was unsuccessful.

Passing through objects and ground was disorienting, but he could rely on that cord or cable connected to him. It really helped his efforts.

"All I have to do is think about it." For a while he had closed his eyes, but he found it easier to not do that. All he needed to do is see what he wanted to do, in his imagination, then his body would do just that.

So if he imagined flying high into the sky, turning his head towards the ground and accelerating, finally turning up at the last moment, then he would do just that. He did twists and turns. Rolling and looping around. It became a thrill to him and he got lost in that feeling.

Though he wasn't perfect at it in that short time. Combining and chaining movements were extremely tough for him. But simply moving from one side of the street to the other was easy. As easy as installing a hydrophobic cable under the heating stabilizer and over the WCR - water collection and refinement - very easy as he had done it many times over his life.

---

Brahk followed that cable towards that man. The building ahead of him was quite big, but from the signs outside, it was a hospital. A place like this, one of healing, had the opposite effect on him. For the most part he didn't care. Going in, get injected with nanites, then you are all good. Fine. But after he was the only survivor of his first crew, that changed. It brought feelings of loss and loneliness to him. Not just for his crew he had lost, but his children. The beautiful and grown up twins. His little boy and girl, all grown up, telling him they were leaving and didn't want anything to do with him. He understood, sure, but he really wished it wouldn't have ended that way.

Going through the outside and inner walls, he made his way onto the same floor as that man. Passing through the people nearby, he finally got to the door in front of the room. Two men were having a conversation. Valooth was standing next to his father who was in a bed.

"… And I'm saying that I will wait. I just think all of this is unnecessary." The father, disgruntled at his situation, calmly let out his frustration. Brahk found that to be a paradox how the man kept it together.

"Sir, once the doctor comes back then we can go from there. I'll wait outside."

"Fine… and thank you."

The man, a guard, exited through the door. Out of respect and what Brahk is used to, he backed out of the way. The guard found his post leaning against the wall next to the door.

Now Brahk did feel bad about eavesdropping, but he needed information. Plus he was waiting for Valooth to leave so he could have a chat with the only person who seemed to see him.

"Do you want to lay down? You must be tired after… tonight." The man who was laying down in a bed, attached to medical equipment, suddenly sat up like nothing had been wrong with him a minute ago.

"Dad, it's fine." Valooth said, but Brahk and his father knew differently.

"Yesterday was crazy and so am I. Ha… Why don't you get something to eat with Franhics."

"Sure, I'll get you something too." Valooth, a teenager in his own right, quickly got out of the room. Brahk could tell the young man was tired. Movements were fast, but sluggish. Hair appearing on his face in similar spots to his father. They did look the same.

Brahk floated through the door and announced himself.

"Hello, hope I'm not interrupting." It was a line he used with his crew on occasion.

"No, no… Who- Wait-!" A surprised man stared at Brahk.

"I don't mean any harm. Really. Please just hear me out. Once your son gets back, I'll leave. Can you do that for me?"

"… Alright," He spoke in a softer tone, "I'll listen to what you have to say."

If Brahk was honest, his demeanor suddenly changing was more surprising than his answer. The whole reason he went all in and cut the man off to speak was that Brahk believed that he wouldn't get to say what he wanted. To ask the questions he really wanted to know.

"I have a lot of questions, but can I get your name? My name is Brahk." He reached out his hand to shake it with the man. If it worked it would lead to more questions. Actually the man reached out to have his hand pass through Brahk's hand.

"Ah… I'm Maquai. You don't know me, Brahk?" He hadn't noticed it before, maybe there was nothing there to find, but it seemed that really bothered Maquai. Having his hand pass through Brahk's was enough for his emotions to leak through.

"I don't… I'm sorry. I don't know how much time I have and I need to get this all out." Brahk took a deep breath, finding no air, but still felt relaxed and exhaled. "I'm not from here. I have never been on this planet before and… I really don't know how to explain this, but I am flying. I can go through solid matter and gravity doesn't affect me. I'm even producing sound… vibrations… yet- I'm sorry… I'm rambling. Look, so far you are the only one I can talk to about this and if I can get back to my crew then it could be all over. This whole thing. I need your help."

Maquai looked towards the door. Brahk followed his eyes just in case. He saw people walking past through the window on the door. Their voices and footsteps were cushioned by the walls and door. Not an eerie silence, but an awkward one.

"Brahk, was it?" He nodded in reply. "I can-" Maquai stopped the moment the door quickly opened. Instead of his son or that guard, it was a woman. Dressed up in professional clothing.

"Minister, are you alright?" The woman quickly walked to the end of his bed. "I'm sorry I slept through my alarm and never got your call. Really sorry." Her words were hurried.

Before Maquai spoke, he looked at Brahk and then back at the woman. "Kiestre, it is fine. I'm alright. I just thought I saw someone in my house."

"Gradient must have really injured you to see things. I'll go talk to your doctor and find out what kind of treatment you require." Kiestre bowed her head a smidge and ran out of the room as Maquai tried to speak. She was young, but older than twenty he guessed. She had short black hair, slightly freckled face, and two large ears. Just from that short time with her, Brahk thought about Glex and Thevhei. While she looked and acted closer to Thevhei, it was her confidence that she gave off that reminded him of Glex.

"She couldn't see…" Maquai was speaking quietly to himself. He seemed to be staring at Brahk for an extended amount of time. He quickly looked away and sighed. "What to think…"

"I can go for now. I'll let you think about it since you have things to do. It was nice to meet you."

---

Brahk had some thinking to do himself.

Maquai could see him and a mental cable of sorts connected them. "Why? Why him and what was going on?" Those thoughts confused him.

A slipstream connected two points of space at a basic level. It should have killed him due to the immense radiation and gravity. Well considering he was see through, it might be possible that was what was happening. Then again he couldn't build a machine, much less touch anything that could help him to study and learn the effects of his current situation. His only guess now was to create a slipstream drive and recreate the events. But then with the low probability of success or even knowing what might happen made it unfeasible.

He was currently floating above the building, on the edge of the roof. The star in the sky shined through him once more as he looked at his hands. He could see through them and through his legs ahead of him. 'Transparency and without mass…' To make himself feel a little better, he tried sitting down. At least getting his body in a position that would make sense if he was solid.

'Now that I think about it, they said he might have sustained injuries. Thevhei- Kiestre said that someone, Gradient, had injured him? Could that be the cause of their connection or was the slipstream involved? Or neither as another reason has yet to be presented.'

If none of this had happened and some transparent man floated in front of him asking for help, Brahk might find himself getting checked up on. Even if that did happen, his implant-

'I don't have it anymore.' It was a machine implanted into him. It had control of his thoughts and actions. 'Is this what I'm like without it?' He had noticed when he spoke to Maquai that he felt nervous. Which he did before, but he had accepted there was nothing he could ever do about that. If a noble decided that he was to be killed on the spot or needed to be subjected to experiments, then it would happen.

Now he felt both trapped and free. Those two feelings didn't conflict with each other. They worked together to tell him he was stuck as he was, never to touch, taste or smell anything again. But on the other hand he could do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted to. No more hiding, he could pursue whatever he wanted. So if he wanted to do something and get answers, then he needed someone to talk to. Someone who could help him.

The star had started to roll away as the planet spun to signify the ending of the day. A bright orange spread across the sky with a hint of purple. The cable connecting him to Maquai stretched and garnered his attention. The man was dressed now and walking out in the center of a group of guards with Valooth and Kiestre.

'Can he feel the cable too?' Just as he thought that, Maquai turned and looked his way. A nudge of his head with a hint of surprise signaled that he was ready to have a productive conversation with Brahk.